TX 

V,3 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


ir^ 


tfNIW.RSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 

LIBRAFT 


FUR    SEAL    ARBITRATION. 


PROCEEDINGS 


Tribunal  of  Arbitration, 


CONVENED   AT   PARIS 


UNDER   THE 


TREATY  BETWEEN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  AND  GREAT 
BRITAIN,  CONCLUDED  AT  WASHINGTON  FEBRUARY  29,  1892, 


DETERMINATION  OF  QUESTIONS  BETWEEN  THE  TWO  GOV- 
ERNMENTS CONCERNING  THE  JURISDICTIONAL 
RIGHTS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


WATERS   OF    BERING   SEA. 


VOLUNIK    III. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFICE. 
189  5. 


'/^ 


FUR-SEAL    ARBITRATION. 


APPENDIX 


The  Case  of  the  United  States 


BEFORE   THE 


TRIBUNAL  OF  ARBITRATION 


TO  CONVENE  AT  PARIS 


UNDER  THE 


PROVISIONS    OF    THE    TREATY   BETWEEN   THE    UNITED 

STATES  OF  AMERICA  AND  GREAT  BRITAIN, 

CONCLUDED  FEBRUARY  29,  1892. 


VOLUME  II. 


WASHINGtb^,  t);  C.:     ' 
GOVERNMENT  PRINTING   OFFICE. 
1892. 


1 3  9  6  fl  H 


LIST  OF  DEPONENTS. 


Name. 


Abakee,  Alexy 

Abakoo,  Yakoff 

Abangac,  Peter 

Abankook,  Peter  . . . 
Abanyngaw,  Pavel  . 

Abbey,  Chas.  A '. 

Adair,  Chas 

Adams,  George  E . . . 

Adungan,  Peter 

Agooklook,  GioTgi. . 

Akatoo 

Akerly.J.C.S 

Alexander,  A.  B 

Alexandroff,  Ivan  . . 

Aliman,  Miron 

Allis,  Watson  C 

Andersen,  N.  W 

Anderson,  Andrew . . 

Anderson,  C.  H 

Anderson,  Peter 

Audriciiis,  H 

Anna-tlas 

Anutak,  Feodore  . . . 

Aogay,  Gregory 

Apavelook,  Stephan 
Apokchee,  Nicoli  . . . 
Armstrong,  Jobn  . . . 
Artomanoff,  Kerrick 

Asch  &  Jaeckel 

Atenas-Koo 

Avery,  Chas 

Ayonkee,  Adam 

Ball,  George 

Balashoff,  Michaeler 
Balashoff,  Sacar 


225 
234 
225 
224 
225 
185 
400 
157 
234 
234 
237 

95, 141, 

145 
352 
229 
234 
97 
223 
217 
205 
313 
314 
254 
218 
234 
225 
224 
1 
99 
526 
237 
218 
255 
481 
229 
229 


Name. 


Ban  tie,  George 

Barastoff,  Feodor 

Barnes,  Milton 

Baronovitch,  Johnnie.. . 

Bates,  C.  Francis 

Bates,  Martin,  Jr.,  &  Co 

Bates,  Manrice 

Behlow,  Chas.  J 

Bendt,Wm 

Bennett,  Wilton  C 

Benson,  Edw 

Benson,  Martin 

Bevington,  H.  S 

Blair,  John  G 

Bleidner,  Bernhardt 

Bottae.  Niels 

Borudakaffsky,  ApoUon. 

Bowa-chup 

Bradley,  John  Andrew  . . 

Bradley,  Thomas 

Brennan,  Wm 

Brown,  Henry 

Brown,  J.  Stanley 

Brown,  Peter 

Brown,  Thomas,  No.  1  . . 
Brown,  Thomas,  No.  2  . . 

Bryant,  Chas 

Budington,  .J as.  W 

Biirdukofski,  Ruth 

Buterin,  Karp 

Buynitsky,  S.  N 

Calkins,  Carlos  G 

Callapa,  Laudis 

Campbell,  Charles 

Canetak,  Ivan 


Page. 


508 
229 
101 

276 

508,  528 

526 

276 

401,  402, 

403 

404 
359 
277 
405 
551 
193 
314 
315 
140 
376 
227 
406 
357 
317 
10,20 
377 
318 
317,  406 
3 
593 
206 
102 
20 
104 
379 
256 
229 


IV 


LIST    OF    DEPONENTS. 


Name. 


Cantwell,  John  C 

Carthcut,  Jas.  L 

Chakatt 

Chalall,  Charles 

Charashook,  Peter 

Charlie 

Chayha,  Tunafe 

Chichinolf,  Vassili 

Chillta 

Chin-koo-tin,  Simeon  . . 
Choomovitsky,  Evan  . . 
Choomovitsky,  Makar  . 
Christiansen,  Julius  . . . 

Church,  Peter 

Circiis- Jim 

Clahowto 

Claplanhoo,  James 

Clappa 

Clark,  Harry  N 

Clark,  Wm 

Clat-ka-koi 

Clausen,  Christ 

Claussen,  Daniel 

Clement,  John  C . . . 

Cohen,  Maxwell 

Collins,  Peter 

Comer,  George 

Coulson,  Washington  C 

Cox,  Leander 

Culler,  Louis 

Dahtlin,  Charlie 

Dalgarduo,  Jas 

Dall,  Wm.H 

Dalton,  John 

Dardeau,  Alfred 

Davis,  Frank 

Davis,  Jeff 

Demidolf,  Timothy 

Dennis,  Joseph 

Dick  (or  Ehenchesut)  . 

Dick,  Hoonah 

Dishow,  Geo 

Dohrn,  John 

Dolan,  Richard 


Page. 


407 
409 
307 
410 
225 
304 
234 
218 
308 
256 
234 
234 
219 
257 
380 
312 
381 
307 
158 
293 
305 
319 
411 
258 
224 
413 
596 
414 
416 
321 
278 
364 
22 
417 
322 
383 
384 
218 
418 
306 
258 
323 
259 
418 


Name. 


Douglass,  Jas.  Henry 

Duff,  John 

Duffy,Peter 

Duncan,  Wm 

Echon  

Ehenchesut  (or  Dick) 

Ellabush 

Erskine,  M.  C  

Esaiassen,  Elias 

Fairchild,  George 

Falconer,  Samuel 

Feeny,  F.  F 

Feodor,  Vassili : 

Fletcher,  Herbert  V 

Fogel,  Geo 

Foster,  Wm 

Fowler,  C.  L 

Frank 

Frank,  Chief 

Frank,  Luke 

Franklin,  Luther  T 

Eraser,  Alfred 

Fratis,  John 

Frazer,  Thomas 

Frazer,  Wm 

Funcke,  Edw.  W 

Fyfe,  John 

Gadowen,  Nieholi 

GafPney,  Frank  M 

George  (Son  of  Klotz-Klotz) 

George,  Chad 

Gibson,  Charles 

Gibson,  Thomas 

Glidden,  Henry  A 

Goff,  Chas.  J 

Gonastut 

Gondoweu,  .James 

Gorloi,  Kassiau 

Grady,  George 

Greenleaf,  E.  M 

Gregoroff,  Xifuli 

Griffin,  Artlinr 

Griffin,  Jas 


419 
227 
421 
279 
279 
306 
385 
421 
230 
423 

160, 163, 

166 

220 
230 
105 
424 
220 
25, 141 
293 
280 
294 
425 
554,  561 
107 
364 
426 
427 
429 
249 
430 
247 
365 
281 
431 
109 
111 
238 
259 
212 
433 
324 
234 
325 
433 


LIST    OF    DEPONENTS. 


Name. 


Griffith,  W.P 

Grinotf,  Evan 

Grinoflf,  Feodore 

Gryraes,  Joseph 

Guild,  A.  J 

Gunther's,  C.  G.,  Sons 
Gunther,  Franklin  L. 

Hagman,  Chas.  H 

Hague,  Chas  J 

Haldane,  Henry 

Hannon,  Martin 

Hansson,  Alexander  . . 

Harmsen,  H 

Harris,  Alfred 

Harris  &  Russak 

Harrison,  James 

Hartlisnuk,  Jacob 

Hayikahtla,  Sam 

Hays,  J.  M , 

Hayuks,  Charley 

Hay  ward,  James . 

Healy,  M.  A 

Heilbronner,  Max 


Henriques,  John  A . . 

Henson,  Wm 

Hereford,  Wm.  S 

Hermann,  Wm , 

Hertz,  Emin 

Hirschel,  Arthur 

Hodgson,  Norman  . . 
Hoffman,  Andrew  J . 

Hofstad,  E 

Holm,  O 

Hughes,  Edw 

Imihap 

luloo,  Nicoli 

Inloo,  Nicoli,  jr 

Irving,  Alfred 

Isaacson.,  Gustavo  . . 

Ishka 

Ivanhoff,  Tekan 

Jackobson,  Victor  . . 
Jaeckel,  Hugo 


Page. 


260 
218 
218 
434 
231 
526,  532 
531 
435 
207 
281 
445 
116 
442 
529 
526 
326 
239 
239 

26 
312 
327 

27 
29, 117, 
167,  509 

31 
483 

32 
445 
587 
563 
366 
446 
260 
368 

36 
308 
229 
229 
386 
439 
387 
225 
328 
530 


Name. 


Jamieson,  James 

Johnson,  Frank 

Johnson,  J 

Johnson,  Jack 

Johnson,  Selwish 

Johntin,  Johnnie 

Joy,  James  G 

Kah-chuck-tee 

Kahiktday,  Percy 

Kahoorof,  Saml 

Kalishnikoff,  Anton  . . 
Kalishnikotf,  Avakoon . 
Kamlook,  Alexander . . . 

Kashagak,  Nicoli 

Kashevaroif,  Philip 

Kaskan 

Kaskwa,  King 

Kasooh,  Jim 

Kean,  James 

Keetnuck,  Albert 

Kennedy,  James 

Kethusduck,  Mike 

Ketwooschish,  George  . 

Kickiana 

Kiernan,  James  

Kinimel,  Louis 

King-Hall,  F.  R 

Kinkooga 

Klananeck,  Charlie  . . . . 

Klonacket,  James 

Konkonal 

Kookew,  Tekan 

Kooko,  Robert 

Koosche,  Marka 

Korth,  Frank 

Kotchooten,  Jacob 

Kowineet,  John 

Krebs,  C.  F.  Einil 

Krukoff,  Ivan 

Krukoff,  Nicoli 

Kushen,  Aggei 

Kvam,  Olaf 

Lacheek,  George 

Laflin,  James 


VI 


LIST    OF    DEPONENTS. 


Name. 


Laing,  Andrew 

Lampsoii,  Sir  Geo.  Curtis 

Langwalic,  Stephen 

Lavender,  A.  W , 

LawBon,  Edw.  Niglil 

Lenard,  Isaac  M 

Lennan,  James 

Liebes,  Geo 

Liebes,  Herman 

Liebes,  Isaac 

Liebes,  Sidney 

Lighthouse,  Jamos , 

Liudahl,  Caleb , 

Littlejohn,  E.  W 

Lofstad,  John  N 

Long,  Wm.  H 

Loud,  Abial  P , 

Lowe,  Thos 

Lutjens,  Chas 

Lyons,  Thos 

McAlpine,  George 

McClennen,  Charles  E  .  - , 

McDonald,  J.  D , 

Mclntyie,  H.  H 

Mclntyre,  H.  W 

Mclsaac,  William , 

McKeen,  James 

McLaughlin,  William 

McLean,  Alexander 

McLean,  Daniel 

McManus,  Robert  II 

Madden,  Thomas 

Mahagak,  Alexy 

Maitland,  Edw 

Makeshow 

Malick,  Afanasse 

Malowansky,  John 

Maloy,  James 

Malzoff,  Denis 

Mandregin,  Noen 

Margathe,  John 

Maroney,  Patrick 


334 
564 
224 
265 
221 
217 
369 
510 
512 
452,  515 
516 
389 
456 
457 
516 
457 
37 
371 
458 
460 
266 
517 
266 
30,40,43, 
44,47,54, 
517,  599 
134 
460 
267 
461 
436 
443 
335 
462 
225 
284 
311 
234 
197 
463 
224 
139 
308 
464 


Name. 


Martin,  Charles  ... 
Martin,  Walter  E.. 
Mason,  Frederick . . 

Mason,  Henry 

Mason,  William  . . . 
Mathaaan,  Thorwal 

Melavidoif,  S 

Melovedoft",  Anton . 
Melovidov,  Simeon 
Michaelson,  Robert 

Mill,  Amos 

Miller,  N.B 

Miner,  G.E 

Monin,  lyfym 

Monin,  Metry 

Morehead,  Eddie  . . 
Morgan,  Thomas  F. 

Morreau,  Frank 

Morris,  John 

Morris,  Matthew  . . 
Morton,  John  M  . . . 

Moses 

Moss,  Morris 

Moulton,  Jacob  H  . 

Muller,  Peter  C 

Murray,  Joseph 

Nah-hoo,  Billy 

Nankook,  Prokopy . 

Nashtou , 

Natch  Smith 

Nathlan,  Dan 

Nechantake 

Neishkaitk,  Joseph 

Nelson,  Niles , 

Nettleton,  S.  R 

Newman,  Arthur  . . . 

Nicoli,  NicoU 

Niebaum,  Gustave .. 

Noojook,  Nicoli 

Noyes,  L.  A 

Ntkla-ah 

O'Brien,  John , 

Of kew  Pavel 


Page. 


297 
567 
284 
464 
465 
339 
209 
138, 142 
145 
232 
285 
199,  371 
466 
224 
225 
467 
59,  60, 
201 
467 
340 
286 

66 
309 
341 

71 
223 

73 
252 
218 
297 
298 
286 
240 
287 
469 

74 

210 

229 

76,  202 

225 

79 
288 
470 
224 


LIST    OF    DEPONENTS. 


VII 


Name. 


Ofkew  Wasyryou 

Oliver,  Nelson  T 

Olson,  John 

Olsen,  Peter 

Oponyak 

Osly 

Otis,  Harrison  Gray . . . 

Parker,  William 

Parker,  Wilson 

Pestikoff,  Alamphy 

Peterson,  Charles 

Peterson,Chestoqua  ... 

Phelan,  John  J 

Pike,  Richard 

Poland,  Henry 

Porter,  Edwin  P 

Price,  Charles  W 

Prokopief,  Eliah 

Prokopief,  Filaret 

Redpath,  J.  C 

Reed,  Charles  W 

Repin,  Paul 

R^villon,  L^ou 

Rice,  George 

Riesoff,  Simeon 

Riley,  Kesth 

Ringchook,  Pavel 

Roberts,  W 

Rohde,  William 

Rolyah,  Sacar 

Rondtus  

Ryan,  Abel 

Ryan,  Thomas  F 

Ruszits,  John,  estate  of 

Saalburg,  S.  W 

Saisnn 

Salamatoff,  David 

Sayers,  Adolphns 

Scammon,  CM 

Schkatatiu 

Schucklean 

Scribner,  Benjamin  F. . 

Shepard,  L.  G 

Shimeakin,  Pavel 


224 
372 
471 
288 
308 
390 
85 
342 
391 
218 
345 
392 
518 
592 
570 
346 
521 
215 
216 
140, 147 
472 
207 
589 
572 
218 
252 
224 
241 
222 
229 
242 
299 
174 
526 
521 
307 
209 
473 
473 
243 
253 
89 
187 
234 


Name. 


Short,  William 

Showoosch 

Shuckeyah,  Geo 

Shucky,  Jack 

Shyha,  Alexander 

Simes,  Peter 

Simson,  Aaron 

Singay,  Martin 

Sitka,  Jack 

Skeenong 

Skibby,  Fred'k 

Skowl,  Thos 

Skultka,  Geo 

Slanoch,  Yuan 

Sloan,  James 

•Sloss,  Leon 

Smith,  Fred 

Smith,  John  W 

Smith,  Wm.  II 

Soron,  E.  W 

Stahkan 

Stake,  Emil  J 

Stamp,  Wm.  C.  B 

Stephens,  Cyrus 

Sternfels,  B.  H 

Stickland,  Joshua 

Sundvall,  G 

Swain,  John  A 

Tanapee,  Simeon 

Tanner,  Z.  L 

Taylor,  W,  B 

Tchet-Chak 

Teichmann,  Emil 

Temple,  George  H 

Thlkahdaynahkee,  Michael 

Thomas,  W 

Thomas,  Wm.  G 

Thompson,  Adolph  W 

Thunk  

Titchenoff,  Peter 

Tlaksatan,  Charlie 

Tolmau,  John  C 

Toochyk,  Stephan 

Toodays,  Charlie 


Page. 


348 
243 
248 
289 
226 
476 
290 
268 
268 
244 
228 
300 
290 
253 
477 
90 
349 
232 
478 
479 
244 
530 
574 
479 
522 
349 
480 
350 
225 
373,  485 
175 
254 
576 
153 
269 
485 
291 
486 
245 
222 
270 
222 
225 
249 


VIII 


LIST    OF   DEPONENTS. 


Name. 


Treadwell,  Geo.  H.. 
Tieadwell,  Henry  . . 

Trearslioit,  Peter  . . . 

Tiittlc,  Francis 

Twongkwak 

Tysnm,  John 

Ullniann,  Joseph  . . . 

Ullmann,  Sauil 

Uuatajim,  James  . . . 

Usher,  Geo 

Verbeke,  Francis... 
Wagner,  Ohas.  T... 
Walton,  Rudolph  . . . 

Wank,  Charlie 

Wardinau,  George  . . 
Washburn,  M.  L . . . . 
Washburn,  Seth  M. . 
Wassermaun,  Elkan 

Watkins 

Webster,  Daniel 

Weckenunesch 

Weittenhiller,  P.  S.. 
White,  Charlie 


Page. 


523 
524,  526, 
529 

271 
487 
245 
393 
526 
527, 532 
271 
291 
311 
211 
272 
273 
177 
488 
154 
534 
394 
179 
311 
274 
395 


Name. 


White,  Michael 

Wiepert,  Wm 

Williams,  Billy 

Williams,  C.  A 

Williams,  Jos.  D 

Williams,  Theodore  T 
Williams,  Wm.  H  . . . . 

Wilson,  Fred 

Wilson,  James 

Windmiller,  Maurice  . 

Wispoo 

Woodruff,  John 

Wooskoot,  Michael . . . 

Yahkah  

Yeltachy,  Billy 

Yethnow,  Hastings  . . . 

Yohansen,  Alf 

Young,  Paul 

Young,  Walter  ^ 

YuUa,  Hish 

Zammitt,  George 

Zaotchnoi,  Pud 

Zolnoks,  Thomas 


Page. 


489 
535 
300 
535 
548,  549 
491 
93 
301 
228 
550 
396 
506 
274 
246 
302 
302 
368 
292 
303 
397 
507 
213 
398 


TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO  PRIBILOF  ISLANDS. 


Deposition  of  John  Armstronr/,  engineer  of  lessees'  steamer  and  agent  on 

iSt.  Paul  Island, 

management. 

.State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

John  Armstrong,  having"  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
50  years  old,  and  reside  in  San  Francisco.  I  was  em-  ^^  erience 
ployed  in  Alaska  service  in  connection  with  the  seal  ^pf^nence. 
fisheries  from  1808  to  1880,  inclusive.  During  the  first  eiglit  years  of 
the  time  I  was  chief  engineer  of  the  steamer  plying  between  San  Fran- 
cisco and  the  seal  islands  and  otherAlaska  ports,  and  from  1877  to  1880, 
inclusive,  as  agent  of  the  Ahiska-  Commercial  Company,  living  almost 
constantly  for  the  wliole  ten  years  upon  St.  Paul  Island.  I  always  as- 
sisted in  the  seal-killing,  and,  in  common  with  all  other  employes  on 
the  islands,  made  the  seals  my  study  and  care.  Everyone  connected 
with  the  business,  from  the  superintendent  to  the  humblest  laborer, 
is,  when  at  the  islands,  keenly  alive  to  every  occurrence  relating  to 
the  herd.  There  is  nothing  else  but  seals  to  attract  our  attention  when 
there,  and  the  most  trivial  incidents  in  regard  to  the  rookeries,  as  well 
as  the  more  serious  ones,  are  noted  and  discussed. 

For  the  first  few  years  I  was  on  the  islands  the  rookeries  grew  larger 
every  year,  and  I  was  told  by  the  nativ  esand  others  that 
they  had  grown  a  good  deal  since  the  Americans  first  eru^.'^'''*^*'  "*   ™*''' 
took  them.    After  1882  they  seemed  to  stay  about  the 
same,  as  far  as  the  number  of  breeders  was  concerned,  as  long  as  I  was 
there.    The  skins  taken  i)rior  to  1880  weighed  from  0      ^^  .  ,^  „  , . 

-  ,  ^  .  1  ;    <>  1  1   •  Weight  of  sKius. 

to  10  pounds  each,  averaging  about  8  pounds  per  skui; 

but  I  understand   from  those  who  remained  there  on  duty  that  nuu-h 

smaller  ones  were  afterwards  taken,  because  the  large  seals  had  become 

scarce  and  were  needed  for  rookery  service.     I  observed  tiiat  very  few 

seals  go  out  to  sea  to  feed  during  June,  July,  and  Au-      females  loe.iins. 

gust,  except  females  and  some  of  the  younger  nmles. 

The  greater  part  of  the  older  bachelors  appear  to  be  always  iibout  the 

rookeries  after  the  cows  come,  and  comparatively  few  as  old  as  five  years 

come  up  with  the  droves  to  the  killing  gnmnds.     The         .  . 

1   •  i-  1    ■  -I  J.-  T       ■     ^  i-\    .        Driviiiir    ana     ro- 

same  seal  is  sometimes  driven  several  times  during  tlie  ariving. 
season.     One  with  a  peculiar  spot  on  him  was  driven 
in  more  thiui  a  dozen  times  in  one  season.     His  skin  was  in  such  con- 
dition that  we  did  not  want  it.     But  I  do  not  think   that  he  or  any 
other  one  of  the  drove  was  injured  by  the  exertion.     The  driving  gave 
them,  with  rare  exceptions,  very  little  more  exercise  than  they  appeared 

1 
2710 — VOL  II 1 


Z  TESTIMONY 

to  take  when  left  to  themselves.     The  practice  of  driving-  has  always 

been  conducted  the  same  as  when  I  was  on  the  islands,  and  the  seals 

^.    ^.  have  thriven  and  increased  under  it.     Tliey  grow  much 

Domestication.  ,  ,  .,,  j.     i     ^    •     •  ij.i 

tamer,  too,  with  repeated  driving,  and  seem  to  learn 
the  road  and  what  is  expected  of  them  on  the  killing  ground.  It  is 
much  less  trouble  to  handle  a  drove  of  seals  from  the  rookery  very 
near  the  village  than  those  ii'om  a  distant  point.  They  grow  very 
tame  when  reared  near  where  people  are  passing  and  repassing,  and 
none  of  them  are  as  Avild  or  show  as  miich  fear  as  sheei)  ordinarily  do 
wlion  approached  by  man. 
The  large  bachelor  seals  arriv^e  on  the  islands  from  the  1st  to  the  15th 

of  June  ea(;h  year,  sleek  and  fat  as  they  can  be,  while 
Arrival  of  bachelors.  ^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^'^  .^^  September  are  very  thin  in  flesh,  or 

in  about  the  same  condition  as  the  bull  seals  then  are,  which,  it  is  well 
known,  do  not  leave  the  rookeries  for  some  four  months.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  yearlings  and  two-year-olds  remain  in  good  condition  the  en- 
tire season,  and  must,  I  think,  go  off  to  the  feeding  grounds  occasion- 
all  v  during  the  summer.     The  females  go  and  come 

Females  feeding.         ^^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^.^^  ^.^^^^  ^^^^,_.  ^^^  ^j^^-^.  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  islailds.      I 

have  seen  rookeries,  and  particularly  tlie  one  on  the  reef,  plainly  in 
sight  from  St.  Paul  village,  swarming  with  pups  and  comparatively  few 
mothers  in  sight,  and  it  has  sometimes  remained  so  for  twenty  or  thirty 
hoiu'S  at  a  time,  convincing  me  that  they  must  have  gone  a  consider- 
able distance  fi'om  the  islands  for  food.  Up  to  1881  there  were  never 
enough  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  to  cause  any  re- 
Dead  pups.  mark.  Occasionally  one  would  be  trampled  to  death 
by  the  fighting  bulls,  but  the  loss  was  almost  nothing  until  the  marine 
hunters  began  their  work,  and  it  grew  to  be  quite  noticeable  before  I 
left  the  islands.  It  was  easy  enough  to  see  what  they  died  of.  They 
simply  starved  to  death,  wandering  about  and  bleating  until  it  made 
one's  lieart  ache  to  see  them.  Their  mothers  liad  been  killed  off  in  the 
water,  and  the  pups  lived  and  sullered  for  weeks.  They  are  very  tena- 
cious of  life,  holding  out  six  or  eight  weeks  or  more  after  they  lose  their 
mothers. 

I  am  asked  whether  the  seals  copulate  in  the  water.     It  is  a  ques- 
,    .     .  tion  that  is  often  discussed  at  the  islands,  and  neither 

Copulation  m  water.  .,  •        i-j-         i  ii  •       j.-/-  i  i      j. 

the  scientinc  observers  nor  the  unscientiiic  are  able  to 
agree  about  it.     I  have  seen  seals  in  position  when  it  seemed  to  be  at- 
tempted, but  doubt  whether  it  is  effectually  accomplished.     If  it  were, 
I  think  we  should  see  pups  sometimes  born  late  and  out  of  season,  but 
sueh  is  not  the  case. 
I  believe  there  has  been  a  great  decrease  of  seals  on  the  islands  since 
I  left  there,  and  this  is  no  doubt  due  to  pelagic  hunt- 
ecrease.  .^^^,^    ^j^^  extermination  of  the  animals  and  of  the  in- 

dustry will  be  swift  and  sure  unless  the  female  seals  are  protected  fiom 
the  devastation  now  going  on,  and  I  do  not  believe  it 
"  "^"^ '"  '  i^ossible  to  protect  them  as  they  should  be  unless  the 

ISTorth  Pacific  as  well  as  Bering  Sea  is  included  in  any  measures  adopted 
to  this  end. 

John  Armstrong. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  lOth  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


RELATING    TO    PRIRILOF    ISLANDS.  3 

Deposition  of  Charles  Bryant,  s2)eeial  Treasury  agent  (,ii  rribilof  Islands. 

HABITS. 

District  of  CoLuivrBiA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss  : 
Charles  Bryant,  being'  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  resi- 
dent of  Mattapoisett,  Plyinontli  ('oiinty,  State  of  Massachusetts,  and 
am  72  years  of  age.     In  September,  1808,  I  was  appointed  a  sjiecial 
Treasury  agent  to  go  to  Pribilof  Islands  for  the  pur- 
pose of  investigating  and  reporting  as  to  the  habits  of     ^^P«'-'«"'^e- 
the  fur  seal,  the  condition  of  the  islands,  and  the  most  advantageous 
plan  to  be  adopted  for  the  government  and  management  of  the  same. 
Pursuant  to  such  appointment,  I  proceeded  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and  in 
March,  1869,  I  landed  on  St.  Paul  Island,  remaining  there  until  Sep- 
tember of  the  same  year.     I  then  returned  to  Washing- 
ton and  laid  my  report  before  the  Treasury  Department.      His  report  to  Treas- 
I  again  went  back  to  the  islands  in  July,  1870,  and  re- 
mained there  until  the  fall  of  1871.    Then,  in  Ajiril,  1872, 1  again  arrived 
at  the  islands,  this  time  in  the  capacity  of  a  special  agent  of  the  Treas- 
ury Department  in  charge  of  the  seal  islands.     I  was  upon  the  islands 
as  such  agent  from  that  time  and  during  the  sealing  season  from  1872 
to  1877,  inclusive,  and  passed  three  winters  there,  viz,  those  of  1872, 
1874,  and  187G.     Since  the  year  1877  I  have  not  visited  the  seal  islands. 
I  have  examined  the  breeding  areas  of  1870,  indicated 
by  H.  H.  Mclntyre  on  charts  A,  B.  C,  D,  E,  F,  and  G,   arfarorircTe-nse 
of  St,  Paul  Island,  and  they  are  to  the  best  of  my  knowl-  5^"^"  ^y  h.  h.  mc- 

1  1  1     T    ,■  i        TT  1  •        1  j_i  nitvre  on  charts. 

edge  and  beliet  correct.  I  ha^e  also  examined  the  areas 
of  increase  shown  by  him  upon  the  same  charts  as  applicable  to  the  breed- 
ing rookeries  in  1882,  and  they  were  proportionately  correct  in  1877, 
the  last  year  of  my  stay  upon  the  islands,  the  increase  up  to  that  time 
having  been  about  one-half  of  that  shown  by  him.  The  above  state- 
ment is  true,  also,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  be- 
lief, of  the  breeding  areas  of  1870  and  tlie  increase  of  ai^J 'l\""i'ircTen"  o 
1882,  indicated  bv  Thomas  F.  Morgan  upon  charts  H,  ^t'o^n  by  Tiiomas f. 
I,  J,  and  K,  ot  St.  George. 

Charles  Bryant. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  15th  day  of  April,  1892. 

[l.  s.]  Ciias.  L.  IItghes, 

Notary  Fvblic  in  and/or  the  Distriet  of  ColuniMa. 


Deposition  of  Charles  Bryant,  special  Treasury  agent  on  Pribilof  Islands. 
habits  and  rookeries  in  18{>9-'77. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 
Charles  Bryant,  being  duly  sworn,  dejioses  and  says:  I  amarCvSident 
of  Mattapoisett,  Plynuiuth  County,  State  of  ]\Iassachusetts,  and  am 
72  years  of  age.     From  1840  to  1858  I  was  engaged  in  whaling  iu 
the  North   Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.     The  latter  portion  of  the 
time  I  was  captain  of  a  whaling  vessel.     I  then  letired 
to  a  larm  located  m  the  town  ot  rairhaven,  in   Bristol 
County,  State  aforesaid.     In  September,  18G8,  I  was  appointed  a  spe- 


4  TESTIMONY 

cial  Treasury  agent  to  go  to  (lie   PribihtC  Islands  to  investigate  and  to 
report  as  to  the  habits  of  the  fur  seal,  the  condition  of  the  islands, 
and  the  most  ad\antageous  plan  to  adoi)t  for  the  government  and 
nninagement  of    the   same.     Pursuant   to   such    appointment   I   pro- 
ceeded to  the  Pacific  coast  and  in  March,  1800,  I  landed  on  St.  Paul 
Island  and  remained  there  niitil  Septeml)er  of  the  same  year.     I  then 
returned  to  Wasliington  and  laid  my  report  before  the 
EeporttoTreasury.  rp,,^..^^„j.y  Department.     I  again  went  back  to  the  is- 
lands in  July,  1870,  and  remained  until  the  fall  of  1871.     Then  in 
Ax)ril,  1872,  1  again  arrived  on  St.  Paul  Island,  this  time  in  the  capac- 
ity of  special  agent  of  tlie  Treasury  Department  in  charge  of  the  seal 
islands.     I  was  upon  the  islands  as  such  agent  from  that  time  during 
the  sealing  seasons  from  1872  to  1877,  inclusive,  and  passed  three  win- 
ters there,  namely,  those  of  1872,  1874,  and  1876.     Since  the  year  1877 
I  have  never  visited  the  seal  islands,  and  have  been  in  retirement  at 
Mattai)oisett  aforesaid.     During  these  years  I  was  upon  the  islands  I 
made  a  most  careful  study  of  seal  life  thereon,  and  examined  and  in- 
quired of  the  natives  in  relation  to  the  habits  and  former  conditions  of 
the  tur  seals. 
The  Alaska  fur  seal  breeds  nowhere  else  except  on  the  Pribilof  Is- 
lands.    I  took  particular  care   in    investigating    the 
biMiliamW^  "" ^"    Questiou  of  what  became  of  the  seal  lierd  while  absent 
from  the  islands.     My  inquiries  were  made  among  the 
Alaskan  Indians,  half  breeds,  Aleuts,  and  fur-traders  along  the  north- 
west coast  and  Aleutian  Islands.  One  man,  who  had  been  a  trapper 
for  many  years  along  the  coast,  stated  to  me  that  in  all  his  experience 
he  never  knew  of  but  one  case  where  seals  had  hauled  out  on  the  Pa- 
cific coast,  and  that  was  when  four  or  five  landed  on  Queen  Charlotte 
Island.     This  is  the  only  case  I  ever  heard  of  seals  coming  ashore  at  any 
f  ther  place  on  the  American  side  of  the  Pacific  except  the  Pribilof 
Islands.     Thesesealsaremigratory,  leaving  the  islands 
iirra  ion.  in  the  early  winter  and  returning  again  in  the  spring. 

The  Pribilof  herd  does  not  mingle  with  the  herd  located  on  the  Com- 
„.,.,.„  ,   p,,       mander  Islands.     This  I  know  from  the  fact  that  the 

Fribilor  and     Com-  ,  -iTv-iy^ 

mander  herds  do  not  herd  gocs  eastward  alter  entering  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
°""'^''*''  from  questioning  natives  and  half  breeds,  who  had  re- 

sided in  Kamschatka  as  employes  of  the  Eussian  Fur  Company,  I  learned 
that  the  Comman.der  herd  on  leaving  their  islands  go  sonthwestward 
into  the  Okhotsk  Sea  and  the  waters  to  the  southward  of  it  and  winter 
there.  This  fact  was  further  verified  by  whalers  who  find  them  there  in 
the  early  spring. 

The  Alaskan  seals  make  their  home  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  because 

they  need  for  the  period  they  spend  on  land  a  pecu- 
honl^^of°Aia^ak!m"eai'.  ^^^^'^Y  <iOol,  moist,  aud  cloudy  climatc,  with  very  little 

sunshine  or  heavy  I'ains.  This  peculiarity  of  climate  is 
only  to  be  found  on  the  Pribilof  and  Commander  islands,  and  during 
my  long  experience  in  the  jSTorth  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  I  never  found 
another  locality  which  possessed  these  conditions  so  favorable  to  seal 
life.  Add  to  this  fact  the  isolated  condition  of  the  seal  islands  and  we 
can  readily  see  why  the  seals  selected  this  home. 

The  inij)  seal  is  born  on  the  rocky  shores  of  these  islands,  the  mother 

evidently  ])refcrring  a  spot  covered  with  broken  lava 
riTbHofislandr.'^""  rfX'l^"'^  to  thc   sand   beaches.    The  birth  takes  place 

within  two  or  three  days  after  the  female  lands,  and 
often  within  a  iew  hours.  When  born  the  ])up  weighs  from  4  to  5 
pounds,  and  spends  the  first  six  weeks  of  its  existence  on  land.    Dur- 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  5 

ing  this  period  tlie  imp  is  in  no  sense  an  anipliibian,  being  as  lielijless 
iu  the  water  as  a  young  chieken;  it  can  uot  swim,  and  when  thrown  in 
the  water  woukl  inevitably  drown  if  not  rescued  by  its 
mother  or  by  man.  Therefore,  if  a  pup  was  born  in  po^'^/bfj''  ^""'  """ 
the  water  it  would  certainly  perish.  I  have  seen  cases 
where  a  mother,  being  taken  by  the  pains  of  parturition,  sought  the 
nearest  beach  rather  than  a  rookery,  not  having  time  to  reach  the 
latter  before  the  birth  of  her  pup.  If  pups  could  be  born  in  the  water 
such  cases  as  the  last  stated  would  uot  occur.  Tlie  pup  is  nursed  by 
its  mother  from  its  birth  so  long  as  it  remains  on  the  islands,  the 
mother  leaving  the  islands  at  different  intervals  of  time  after  the  pup 
is  three  or  four  days  old.  I  have  seen  pups,  which  I  had  previously 
marked  by  a  ribbon,  left  for  three  or  four  days  consecutively,  the 
mothers  going  into  the  water  to  feed  or  bathe.  A  mother  seal  will  in- 
stantly recognize  her  offspring  from  a  large  group  of  pups  on  the 
rookery,  distinguishing  it  by  its  cry  and  by  smell;  but  I  do  not  think 
a  pup  can  tell  its  own  Qiother,  as  it  will  nose  about  any  cow  which 
comes  near  it.  A  female  seal  does  not  suckle  any  pup  save  her  own, 
and  will  drive  away  any  other  pups  which  approach  her. 

I  am  positive  that  if  a  mother  seal  was  killed  her  pup  must  inevita- 
bly perish  by  starvation.  As  evidence  of  this  fact  I  will  state  that  I 
have  taken  stray,  motherless  pups  found  on  the  sand  beaches  and 
XJlaced  them  upon  the  breeding  rookeries  beside  milking  females  and 
in  all  instances  these  i)ups  have  finally  died  of  starvation.  When 
about  4  weeks  old  the  pups  get  together  in  groups  or  pods  and  ap- 
proach nearer  and  nearer  to  the  shore;  after  a  week  or  so  they  are 
down  near  the  surf  but  run  back  terrified  whenever  a  wave  comes  in. 
They  then  begin  to  get  acquainted  with  the  sea  and  little  by  little 
overcome  their  terror  and  learn  to  use  their  flippers.  I  have  seen  a 
female  sometimes  pick  her  pup  up  by  the  back  of  the  neck  and  carry 
it  out  into  the  water  and  let  go  of  the  little  animal,  catching  it  before 
it  drowned  and  holding  it  above  the  waves;  this  she  would  repeat  time 
and  again  until  the  little  fellow  got  over  his  terror  and  began  to  use 
his  flippers.  By  the  1st  of  September  nearly  all  the  pups  have  learned 
to  s^^'im,  and  until  the  time  of  their  departure  from  the  islands  spend 
their  time  both  on  land  and  in  the  water,  but  by  far  the  greater  por- 
tion of  this  period  is  spent  on  land.  The  time  they  leave  the  islands 
is  generally  tlie  middle  of  November,  but  the  weather  is  the  true  mark 
of  such  departure,  they  seeming  to  be  unwilling  to  stay  after  the  first 
snow  or  sleet  comes.  On  departing  from  their  island  home  they  pro- 
ceed southward  through  the  Aleutian  passes,  the  majority  going- 
through  or  to  the  eastward  of  the  pass  of  longitude  172°.  The  cause 
of  their  dei)arture  is  doubtless  the  approach  of  cold     ,,.     ^. 

,,  1  ^1       1       1       i?        on    ■       i.  J?       T  Migration,  cause  01. 

weather  and  tlie  lack  of  sufficient  lood. 

Providing  the  conditions  were  the  same  on  the  islands  the  year  round 
as  they  are  in  the  summer,  and  providing  the  food  supply  was  suffi- 
cient in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  islands,  I  think  the  seals  would 
remain  on  or  about  the  islands  during  the  entire  year.  The  seals  evi- 
dently consider  these  islands  their  home  and  only  leave  them  by  rea- 
son of  lack  of  food  and  inclement  weather.  Some  seals  remain  al)out 
the  islands  until  the  first  of  Januaiy,  and  the  winters  of  1874  and  1875 
being  exceptionally  mild,  seals  remained  on  or  in  tlie  vicinity  of  the 
islands  during  the  whole  year. 

From  my  inquiries  and  observations  I  am  convinced  the  seals,  after 
going  through  the  Aleutian  passes,  seek  the  vast  schools  of  fishes 


6  TESTIMONY 

Avl.icli,  at  this  sonsoii  of  tlieyear,  are  to  be  found  in  the  Korth  Pacific, 
tlien  followinsi:  these  lishes  as  tliey  niiji'iate  towards  the 
51  igratio,.,  course  of.  ^Yniericau  coast  for  tlie  imrpose  of  spawniug-,  they  ap- 
jiear  oil"  tlie  Californian  coast  duriiii*-  the  early  part  of  the  year.  The 
seals  then  go  nortlnvard,  .still  following  these  schools  offish,  the  males 
arri\  ing  again  at  iJering  Sea  in  the  early  part  of  May  and  the  females 
in  ritine  and  July  and  proceeding  at  once  to  their  island  home. 

The  young  seals  are  now  a  year  old,  and  I  am  of  the  opinion  the  sexes 
herd  together.  This  year  they  leave  the  islands  a  little  earlier  than 
the  previous  season  and  make  the  same  migratiot  in  search  of  food. 
Keturning  again,  this  time  as  "  two-year  olds,"  the  males  go  upon  the 
hauling  grounds  with  the  bachelor  seals  and  the  females  land  on  the 
breeding  rookeries.  It  is  probable  that  the  females  of  this  ageare  fertil- 
ized by  the  bulls  and  leave  the  islands  in  the  fall  pregnant. 

In  watching  the  seals  while  swimming  about  the  islands  I  have  seen 

cases  where  they  appeared  to  be  copulating  in  the  water,  but  I  am  cer- 

..     ^  .  ,  tain,  even  if  this  was  the  case,  that  the  propagation  of 

Proiiasationeiiectea    ,,       '  .        .  .  -,        '  n^     j.     i     •       xi  •  ±1 

ouiyonfand.  tlic  spccies  IS  uot  as  a  rulc  enected  m  this  Avay,  the 

natural  and  usual  manner  of  coition  being  xv^ow  land. 
On  returning  the  third  year  the  young  male  goes  agaiuupon  thehaid- 
ing  grounds  and  tlie  femaie  to  the  rookeries  where  she  brings  forth  one 
pup.  From  this  time  until  she  is  between  12  and  16  years  of  age  she 
continues  to  bear  one  pup  annually.  Under  my  direction  microscopic 
examinations  were  made  of  the  female  reproductive  organs,  which 
showed  that  some  of,  the  older  females  had  borne  at  least  eleven  to  thir- 
teen pups. 

When  the  male  seal  returns  after  his  sixth  or  seventh  migration  he 
goes  to  the  breeding  rookeries,  and,  if  he  is  able,  be- 
comes master  of  a  harem  with  the  title  of  "  seecatch." 
He  arrives  now  at  the  islands  during  the  month  of  May  and  after  re- 
peated battles  obtains  a  i)lace  upon  the  breeding  grounds.  He  remains 
there  about  tliree  months,  that  is,  during  the  rutting  season,  without 
eating  or  drinking,  never  leaving  his  position.  Here  he  gathers  about 
him  as  many  coavs  as  he  is  able  to  place  within  the  radius  of  the  area 
controlled  by  him;  the  average  seen  at  one  time  while  I  was  on  the 
islands  was  from  fifteen  to  twenty  to  a  bull;  but  as  the  cows  were  con- 
stantly going  to  and  coming  from  the  water  it  is  impossible  to  calculate 
accurately  the  number  to  a  harem.  Probably  not  all  the  cows  belong- 
ing to  a  bull  were  on  shore  at  any  one  time;  and  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  a  bull  could  if  necessary  serve  seventy-five  to  a  hundred  cows 
during  a  season, 

I  am  satisfied  the  princi])al  food  of  the  fur  seal  is  fish.    During  the 
summer  fish  are  practically  unknowMi  about  the  is- 
^'°^^^'  lands,  but  they  abound  in  great  quantities  in  all  parts 

of  Bering  Sea,  30  to  40  miles  Iroin  the  islands.     This  fact  came  to  my 
knowledge  during  my  eighteen  years' whaling  experience  in  that  local- 
ity.    J  do  not  think  the  male  seals  of  any  class  feed  to  any  extent  while 
located  at  the  islands,  but  the  females  are  absent  more  or  less  of  the 
time  in  search  of  food. 
By  my  observation  I  am  convinced  that  a  seal  cau  swim  more  rapidly 
than  any  si)ecies  of  fish,  and  I  believe  that  a  female 
Spee<  in  swiniiinii^r.  ^.^^,^]^|  j^^.^yg  ^j^p  islauds,  go  to  a  fishiug  grouiid  100 

miles  distant  ami  easily  return  the  same  day.  I  think  seals  can  with- 
out difliculty  swim  10,  15,  or  even  20  miles  an  hour  for  several  hours 
at  a  time. 


RELATING    TO    PPJBILOF    ISLANDS.  7 

I  liavo  furtlier  observed  the  fact  that  bulls  have  a  tendency  to  return 
to  the  same  place  on  the  same  rookery  year  after  year.  One  bull  in  par- 
ticular, which  I  knew  from  his  i^eculiarities,  returned  to  the  same  rock 
for  live  seasons. 

During-  my  observation  only  one  class  of  bachelor  seals  on  the  islands 
showed  any  deficiency  in  numbers,  and  1  accounted  for  this  fact  in  my 
report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  dated  September  5,  1872,  from 
which  I  quote:  "The  weather,  although  excessively 
foggy  and  disagreeable  to  the  residents  of  the  islands,  ^^^^^^^  <^f  slaughter 
has  been  especially  favorable  to  the  young  seals.  It  is 
also  observable  that  a  larger  number  of  yearlings  or  last  year  pups  than 
usual  have  returned  to  the  islands  the  present  season.  There  is  now 
oidy  a  deficiency  of  one  class,  that  of  the  four  and  five  year  old  seals. 
This  is  clearly  traceable  to  the  following  causes:  During  the  season  of 
18(38  there  were  killed  on  both  islands  -J20,000  animals  for  their  skins, 
and  in  the  season  of  1869,  85,000  for  their  skins.  At  that  time  the  rela- 
tive value  of  the  sizes  or  ages  of  the  skins  was  not  understood,  and  all 
the  skins  being  paid  for  at  the  same  price,  the  natives  who  were  quick 
to  perceive  the  diiierence  between  taking  a  small  skin  and  a  large  one 
and  carrying  it  to  the  salt  houses,  killed  all  the  yearlings  they  could; 
these  were  the  products  of  1807  and  1868.  These  were  sent  forward  in 
3  870  to  market  and  overstocked  it  with  small  skins.  This  created  a 
demand  for  larger  skins,  and  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  in- 
structed their  agents  to  take  all  the  large  skins  possible  in  1871;  this 
Avas  done  and  as  many  4  and  5  year  old  seals  as  could  be  taken.  This 
again  fell  on  the  already  diminished  product  of  1867  aiul  1868.  When 
these  were  sent  to  market  they  were  found  too  old,  and  now  the  proper 
medium  being  ascertained  the  seals  will  be  selected  accordingly." 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  killing  in  1868  was  done  by  un- 
authorized persons  before  the  Government  could  arrange  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  rookeries.     From  1870  up  to  the  time  I 
left  the  islands  in  1877,  the  females,  of  which  I  made  as 
careful  a  calculation  as  is  possible  by  measuring  the  areas  covered  by 
the  breeding  rookeries,  increased  from  4  to  5  per  cent  annually. 

The  whole  time  I  was  there  there  was  an  anqjle  supply  of  full-grown 
vigorous  males  sufficient  for  serving  all  the  females  on 
the  islands,  and  every  year  a  surphis  of  vigorous  bulls  ii|;'''''''""'^'  "^  ™''^*' 
could  always  be  found  about  the  rookeries  awaiting  an 
opportunity  to  usurp  the  place  of  some  old  or  wounded  bull,  unable 
longer  to  maintain  his  place  on  the  breeding  grounds.  I  should  except 
from  this  general  statement  the  seasons  of  1873  and  to  1875  when  the 
destruction  of  young  males  in  1868  and  the  error  made  by  the  company 
under  their  misapprehension  as  to  the  character  of  skins  to  be  taken  for 
market,  perceptibly  affected  the  males  on  the  breeding  groun.ds.  It  is 
not  certain  that  the  fertilizing  of  the  females  was  thereby  affected  and 
this  gap  was  filled  up  and  from  this  time  on  there  was  at  all  times  not 
only  a  sufficiency  but  a  surplus  of  male  life  for  breeding  purposes. 

The  increase  in  female  life  was  readily  determined  by  noticing  annually 
the  lines  of  demarkation  of  the  breeding  grounds  among  f,„.j.gagp 
the  rocks,  and  also  from  tlie  fact  that  many  lanes 
through  the  breeding  rookeries  to  the  hauling  grounds,  left  by  the  old 
males  for  the  use  of  the  bachelors,  which  existed  in  1870,  were  entirely 
closed  up  by  the  breeders  in  1877,  and  the  bachelor  seals  were  compelled 
to  haul  out' on  the  sand  beaches.  Another  proof  of  this  increase  was 
the  tact  that  in  1870  the  breeding-  seals  confined  themselves  to  the 


8  TESTIMONY 

shores  covered  M'itli  broken  rocks,  l)ut  h\  1877  the  areas  had  ineroased 
to  such  an  extent  that  a  eonsi<h'rable  ])erccntaf;e  of  the  breeding  seals 
extended  out  onto  tlie  sand  beaches,  -which  before  they  liad  carefully 
a\-oided.  for  reasons  I  have  hei'etofore  stated. 

The  i)ups  on  the  rookeries  were  fat  and  healthy,  and  while  I  was  on 

the  islands  no  epidemic  disease  ever  appeared  among  them,  nor  did  the 

natives  have  stories  of  an  epidemic  ever  destroying  them.    A  dead 

pup  was  rarely  seen,  the  dead  being  a  small  fraction 

Dead  pups  a  ranty.    ^^^.  ^  ^^^^.  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^,j^^^j^  number   of  pupS.      I    do    UOt 

think  while  I  was  there  I  saw  in  any  one  season  tifty  dead  pups  on  the 
rookeries,  and  the  majority  of  dead  pups  were  along  the  shore,  having 
been  killed  bj'  the  surf. 

J  )uring  the  entire  time  I  was  upon  the  islands  the  most  stringent  regu- 
lations were  always  enforced  in  relation  to  disturbing  the  rookeries  in 

any  way.  The  use  of  firearms  during  the  season  the 
foibW(S'onTsu!iTs^  seals  were  upon  the  islands  was  forbidden,  and  this  was 

enforced  by  taking  possession  of  the  guns  of  the  natives 
or  by  removing  the  locks  and  retaining  them  until  the  close  of  the  sea- 
son; also  all  dogs  Avere,  in  1869  or  1870,  destroyed  on  the  islands,  and 
no  others  were  allowed  to  be  brought  here. 

Tlie  driving  and  killing  of  the  bachelor  seals  was  always  carried  on 
in  the  most  careful  manner,  and  during  my  stay  upon  the  islands  there 

was  i)ractically  no  injnry  caused  to  seal  life  by  over- 
_^Diiviiig  ami  kill-  (ji-jyiug.^  jjj^jj  after  1873,  when  liorses  and  mules  were 

introduced  by  the  lessees  to  transport  the  skins,  the 

seals  were  not  driven  as  far,  killing  grounds  being  established  near  the 

hauling  grounds  and  the  loss  by  overdriving  was  reduced  to  the  frac- 

^  -,  .  .  tion  of  1  per  cent,     Kedriving  of  the  growing  males 

from  the  various  hauling  grounds  was  made  at  inter- 
vals of  several  days,  and  did  not  cause  them  any  injury,  and  I  am 
tlioronghly  satisfied  that  there  was  not  a  single  instance  in  which  the 
virility  of  a  male  seal  was  destroyed  or  impaired  by  redriving. 

In  all  cases,  at  suitable  intervals  and  before  driving  to  the  killing 
grounds,  the  herd  washalted  and  the  males  of  5  years  old  or  older  were 
allowed  to  escape.  Females  were  never  driven,  excei^t  in  a  few  cases 
A\  here  a  barren  one  had  hauh^d  u])  with  the  bachelors,  but  I  do  not 
think  in  ten  thousand  females  there  is  one  barren. 

The  general  methods  employed  under  American  rule  were  far  su- 

in,pr<.vo,i  ,nai.a-o.  Vf^^'^OY  to  tliosc  of  the  Eusslaus,  as  will  be  readily  un- 

mciii    iiiuicr  Aiiurii-  dcrstood  fVom  the  following  facts. 

'=■'"'  '""*'"'•  When  I  first  visited  the  seal  islaudsin  1868  the  natives 

were  living  in  semi  subterranean  houses  built  of  turf  and  such  jjieces  of 

driftwood  and  whalebones  as  they  were  able  to  secure  on 

condiiionofnatiyes  tlic  bcach.     Thcir  food  had  been  prior  to  that  time  in- 

Company.  sulnc'ient  ill  Variety,  and  was  comprised  ot  sea'  meat 

and  a  few  other  articles,  furnished  in  meager  qvantity 
by  the  Eussian  Fur  Company.  They  had  no  fuel,  and  depended  ^  .r  heat 
upon  the  crowding  together  in  their  turf  houses,  sleeping  in  th-  drie-l 
grasses  secured  upon  the  islands.  Forced  to  live  under  these  condi- 
tions they  could  not  of  course  make  progress  towards  civilization. 
There  were  no  fa(;ilitics  for  transi)()itiiig  the  skins.  They  Avere  carried 
on  the  l)acks  of  the  natives,  entailing  great  labor  and  hardship,  and  by 
reas(»n  of  these  tedious  methods  the  taking  of  the  annual  catch  was 
extended  over  a  number  of  months,  being  a  continual  source  of  moles- 
tation to  the  hauling  seals. 


J^ 


^  ^-»T-?Af^ 


-m     ,.  '     t^J<..rtil 


—    i:^ 


RELATING    TO    PRFBILOF    ISLANDS.  9 

Very  soon  after  tbe  islands  eanio  into  the  possession  of  the  American 
Government  all  this  was  changed.  Their  nnderground 
earthen  lodges  were  replaced  by  warm,  comfortable  niIiaJeL4™ "''''''' 
wooden  cottages  for  each  family;  fuel,  food,  and 
clothing  were  furnished  tliein  at  prices  25  per  cent  above  the 
wholesale  price  of  San  Francisco;  churches  were  built  and  school 
houses  maintained  for  their  benetit,  and  everything  done  that  would 
insure  their  constant  advancement  in  the  way  of  civilization  and  ma- 
terial progress.  Instead  of  being  mere  creatures  of  tlie  whims  of  their 
rulers  they  were  phiced  upon  an  equal  footing  with  white  men,  and  re- 
ceived by  law  a  stipulated  sum  for  each  skin  taken.  So  that  about 
$40,000  was  annually  divided  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  is- 
lands. In  ])lace  of  the  skin-clad  natives  living  in  turf  lodges  which 
I  found  on  arriving  on  the  island  in  1809,  I  left  them  in  1877  as  well 
fed,  as  well  clothed,  and  as  well  housed  as  the  people  of  some  of  our 
New  England  villages.  They  had  school  facilities,  and  on  Sunday  they 
went  to  service  in  their  pretty  Greek  church  with  its  tastefully  ar- 
ranged interior;  they  wore  the  clothing  of  civilized  men  and  had  polish 
on  their  boots.  All  these  results  are  directly  traceable  to  the  seal 
fisheries  and  their  imjnoved  management. 

In  addition  to  this  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  as  previously 
stated,   had  introduced  far  better  facilities,  such  as     „,  ,.      , . 

boats,  horses,  mules,  and  carts,  tor  transporting  the 
skins,  and  improved  methods  of  caring  for  them,  ^^hich  not  only 
greatly  reduced  the  labor  required  of  the  natives,  but  which,  when 
aided  by  their  improved  physical  condition  and  the  increased  number 
of  the  seals,  enabled  the  company  to  take  their  full  quota  in  thirty 
working  days  in  1877. 

This  alone  enormously  reduced  the  molestation  of  the  seals  on  the 
hauling  grounds,  for  in  the  old  Eussian  days,  as  previously  stated,  the 
seals  were  driven  and  killed  at  all  times  during  their  presence  on  the 
island. 

If  the  seals  were  as  numerous  to-day  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  the 
manner  of  driving  and  killing  conducted  in  the  same  xmuiH  r  timt  mi-iit 
manner  as  during  my  experience  there,  one  hundred  i.ekiiu.i  under i)iof)er 
thousand  male  seals  of  from  2  to  4  years  of  age  could  i^'''<iit-ii""s. 
be  taken  from  the  hauling  grounds  annually  for  an  indefinite  period 
without  diuunution  of  the  seal  herd. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  Pril)ilof  seal  herd  should  be  protected 
throughout  Bering  Sea  and  also  in  the  North  Piicilic 
Ocean.  A  zone  of  30,  40,  or  50  miles  about  the  islands  ,JJ:''"'"'"""  "*'""'" 
in  which  sealing  is  prohibited  would  be  of  little  or  no 
protection,  as  the  females,  during  the  breeding  season,  after  their  pups 
are  born,  wander  at  intervals  over  Bering  Sea  in  search  of  food.  But 
to  suppose  an  impossibility,  even  if  such  a  zone  could  protect  seal  life,  it 
would  be  impossible,  on  account  of  the  atmosphere  being  so  constantly 
foggy  and  misty,  to  prevent  vessels  from  crossing  an  imaginary  line 
drawn  at  such  a  distance  from  and  about  the  Pribiloi'  Islands. 

Charles  Bryant. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  tho 
District  of  Columbia,  this  10th  day  of  April,  1802. 
[L.  s.]  Sevellon  a.  Brown. 


10  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Joseph  Sttoihy  Brown,  f/eolof/isf  in  the  U.  S.  Geological  Sur- 
vey and  Hpc.eial  agent  of  the  Treasury. 

HABITS    AND   KOOKERIES. 

J)lSTinOT    OF   COLrMCIA, 

City  of  Washinyton,  ss: 
Josepli  Stanley  Brown,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  3G 
years  of  age;  am  a  citizen  of  the  United  States;  reside 
"^^^I'-i^ent^"*  '^^  in  Mentor,  Oliio;  am  by  profession  a  geologist,  and  as 
spcci.i  .i^en  .  such  am  employed  in  tlie  U.  S.  Geological  Survey. 

In  Ax)ril,  1891,  I  was  ordered  by  tlie  honorable  tlie  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  to  Avliose  direction  the  ofticers  of  the  Geological  Survey  are 
snbjcct,  to  re]K)rt  to  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  jjer- 
sonally  for  special   service.     This  I  did,  and  on  the  27th  of  that  month 
I  rectiived  fi'om  the  latter  a  temporary  api^ointment  as  special  agent. 
On  May  4  I  was  given  instructions  to  visit  the  Pribilof  Islands,  for 
the  purpose  of  studying  the  seal  life  found  thereon, 
Instructions.  -^vith  a  view  to  i^rocuriug  full  and  accurate  information, 

not  only  as  to  its  present  general  condition,  but  also  more  specifically  as 
to  any  increase  or  diminution  of  the  seal  herd  that  makes  its  home  uijon 
the  islands.  I  was  further  instructed,  sliould  I  find  that  change  had  oc- 
(mrred,to  inquire  carefully  into  its  relative  amount  and  the  causes  lead- 
ing thereto.  My  duties  were  in  no  way  connected  with  the  administra- 
tion of  the  islands,  but  I  was  left  free  to  make  as  exhaustive  and 
comprehensive  an  examination  of  seal  life  on  the  islands  as  the  time  at 
my  disposal  would  permit. 

In  accordance  with  my  instructions  I  proceeded  to  San  Francisco 
_   ,        and  on  the  27th  dav  of  May  sailed  for  Bering  Sea  on  the 

Voyac'e  on  Hush.  t  r     •  ^      i     n  j     ,  "  ,  t>       i         m? 

United  States  revenue  steamer  Rush.  The  Bush  ar- 
rived at  St.  George  Island  on  June  9th  and  at  St.  Paul  on  the  following- 
day.  I  entered  immediately  upon  the  work  assigned  me  and  continued 
it  interruptedly  until  September  22,  when  the  Bush  returned  to  San 
Francisco,  arriving  there  on  October  2. 
Of  theonehundred  and  thirty  days  devoted  to  field  investigation  eighty 
sourcesof  informa-  wcrc  giveu  to  the  two  islauds  and  fifty  spent  at  sea  in 
*'""•  making  the  voyage  to  and  from  San  Francisco  and  in 

cruising  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Piibilof  Islands.  This  cruising  carried 
me  as  far  north  as  the  island  of  St.  Matthew  and  of  Nunivak,  and  gave 
me  an  opportunity  to  visit  the  villages  of  Akutau,  Unalaska,  Makushin, 
Uashega,  and  Chernofsky,  on  tlie  Aleutian  chain.  Thus  by  field  inves- 
tigatiou,  by  crnising,  as  well  as  by  seeking  information  from  those 
(inalified  by  their  calling  to  give  it,  I  sought  to  familiarize  myself  with 
the  seal  question  in  all  its  phases. 

In  the  prosecution  of  my  investigations  I  deemed  it  desirable  to  pho- 

tograi)h  all  the  rookeries  often  from  two  positions;  to 
^^Photograpi.edrook-  j^,.^j.^,  ,j  ^vneral  topographic  siu'vey  of  both  islands  on 

a  scale  of  1  mile  to  the  inch  and  to  prepare  detailed 
charts  of  the  rookeries  upon  the  unusnally  large  scale  of  2(31  feet  to  the 
snrvey  of  islands  i"*'!^-     1"  caiTyiiig  oiit  this  work  I  examiiicd  the  entire 
and  ciiaits  of  rooker-  sliorc  liiics  of  St.  Paul  aud  St.  Gcorgc,  and  there  is  not 
'"'*■  an  area  of  a  mile  square  upon  either  that  I  have  not 

traversed  nor  a  square  hundred  leet  upon  a  rookery  i  hat  I  have  not  re- 
peatelly  inspected.    The  close  attention  to  topographic  forms  demanded 

in  i)latting  rookeries  with  so  much  minuteness  and  the 
amination.''' ^  "''''''  care  required  in  selcct  ing  the  best  positions  to  secure 

photographs  inevitably  drew  me  in  close  contact  with 
seal  life  and  greatly  increased  my  oppoVtunities  to  study  it.     There  was 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF   ISLANDS.  11 

hardly  a  day  in  wliicli  I  did  not  have  a  chance  to  examine  the  rookeries 
and  observe  rookery  life  in  its  varied  forms.  In  all  my  work  upon 
the  islands  I  was  constantly  attended  by  native  Aleuts,  who  assisted 
ill  transporting-  my  iiLstruments  and  other  impedimenta.  Several  of 
these  could  speak  fair  English.  Our  intim  ite  daily  relations,  which  ex- 
tended over  nearly  three  months,  were  under  conditions  that  offered 
neither  incentive  to  secrecy  nor  to  deception,  and,  while  their  general 
views  on  and  theory  of  senl  life  are  to  be  received  with  caution,  they 
are  keen  observers  of  little  details,  and  from  them,  their  friends,  and 
old  Russian  records  on  the  islands  1  received  many  valuable  hints  of 
a  natural-history  and  historical  character. 

This  little  group  of  islets,  consisting,  in  theorder  of  their  magnitude, 
of  St.  Paul,  St.  George,  Otter,  and  Walrus  islands,  were 
created  in  the  shallow  waters  of  Bering  Sea  by  volcanic        "  ' "  ^"'■'"'^•''• 
agency.     Outpour  upon  outpour  of  basaltic  lava  gave  to  St.  Paul  low- 
lying  sea  margins  which  the  waves  and  ice  ground  into 
bowlders,  pebbles,  and  sand,  and  distributed  into  long     ^^'  '^     *'"^  ' 
reaches  of  sandy  shore  at  several  points.     The  island  lies  to  day,  except 
for  these  minor  changes,  just  as  it  Avas  created.     Cliffs  are  infrequent 
and  there  are  from  20  to  2~>  miles  of  alternating  areas  of  sand,  rocky 
ledges,  and  bowlder-covered  shores  that  could  be  made  available,  did 
an  expanding  herd  demand  it,  for  the  uses  of  the  seal.    About  37  or  38 
miles  to  the  southeast  lies  the  second  largest  of  the      ^,  ^        ^  ,    , 

c-i,     y^  T   .    1       ,T  1      _f>  ^     •      j_i  St.  George  Island. 

grcmp,  St.  George,  which,  though  lormed  in  the  same 
manner  as  its  neighbor,  has  nevertheless  been  so  modified  by  orograi)hic 
movement  as  to  form  a  strong  contrast  to  it  topographicall}-.  Bold, 
towering  cliffs  are  the  rule,  low-lying  shores  are  rare,  and  it  can  boast 
of  only  about  6  or  8  miles  of  really  satisfactory  rookery  space  along 
the  entire  sea  front.  As  a  natural  result  St.  Paul  can  and  does  support 
a  far  greater  seal  population  than  St.  George. 

The  greatest  length  of  either  of  these  islands  would  be  covered  by  12 
miles,  while  6  would  easily  span  them  at  their  widest 
X>art.     Otter  and  Walrus  islands,  the  former  about  G     ''^*^*'  ^"'^^  ^' 
miles  to  the  southward  and  the  latter  about  7  miles  to  the  eastward  of 
St.  Paul,  are  mere  rocky  remnants  and  now  play  no 
part  as  breeding  grounds  for  the  seal,  and  it  is  ques-  j^/^^^fj  '"""^  wairus 
tionable  if  they  ever  did.     The  islands  are  far  removed 
from  other  land  areas,  the  nearest  point  on  the  Aleutian  Archipelago 
lying  200  miles  to  the  southward. 

Themeteorologic  conditions  in  these  latitudes  are  such  that  fogs  and 
mists  hang  so  continuously  over  the  land  and  water  as 
to  make  navigation  very  uncertain  and  dangerous.  So  (11^0*113°'^*'''*^'"'  '^°^ 
all-enveloping  are  these  vapors  that  it  is  often  inqsossi- 
ble  to  see  the  shore  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  and  so  tickle  are  the 
fogs  and  mists  that  I  ascended  Bogaslov,  the  central  cone  of  the  island 
of  St.  Paul,  live  times  before  I  could  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  hills  imme- 
diately .surrounding  it,  and  this,  too,  when  each  occasion  was  selected 
for  its  i)romise  ol  clearness.  The  temi)erature  of  the  warm  season  aver- 
ages about  450  or  50°,  and,  though  no  trees  grow  upon  the  islands,  the 
excessive  humidity  is  so  favorable  for  grasses,  flowers,  and  other  herb- 
age that  they  grow  with  a  rapidity  and  flourish  with  a  luxuriance  difld- 
cult  to  realize  and  unknown  in  the  north  tein])erate  zone. 

Many  ex])lanations  have  been  offered  of  the  seals  having  selected 
these  islands  as  their  home.     j\[y  observation  does  not    -,^        ,.^  .. 

1,  1         ,     ,      ,-,      ■  ,1-n  1      ^     Home  of  the  lur-seal. 

enable  me  to  state  their  reason  for  having  done  so,  but 

the  fact  remains  substantiatiMl  by  my  experince  and  that  of  all  others 

of  whom  inquiries  were    made  that  these  remote,  rock-bound,  fog- 


12  TESTIMONY 

(luMH'lu'd  islands  are  the  clioseu  resort  of  the  fur-bearing-  seal  (Callo- 
rliiniis  vr.siniis).  Tlie  more  jagiiied  and  irregular  the  lavafragments  that 
cover  the  shore,  the  more  eoutiuuous  the  drenching  they  receive  from 
the  moisture-laden  atmosphere,  the  better  the  seals  seem  to  like  it. 
jS'either  from  personal  observation,  from  inquiries  of  the  natives  on  the 
islands  and  the  villages  of  the  Aleutian  chain,  nor  from  questioning- 
seafaring  men,  -who,  by  opportunity  for  observation  and  general  intel- 
ligence, -were  competent  to  inform  me,  could  I  learn  of  anj'  other  land 
area  ever  having  been  selected  by  this  herd  of  fur-seal  for  its  residence 
and  lor  the  perpetuation  of  its  species. 

1  learned  that  fur-seals  of  the  s]>ecies  Callorhinus  nrsinus  do  breed 

and  haul  out  at  the  Commander  Islands  and  llobbiu 

('oimiinn.U'iisiaiids  ]{eef,  ))ut  tlic  statements  made  to  me  were  unanimous 

that  they  are  a  sejiarate  herd,  the  pelt  ot    winch  is 

readily  distinguishable  from  that  of  the  Pribilof  herd,  and  that  the 

two  herds  do  not  intermingle. 

As  a  result  of  the  volcanic  origin  of  the  islands  their  shores  are,  with 
few  exceptions,  either  made  u])  of  bowlder-strewn 
KookciRs.  ]i{,vi\  ledges  or  covered  by  jagged  fragments  of  basalt 

of  all  sizes,  the  sharp  edges  of  which  are  only  slightly  worn  by  the 
seals'  tii])pers  or  more  completely  rounded  by  the  waves  at  the  water's 
edge.  There  are  a  few  true  sand  beaches;  occasional  level  areas  are 
found  at  the  back  of  the  rookeries,  and  in  some  places  between  the 
rock  nuisses  comparatively  smooth  intersi)aces  occur,  but  even  the 
level  portions  referred  to  must  be  reached  by  crossing  a  Avide  belt  of 
bowlders  of  all  sizes  that  have  been  pushed  landward  by  the  waves 
and  by  the  ice  which  annually  surrounds  the  islands.  It  is  u])on  such 
shoics  that  the  seal  "rookeries"  are  located.  Of  the  ruggeduess  of 
these  shores  or  of  the  irregularity  and  confusion  of  the  lava  blocks 
that  cover  them  it  is  diflicult  to  form  a  picture,  but  it  is  in  a  measure 
indicated  in  the  accompanying  photographs. 

A  rookery  thus  ])resents  two  distinct  features  structurally,'  while 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  seal  life  thereon  there  are 
iii^'.trom'ifis'''''^  '''"'  again  the  two  well-recognized  divisions  of  "breeding- 
grounds"  and  "hauling  grounds."  The  word  "rook- 
ery" is  a  general  one  and  includes  the  specitic  terms  "breeding  grounds" 
and  "hauling  grounds." 

In  general  and  by  i)reference  the  more  rocky  areas  are  selected  by 
the  females  as  "bleeding  grounds,"  and  here,  of  course,  the  breeding 
l)ulls  are  found  ;  while  tlie  young,  immature  males  or  bachelor  seals  are 
relegate<l  to  the  adjacent  sandy  shores  or  smoother  spaces  at  the  rear 
of  tlie  rookeries  for  their  "hauling  grounds." 

( )ver  these  massesof  rock  the  females  scramble  and  stumble  during  the 
entire  bleeding  season,  and  in  maintaining  the  control  of  his  household 
the  bull  dashes  here  and  there,  striking  repeatedlj^  against  the  sharp 
edges  of  the  rocks  with  a  force  that  to  the  onlooker  would  seem  to 
threaten  his  life. 

At  no  time  during  1801  was  there  other  than  the  greatest  care  exer- 
,,  .   ,.        cised  in  inotecting  the  breeding  grounds  from  intrusion 

ilMIiagClllOUt  ot.  1  1      J  ■  •  1         .  T  ,  1  i 

or  molestation,  precautions  l)eing  taken  that  to  a  novice 
would  seem  excessive;  nor  could  I  iind  by  the  most  diligent  inquiry 
among  the  natives  that  there  had  been  any  deviation  from  these  rules 
Bince  the  American  occupancy  of  the  islands,  nor  during  that  time  had 
there  been  the  killing  of  a  female  seal  save  by  the  rarest  accident. 

The  "hauling  gr<mnds"  of  the  young  badielors,  which  is  usually 
somewhat  removed  from  the  "  breeding  grounds,"  is  the  only  portion  of 
a  rookery  uiwu  which  any  intrusion  is  iiermitted. 


J^m 


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RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  13 

An  inspection  of  the  general  map  of  St.  Paul  Island  will  show  that 
there  are  now  existing  thereon  practically  ten  rookeries,  some  of  which, 
however,  coalesce. 

These  rockeries  are:  Northeast  Point,  Little  Pola- 
vina.  Big  Polavina,  Lukannon,  Ketavie,  Pecf,  Garbotch,   p,^,"?siand.  "'^  ^*' 
Lagoon,  Tolstoi,  Zapadnie. 

Upon  the  island  of  8t.  George  it  will  be  seen  that 
there  are  five  rookei  ies :  Great  East,  Little  East,  North,   GemSiS.i'"'  ^*' 
Starry  Arteel,  Zapadnie. 

Shoreward  the  limit  of  a  breeding  rookery  is  sometimes  defined  by 
topographic  conditions,  as  in  the  case  of  a  blnii",  but      ^   .,    .       , 

\'^    ^     -,'-■,.„  ,    .       '  j_i       1  T  Limits  of  a  rookery. 

the  seal  life  present  m  any  one  year  upon  the  breeduig 
ground  is  the  true  standard  for  the  determination  of  boundaries. 
Upon  the  large  scale  charts  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  II,  I,  J,  K,  will  be 
seen  the  approximate  areas  occupied  as  "breeding  grounds"  in  1891, 
as  observed  by  me,  while  the  areas  for  certain  previous  years  have  been 
indicated  by  other  observers. 

The  area'^  of  a  "hauling  ground"  is  an  ever-changing  quantity,  but 
the  locality  at  which  bachelor  seals  hauled  in  1891  and  the  approximate 
areas  hauled  over  is  also  indicated  on  the  charts. 

The  seals  whicli  make  their  home  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands  are 
readily  thrown  into  five  general  groups.  (1)  The  breed- 
ing males  or  bulls.  (2)  The  breeding  females.  (3)  The  ^^'J'-^^''--  a^'^  gionps 
immatui  e  males  or  bachelor  seals.  (4)  Virgin  females, 
and  (5)  The  pups.  Eacli  has  its  own  time  of  arrival,  each  its  separate 
career  on  the  islands,  and  each  its  season  for  the  annual  expedition  into 
the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  records  kept  upon  the  islands  concerning  the  arrival  of  seals 
show  that  in  the  last  days  of  April  or  first  days  of  May     ^^.^i^j^iof  i^^u,. 
the  bulls  begin  to  make  their  appearance.    The  first 
arrival  on  St.  Paul  in  1871  was  on  3Iay  4,  in  1890  on  April  2G.     In  the 
year  1876  the  unusual  fact  appears  in  the  record  that  a  large  number  of 
bulls  were  in  the  waters  about  the  island  on  February  15.     About  one 
month  after  the  arrival  of  the  bulls  or  in  the  first  days     ^^^.^  i„fcows 
of  June  the  females  begin  to  appear.     In  1891  the  max-       ^  "^  " 
imum  of  daily  arrivals  was  reached  from  June  -:4  to  28.     Between  the 
arrivals  of  bulls  and  females  but  rather  closely  follow- 
ing the  bulls,  come  the  bachelors;  those  immature  young  i„i^"'''"^  "^   ''"^■''*'' 
males  which  furnish  the  skins  of  commerce.    The  na- 
tives after  the  long  winter  are  eager  for  fresh  meat  and  it  is  usually 
possible  to  make  drives  of  them  fi)r  food  not  later  than  May  15,  and 
sometimes  from  a  week  to  ten  days  earlier. 

The  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  virgin  cows  is  not  easy  to  determine, 
but  from  my  observation  mv  present  conclusion  is  that 
they  arrive  with  the  cows  and  fi)r  a  while  spend  tlieir   cows!''"^  "^  ^''''"'" 
time  in  the  water  or  on  the  land  adjacent  to  the  rookery 
nmrgin. 

The  birth  of  the  pups  is  nearly  synchronous  with      _,. ,.    . 

.  i      i  J       -^  Birth  of  pups. 

the  arrival  oi  the  mothers. 

Upon  reaching  the  islands  in  early  June  I  found  that  the  bulls,  in 
accordance  with  their  habit  had  not  only  preempted      ^^^^j^^ 
their  claims  up(m  the  breeding  grounds  but  were  well 
established  in  their  possession.     Being  polygamous  each  bull  seeks  to 
gather  around  himself  as  many  cows  as  possible  to  form      ..  naroni.s." 
what  has  a])])roiniate1y  been  called  his  "harem."    Here 
and  there  at  wide  intervals  a  few  cows  were  already  to  be  seen  beside 


14  TESTIMONY 

them  but  at  no  time  during  the  season  were  tne  rookeries  free  from  the 
contention  of  the  males  that  sought  by  coaxing  or  theft  to  procure  females 
witli  \viii<'li  to  increase  their  harems,  and  from  the  time  I  landed  until  the 
close  of  July  no  master  of  a  harem  abandoned  his  ])osition  to  procure 
cither  food  or  water.  These  bulls  during  the  breeding  season  were  the 
end)odiment  of  ferocity  and  at  no  time  did  I  see  one  of  them  that  would 
not  instantly  and  fiercely  resist  any  encroachment  upon  his  territory 
wliethcr  it  were  made  by  his  neighbor  or  by  man.  At  no  time  would  a  bull 
fail  to  scramble  across  the  rocks  or  course  rapidly  around  his  harem  to 
coerce  a  rebellious  or  deserting  consort.     The  creature  that  can  exist 

without  nourishment  for  eighty  or  innety  days  while 
''^''^'  subject  to  the  greatest  physical  exertion  and  strain 

nuist  ])0ssess  a  vitality  unsur[)assed  by  any  other  member  of  the  ani 
mal  kingdom  and  iiuist  bequeath  to  its  offspring  even  in  their  imma- 
turity an  unusual  capacity  for  endurance. 

From  my  observation  as  to  the  vitality  of  male  seals  I  believe  that  it 
is  difficult  to  determine  with  absolute  accuracy  the  capacity  of  the  bull 
for  rookery  service,  as  it  must  in  large  measure  depend  upon  the  per- 
sonal equation  of  the  individual,  but  I  am  nevertlieless  of  the  opinion 
that  a  conservative  estimate  would  be  tliat  he  could  serve  without  dif- 
ficulty at  least  one  cow  per  day  during  his  stay  upon  the  rookery.  Pos- 
sibly the  best  results  would  not  be  achieved  thereby,  but  this  capacity 
taken  in  connection  with  the  f\ict  that  young  males  persistently  seek 
their  opportunities  upon  the  rookery  margins  and  at  the  water's  edge 
during  the  entire  season  leaves  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  no  breeding 
female  leaves  the  island  unimpregnated.  This  view  is  further  borne 
out  by  the  fact  that  in  the  first  days  of  rookery  life  I  repeatedly  counted 
groups  of  female  seals  by  the  side  of  each  of  which  lay  her  pup. 

The  number  of  females  which  a  bull  is  able  to  gather  around  him  to 

form  his  harem,  depending  as  it  does  in  some  measure 
a  hlrein.''  "^  '^'^'^^ '"  upou  topogTapliic  coiulitions,  may  be  represented  by  the 

extremes  of  one  and  seventy-five.  The  average  number 
of  last  year  was  about  twenty  or  twenty  five.  Unusually  large  harems 
were  infrequent. 

The  abundance  of  male  life  for  service  upon  the  rookeries  was  evi- 
denced by  tlie  number  of  young  bulls  which  continually  sought  lodg- 
ment upon  the  breeding  grounds. 

It  is  highly  improbable  that  the  rookeries  have  ever  sustained  any 

injury  from  insufficient  service  on  the  part  of  the  males, 
proplat/on."'"'*'' ^'"'  ^OY  auy  male  that  did  not  possess  sufficient  vitality  for 

sustained  potency  would  inevitably  be  dei)rived  of  his 
harem  by  either  his  neighbor  or  some  lusty  young  aspirant,  and  this 
dispossession  would  be  rendered  the  more  certain  by  the  disloyalty  of 
his  consorts. 

Pelagic  coition  I  believe  to  be  impossible.     The  process  upon  land 

by  reason  of  the  formation  of  the  genital  organs  is  that 
polsibfo!^  coition  im-  of  a  inamund ;  is  violent  in  ciiaracter,  and  consumes  from 

five  to  eight  minutes.  The  relative  sizes  of  the  male 
and  female  are  so  dis])ro])ortionate  that  coitus  in  the  water  would  inev- 
itably submerge  the  female  and  require  that  she  remain  under  water 
longer  tlian  would  be  possible  to  such  an  amphibian.  I  have  sat  upon 
the  cliffs  for  liours  and  watched  seals  beneath  me  at  play  in  the  clear 
water.  It  is  true  that  many  of  their  antics  nught  be  mistaken  for  copu- 
lation by  a  careless  observer,  ami  this  may  have  given  rise  to  the  theory 
of  ]i("lagic  coition.  I  Imve  never  seen  a  case  of  the  many  observed 
whicii  upon  the  facts  could  properly  be  so  construed. 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  15 

When  the  season  is  over  t.lic  bulls,  now  reduced  in  weight,  find  their 
way  to  the  sea  for  re;  uperation. 

My  observation  has  been  that  the  female  seal,  prompted  by  the  mater- 
nal instinct,  lands,  chooses  by  preference  the  rocky  ^^^^^ 
shore,  and  is  permitted  a  certain  amount  of  freedom  in 
going  her  way  until  just  the  place  most  to  her  liking  is  found,  but  Avhen 
once  parturition  is  completed  she  then,  being  of  necessity  tied  to  the 
spot,  becomes  subject  to  the  control  of  the  male,  which  control  is  exer- 
cised with  rigor.  Sliould  the  point  of  access  to  a  rookery  be  through 
a  break  in  the  cliff  that  offers  only  a  steep  incline  the  chances  are  the 
bulls  located  near  will  be  favored  by  large  harems. 

From  the  frequency  with  whicli  I  saw  females  select  a  flat  stone  over 
the  edge  of  which  the  posterior  ])ortioii  of  the  body  could  hang  previ- 
ous to  delivery,  suggests  an  exidanation  of  why  the  rocky  margins  are 
preferred  to  the  sandy  shores.  It  is  not  possible  to  determine  how 
soon  afterthe  arrival  of  the  mother  the  pup  is  born,  for  she  may  have 
l)een  in  the  water  adjacent  to  the  island  several  days  before  finding  it 
necessary  to  come  ashore.  But  the  accouchement  follows  quickly  upon 
the  landing.  Very  soon  thereafter  the  females  i  eceive  the  males,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  master  of  the  harem  has  knowledge  of 
the  female's  condition  as  regards  piegnaucy,  for  while  some  of  his  con- 
sorts, the  latest  arrivals,  are  jealously  guarded,  others  are  permitted 
greater  freedom. 

For  the  first  few  days,  and  possibly  for  a  week  or  even  ten  days,  the 
female  is  able  to  nourish  her  young  or  offspring,  but 
she  is  soon  compelled  to  seek  the  sea  for  food,  that  her  y^fug^''""""'    °^ 
voracious  young  feeder  may  be  properly  nourished,  and 
this  seems  to  be.  permitted  on  the  part  of  the  male,  even  though  under 
protestation.    The  v\'hole  physical  economy  of  the  seal  seems  to  be  ar- 
ranged for  alternate  feasting  and  fasting,  and  it  is  probable  tliatin  the 
early  days  of  its  life  the  youug  seal  migh.t  be  amply  nourished  by  such 
milk  as  its  mother  might  be  able  to  furnish  without  herself  resorting  to 
the  sea  for  food. 

The  female  gives  birtli  to  but  a  single  pup.     The  labor  is  of  short 
duration,  and  seems  not  to  produce  great  pain.     In  the 
first  weeks  of  its  life  the  pup  does  not  seem  to  recognize  .,^,j,'*e!"'"  '"'^  *""'•"  "'*' 
its  mother,  but  the  latter  will  recognize  and   select 
her  offspring  among  hundreds. 

The  young  on  being  born  have  all  the  appearance  of  pu])s  of  a  New- 
foundland dog  with  fiippers.     On  emerging  from  their      ^,_^  ^^ 
warm  resting-place  into  the  chill  air  they  utter  a  plain- 
tive bleat  not  unlike  that  of  a  young  lamb.     The  mother  fondles  them 
with  many  demonstrations  of  affection,  and  they  begin  nursing  soon 
after  birth. 

Were  not  the  seals  in  their  organs  of  reproduction,  as  well  as  in  all 
the  incidents  of  procreation,  essentially  land  animals, 
the  fact  that  the  iilacenta  remains   attached  to  the  anhuai". ''*  ^^ 
pup  by  the  umbilical  cord  for  twenty- four  hours  or  even 
more  alter  birth,  would  show  the  impossibility  of  atiuatic    ^^^^^''■^(Jpj''   ^"'"'  ''"' 
birth.     I  have  seen  pups  dragging  the  caul  over  the   '"'"^'" 
ground  on  the  third  day  aftei-'birth.     Even  could  the  pup  stand  the 
bufleting  of  the  waves  it  would  not  survive  such  an  anchor.     So  pup 
could  be  born  in  the  water  and  live.     Dimhtless  the  habits  of  the  sea- 
otter  have  become  confused  with  tliose  of  the  fur  seal. 


16  TESTIMONY 

The  pup  diuin.u'  tlu^  (irst  iiumtlis  of  its  life  is  not  aiiipliibions.     It 

does  not  even  use  its   Hippevs   as  tlie  uiatuier  seals. 

Pup    .luiins  first  It   luovcs  lu  R  gait  uiore  like  going  on    "all  fours," 

numthsnot  a,npbibi.   ^^^^^.^^  ,^^^  ,^^^^^j^  ^^,.^,  ^^^^^^^^^^  ^^  drawing  up  tlie  hind 

quarters   as   a   whole   and    then   throwing   itself  for- 
ward its  owu  length. 

The  young  seals  reciuire  the  nourishing  eare  of  their  mother  for  at 
T,      .  ^,    ,    least  four  months,  and  pu])S  have  been    killed  on  the 

Require      mother  s    .   ,         i    i    j.      •      -v-  i  ^.T         i.  i  a-       i  •    i 

caro  for   first   four  ishxud  hitc  HI  jSoveuiber  the  stomachs  oi  which  were 

By  the  middle  of  July  the  mothers  were  going  constantly  back  and. 
p^^^^^.^  forth  to  sea ;  the  pups,  left  more  to  themselves,  collected. 

°'  *  '"^'  in  groups — "pods,''  as  they  are  called — and  by  the  last  of 

July  they  worked,  their  way  down  to  the  shore  and  began  learning  to 
swim. 

The  puj^s  are  afraid  of  the  water;  they  have  to  learn  to  swim  by  re- 
peated, effort,  and  even  when  able  to  maintain  them- 

wimming.  selvcs  lu  tlic  (piict  watcrs  will  rush  in  frantic  and 

ludicrous  haste  away  from  an  approaching  wave.  I  have  taken  pups 
two  or  three  weeks  old  and  carried  them  out  into  still  water,  and  they 
awkwardly  but  in  terror  rapidly  floundered  toward  the  shore,  although 
they  could  have  escai)ed  me  by  going  in  the  other  direction.  In  three 
trials,  paddling  in  all  about  t)0  feet,  the  i)ups  became  so  exhausted 
that  they  would  have  been  drowned  had  1  not  rescued  them.  If  the 
pups  when  collected  in  groups  or  pods  near  the  shore  Avere  to  be  over- 
taken by  even  a  moderate  surf  they  would  be  drowned,  and  such  acci- 
dents to  them  do  occur  on  the  island  before  they  have  entirely  mas- 
tered the  art  of  swimming. 

The  latter  steps  in  the  history  of  rookery  life  all  facilitate,  if  indeed 
they  do  not  play  an  important  part  in,  the  disorgani- 
roo^S*?"'^'''*"""  "'  zation  ot  the  harem  system.  Just  as  soon  as  the  pup 
has  reached  the  age  of  forming  i)!)ds  and  making  little 
excursions  hither  and  thither,  the  bull's  authority  diminishes,  for  his 
control  over  the  mother  is  lost  in  the  presence  of  the  bleat  of  the  hun- 
gry offspring. 

Up  to  the  20th  of  July  the  breeding  grounds  present  a  compact, 
orderly  arrangement  of  harems,  but  under  the  combined  influence  of 
theconi])letion  of  the  serving  of  the  females  and  the  wandering  of  the 
l)ups,  disintegration  begun  at  that  date  rapidly  progresses.  It  is  at 
this  time  that  the  virghi  cows  of  2  years  of  age,  or  not  older  than 
3,  mingle  more  freely  with  the  females  and  probably  enter  the  mater- 
nal ranks,  for  the  unsuccessful  males  and  maturer  bachelors,  no  longer 
deterred  by  the  old  males,  also  freely  wander  over  the  breeding 
grounds. 

While  the  breeding  grounds  have  been  left  undistnrlx'd  to  their  own 
career,  the  hauling  groiuids  have  alternalelv  been  the 

Driviiiff  ami  kiUmg.  x-  i     •  i-        j'l  ±-   i    -it  rnu 

^  scene  ot  drives  loi- the  purpose  ot  killing,  ihe  imma- 
ture bachelors  form  the  bulk  of  the  seals  that  haul  out  upon  these 
grounds,  and  of  them  only  the  3  and  4  year  olds  are  taken  for  their 
skins. 

The  only  seals  killed  for  their  ])elts  are  those  immature  males  that 

haul  out  upon  th(^  hanling  grounds  remote  from  the  breeding  grounds, 

and  the  liandling  of  them  causes  no  disturbance  to  the 

Only   inimaturo  breeding  feiuales.     The  number  of  bachelors  permitted 

males  killed.  i      i  ^  •  •  •      t  -^i   •       j.i 

to  be  taken  in  any  one  seascm  is   entirelj^  within  the 
control  of  the  Treasury  Department,  which  control  has  been  exercised 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  17 

during  the  past  two  years  for  the  euormous  reduction  of  the  annual 
quota. 

There  are  certain  physical  as  well  as  historical  sources  of  iuformatiou 
upon  the  island  from  which  the  relation  of  the  present 
to  the  past  condition  of  the  rookeries  can  be  very  clearly    present  appearance 

,      ^      ,  "^  "^     or  rookeries. 

made  out. 

I.  Not  only  upon,  but  immediately  to  the  rear  of,  the  area  at  present 
occupied  by  the  breeding    seals    occur  fragments  of 

basalt  whose  angles  have  been  rtmnded  and  polished  Grass  patches. 
by  the  flippers  of  seals.  Among  these  latter  rocks  grass  is  found  grow- 
ing to  an  extent  proportionate  to  their  distances  from  the  present  breed- 
ing grounds,  and  further  the  soil  shows  no  recent  disturbance  by  the 
seals.  This  rounding  of  the  bowlders  of  the  abandoned  areas  was  not 
due  to  the  impingement  of  sand  grass  driven  by  the  wind.  No  geolo- 
gist would  be  willing  to  risk  his  reputation  by  asserting  that  this  round- 
ing came  from  any  such  agency.  The  distinction  between  the  result 
of  sand  blast  action  and  seals'  flippers  is  very  marked. 

II.  A  careful  examination  among  the  roots  of  the  grass  will  often 
show  the  former  presence  of  seal  by  the  peculiar  appearance  of  the  soil, 
due  to  the  excrementa  of  the  seal  and  the  occurrence  of  a  thin  mat  of 
seal  hair.  The  attention  of  Dr.  George  M.  Dawson  was  called  to  such 
a  felt  of  hair  uj)on  the  summit  of  Hutchinson  Hiil,  and  both  he  and 
Dr.  C.  Hart  INIerriam  collected  specimens  of  it  from  among  the  grass 
roots  at  that  locality. 

III.  At  the  rear  of  the  rookeries  there  is  usually  an  area  of  mixed 
vegetation — an  area  the  boundary  of  which  is  sharply  deflncd,  and  be- 
tween which  and  the  present  breeding  grounds  occurs  a  zone  of  grass 
of  only  a  single  variety.  In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  present  breed- 
ing grounds  only  scanty  bunches  are  to  be  seen.  These  gradually 
coalesce  as  the  line  of  mixed  vegetation  is  approached.  The  explana- 
tion of  this  is  that  the  seals  were  formerly  so  abundant  as  to  destroy 
the  normal  mixed  vegetation  at  tlie  rear  of  the  l)recding  grounds,  and 
that  the  decrease  of  tlie  seals  has  been  followed  by  the  encroachment 
of  the  uniform  variety  of  grass. 

IV.  The  statements  made  to  me  by  competent  observers  who  have 
lived  upon   the  islands  for  years  all  agree  that  the 

shrinkage  in  the  breeding  area  has  been  rapid  during  ujgarea"*'^  '°  ^reed- 
the  past  five  or  six  years. 

V.  After  observing  the  habits  of  seals  for  a  season,  I  unhesitatingly 
assert  that  to  satisfactorily  account  for  the  disturbance  to  vegetable- 
life  over  areas  whose  extent  is  visible  even  to  the  most  careless  and 
prejudiced  of  observers  would  require  the  presence  of  from  two  to  three 
times  the  amount  of  seal  life  which  is  now  to  be  found  ui^on  the  islands. 

That  there  has  been  enormous  decrease  in  the  seals 

i,  1  ,.  Decreaso. 

there  can  be  no  question. 

In  studying  the  causes  of  diminution  of  seal  life  there  were  found  a 
variety  of  actual  and  possible  sources  of  destruction 

i-i  if      ^-  •  •  ^  -mx  J.1  Causes  of  decrease. 

which  are  ettective  m  varying  degrees.     Fortunately 

the  most  important  of  these  sources  were  directly  under  my  observation 

and  the  following  facts  presented  themselves  for  consideration. 

I.  Tlie  restrictions  apon  the  molestation  of  the  breeding  grounds  and 
upon  the  killing  of /c^males  has  been  imperative  both  on  the  part  of  the 
Government  andXiSsees  since  the  American  owiicislii])  of  the  islands, 
so  that  in  the  t>'king  of  seals  no  injury  could  possibly  have  occurred  to 
the  females  >»:id  bulls  found  thereon. 
'?71l>— VOL  H 15 


18  TESTIMONY 

II.  Tlie  seal  being  polygamous  in  habit,  eacli  male  being  able  to  pro- 
vide for  a  liarem  averaging  twonty  or  tliirty  members,  and  the  propor- 
tion of  male  to  female  born  being  equal,  there  must  inevitably  be  left  a 
reserve  of  young  immatnre  mak'S  tlie  death  of  a  certain  proportion  of 
which  could  not  in  any  way  aflect  tlie  annual  supply  coming  from  the 
breeding  grounds.  These  ccmditicms  existing,  the  Government  lias  per- 
mitted the  taking  with  three  exceptions  up  to  1800  of  a  quota  of  about 
100,000  of  these  young  male  seals  annually.  AVhen  the  abundance  of 
seal  life,  tis  evidenced  by  the  areas  formerly  occupied  by  seals,  is  consid- 
ered I  do  not  believe  that  this  could  account  for  or  play  any  appreci- 
able part  in  the  diminution  of  the  herd. 

III.  The  statistics  which  I  have  examined,  as  well  as  all  the  inquiries 

made,  show  that  in  the  raids  upon  the  rookeries  them- 
inruly  fiom.''  little  g^^iyj^g  ^.j  marauders  the  loss  of  seal  life  has  been  too 

unimportant  to  play  any  part  in  the  destruction  of  the 
breeding  grounds.  The  inhospitable  shores,  the  exposure  of  the  islands 
to  surf,  the  unfjivorable  climatic  conditions,  as  well  as  the  presence  of 
the  natives  and  white  men,  will  always  prevent  raids  upon  the  islands 
from  ever  being  frequent  or  efiective. 

IV.  For  some  years  jiast  the  natives  were  permitted  to  kill  in  the 
r  1  killed  for  food   ^'1^1 'I  few  thousand  msde  pups  for  food.     Such  killing 

ups  u  (f  .11  oo( .  ^^^^  ]^)een  prohibited.  It  is  not  apparent  how  the  kill- 
ing of  male  i)ups  could  have  decreased  the  number  of  females  on  the 
breeding  grounds. 

Y.  From  my  knowledge  of  the  vitality  of  seals  I  do  not  believe  any 
injury  ever  occurred  to  the  reproductive  i)owers  of  the 

ecmm^.  male  seals  from  redriving  that  would  retard  the  in- 

crease of  the  herd,  and  that  the  driving  of  1890  necessary  to  secure 
altont  21*, 000  skins  could  not  have  cau.sed  nor  played  any  important 
part  in  the  decrease  that  was  apparent  on  every  hand  last  year. 

VI.  From  my  observations  and  my  inquiries  of  the  natives,  under 
conditions  which  were  calculated  to  elicit  only  truthful  replies,  I  ascer- 

Mana  ement  taiucd  that  there  had  been  no  change  save  for  the 

better  in  the  methods  of  driving  or  the  handling  of 
seals;  that  salt  houses  had  been  established  at  the  more  distant  rooker- 
ies; that  boats,  horses,  mules,  and  wagons  had  been  employed  to  trans- 
port tlie  skins;  that  b}' these  imj)rovements  the  length  of  the  drives 
had  been  materially  lessened,  and  that  the  time  for  taking  the  quota 
had  been  reduced  from  the  Eussian  killing  season  of  three  or  four 
months  to  about  thirty  days,  thereby  causing  the  minimum  of  disturb- 
ance even  to  the  hauling  grounds. 

VII.  I  ascertained  by  questioning  those  who  had  had  years  of  cou- 

.  ioeo    tiiuums  experience  Avith  the  seals  that  up  to  the  vear 

Increase  nil  to  18S2.     -,.,.»  ^i  i  •  r.  .  i       i  i  '    • 

I8b2  there  was  an  annual  expansion  ot  the  boundaries 
of  the  breeding  grounds;  that  this  was  followed  by  a  i)eriod  of  stag- 
Decrease  siuco  nation,  which  in  turn  was  followed  by  a  marked  de- 
^^^^"'^''-  cadence  ironi   about  1885-'86   down  to    the    present 

time. 

VIII.  In  the  latter  part  ot  July,  1891,  my  attention  was  called  to  a 
source  of  waste,  the  efhciency  of  which  was  most  startlingly  illustrated. 
In  my  conversations  with  the  natives  I  had  learned  that  dead  pups  had 
been  seen  upon  the  rookeries  in  the  past  few  years  in  such  numbers  as 

^^^^^^  ^^^^  to  cause  much  concern.     By  the  middle  of  July  they 

ta(  pups.  pointed  out  to  me  here  and  there  dead  imps  and  others 

so  weak  and  emaciated  that  their  death  was  but  a  matter  of  a  few  days. 


RELATING    TO    PUIBILOF    ISLANDS.  19 

By  the  time  the  British  coinmissioners  arrived  the  dead  pups  were  in 
sufficient  abundance  to  attract  their  attention,  and  they  are,  I  believe, 
under  the  impression  that  they  tirst  discovered  them.  I  procured  a 
number  of  these  pui)s,  and  Dr.  Akerly,  at  my  request,  made  autopsies, 
not  only  at  the  vilhige,  but  hiter  on  upon  the  rookeries  themselves. 
The  lungs  of  these  dead  pups  floated  in  water.     There  . 

was  no  organic  disease  of  heart,  liver,  lungs,  stomach,  ^  "  "psi^-" 
or  alimentary  canal.  In  the  latter  there  was  but  little  and  often  no 
fecal  matter  and  the  stomach  was  entirely  empty.  Pups  in  the  last 
stage  of  emaciation  were  seen  by  me  upon  the  roolceries,  and  their 
condition  as  well  as  that  of  the  dead  ones  left  no  room  to  doubt  that 
their  denth  Avas  caused  by  starvation.     By  the  latter     ^^   ,,  ,     , 

...  ,     1        ,-,  J_^  J.    i-i       1  •  Doatli  by  starvation. 

part  ot  August  deaths  were  rare,  the  mortality  having 
practically  censed.  An  examination  of  the  warning  lists  of  the  com- 
bined fleets  of  British  and  American  cruisers  will  show  that  before  the 
middle  of  August  the  last  sealing  schooner  was  sent  out  of  Bering  Sea. 
These  vessels  had  entered  the  sea  about  July  1  and  had  done  much 
ett'ective  work  by  July  15.  The  mortality  among  the  jtups  and  its  ces- 
sation is  synchronous  with  the  sealing  fleet's  arrival  and  departure 
from  Bering  Sea. 

There  are  several  of  the  rookeries  upon  which  level  areas  are  so  dis- 
l^osed  as  to  be  seen  by  the  eye  at  a  glance.  In  September  Dr.  Akerly 
and  I  walked  directly  across  the  rookery  of  Tolstoi,  i-ooker  -  at  loistoi 
St.  Paul,  and  in  addition  to  the  dead  pups  in  sight  '""  '''^^  ^ 
they  lay  in  groups  of  from  three  to  a  dozen  among  the  obscuring  rocks 
on  the  hillside.  From  a  careful  examination  of  every  rookery  upon  the 
two  islands  made  by  me  in  August  and  September,  I  place  the  mini- 
mum estimate  of  the  dead  j)ups  to  be  15,000,  and  that 
some  number  between  that  and  30,000  would  represent  j,,,^,';'"^''''  "*'  '''"'^ 
more  nearly  a  true  statement  of  the  facts. 

Upon  examining  the  Bering  Sea  catch  for  18t)l,  as  based  upon  the 
records  of  the  Victoria  custom-house,  I  ascertained  that 
nearly  30,000  seals  had  been  taken  by  the  British  tleet  ^gj;-'*'-'- I'y  vessels  m 
alone  in  Bering  Sea  during  the  summer  of  1891.    When 
there  is  added  to  this  the  catch  of  the  American  vessels,  the  dead  pups 
upon  the  rockeries,  and  allowances  made  for  those  that      Destruction  otiiie 
are  killed  and  not  recovered  we  have  a  catch  which 
Mill  not  only  nearly  reach  in  numbers  the  quota  of  male  seals  allowed 
to  be  taken  upon  the  islands  in  years  gone  by,  but  we  have  a  catch  in 
tlie  securing  of  which  destruction  has  fallen  most  heavily  upon  the  pro- 
ducing females.     This  is  borne  out  by  a  furthei-  fact.     The  young  bach- 
elor seals  can  lie  idly  on  the  hauling  grounds  and 
through  the  peculiarities  of  their  physicareconomy  sus-   ,,,^^^^  '"'*''''^^  "" '''" 
tain  life  with  a  small  supply  of  food,  but  the  cows  must 
range  the  ocean  in  search  of  nourishment  that  they  may  meet  the  demands 
made  upon  them  by  their  young.     That  seals  go  a  great  distance  from 
the  islands  I  know  from  personal  observation,  for  we  saw  tliein  120  miles 
to  the  northward  of  the  island  on  the  May  to  Xunivak.   Tlmt  the  females 
outnumber  the  males  ten  to  one  is  m ell  knoMii,  other-      .,      ,  ,.    ,. 

^  i'oniale  leciling. 

MUse  the  hauling  grounds  M^ould  ])resent  sucli  an  array 
of  kilhible  seal  that  there  Mould  be  no  necessity  Cor  tlie  (Tovernment  to 
suspend  the  annual  quota.  It  inevilably  foHows  that  the  lemales  are 
the  class  most  preyed  upon  in  Bering  Sea.  No  class  of  animals  which 
bring  forth  but  a  single  ottspring  annually  can  long  sustain  itself  against 
the  destiuction  of  the  producers. 
As  a  result  of  my  investigations  1  believe  that  the  destruction  of  fe- 


20  TESTIMONY 

males  was  carried  to  the  point  in  :il)(»ut  1885  where  the  birth  rate  coiihl 
De  letion  of  rook  ^^^  keep  uj)  the  neccssury  supply  of  mothers,  and  that 
eries^tiueX  des'tmc-  the  eqnilil)riu  ni  I)t'ing-  once  destroyed  and  the  drain  upon 
tion of  ujother  seals,  the  producinji' chiss  iiicreasinii'  from  year  to  year  from 
that  date  the  present  dex^letcd  condition  of  the  rookeries  has  resulted 
directly  therefroin. 

Joseph  Stanley  Brown. 

Subscribed  aud  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  this  Dth  day  of  May,  1892, 
[L.  S.J  Sevellon  a.  Brown. 


De;position  of  Joseph  Stanley  Bro7V7i,  f/cologist  in   U.  S.  Geological  Sur- 
vey, and  s2)ecial  agent  of  Treasury. 

verification  of  rookery  charts. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 
Joseph  Stanley  Brown,  being-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  lam 
36  years  of  age  and  a  citizen  of  the  United  States;  my  residence  is  at 
Mentor,  Ohio;  my  occupation  a  geologist,  in  which  capacity  I  amem- 
I'rii.iiof  Islands  and  V^^^^^  1"  ^^^^  U.^S.  Gcological  Siirvcy.  In  April,  1891 , 
seal  life  then  ou.  Ex-  I  was  Ordered  to  rcport  to  the  Secretary  of  tlie  Treas- 
perience.  uvy,  whicli  I  did,  aud  received  from  him  a  temi)orary 

appointment  as  special  Treasury  agent.  I  visited  the  Pribilof  Islands 
and  made  a  careful  examination  of  the  same  and  of  the  condition  of 
seal  life  thereon.     I  arrived  on  the  islands  June  9,  1891,  and  remained 

there  until  September  10,  1891.  I  made  a  survey  of 
made^by'hhn.*''''"^''   Said  islauds  aiid  also  of  the  seal  rookeries  on  both  of 

said  islands.  The  charts  signed  by  me  and  marked  A, 
B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  H,  1,  J,  and  K  were  made  by  me  during  said  survey 
of  said  rookeries  and  represent  the  grounds  covered  by  the  same.  The 
gray  color  on  said  charts  so  signed  by  me,  and  the  red  color  on  the  re- 
prints of  the  same,  represent  the  places  occupied  by  breeding  .seals  in 
1891,  which  said  spaces  were  covered  by  groups  of  said  seals.  The 
white  spaces  on  said  original  charts,  as  exphiined  by  legend  on  re- 
prints, represent  the  grounds  over  which  seals  liave  at  various  times 
hauled,  as  is  plainly  indicated  by  the  condition  of  said  areas. 

Joseph  Stanley  Brown. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  nie,  a  notary  public,  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  this  10th  day  of  May,  1892. 
[l.  s.j  Sevellon  A.  Brown. 


Deposition  of  Stephen  N.  Buynitslcy,  Treasury  agent  in  eharge  of  the  Pri 

hilof  Islands. 

habits  and  rookeries  in  1870-'72. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss  : 
Stephen  iS".  Buynitsky,  being  duly  sworn,  de})oses  and  says:  I  am  a 
Russian  by  birth  and  am  CO  years  of  age.     I  graduated  from  the  Impe- 
rial Lyceum  at  St.   Petersburg,  an  institution  for  the 
ipenenoe.  nobility.     Am  now  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Washing- 

ton.    I  was  detailed  by  the  United   States  Treasury  Department  to 
take  charge  of  St.  George  Island  in   Bering   Sea  during  the  sum- 


RELATING    TO   rRIBILOF   ISLANDS.  21 

mcr  of  1870;  I  retnrnod  to  tlio  Uniterl  States  in  tlio  fall  of  tliat 
year.  The  followiii*^-  season  I  was  appointed  to  take  cliaige  of 
both  St.  Tanl  and  St,  George  islands.  I  arrived  at  the  islands  Iq 
July,  1871,  and  remained  there  till  the  latter  i^art  of  April,  1872.  Dur- 
ing my  stay  on  the  islands  I  made  carefnl  examination  into  the 
habits  and  nature  of  the  seal  and  also  read  and  studied  the  records 
left  by  the  Eussian  Government  in  relation  to  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
The  full  grown  male  seals  commence  to  appear  about 
the  islands  during  the  latter  part  of  April  or  fir.st  of 
May.  They  come  from  the  southeast  through  the  passes  between  the 
Aleutian  Islands.  The  bulls,  as  these  seals  are  called,  do  not  immedi- 
ately land,  but  swim  about  surveying  the  coast;  tiimlly,  they  come  on 
shore  at  the  breeding-  lookeries,  invariably  selecting  a  shore  covered 
with  bowlders  and  avoiding  sand  beaches,  for  the  reason,  I  believe,  that 
when  the  ])ups  are  born  on  these  rookeries  they  may  not  be  swept 
away  by  the  surf.  I  believe  also  that  ai  bull  conies  back  to  the  same 
rookery  every  season;  this  belief  was  formed  from  information  I  re- 
ceived from  several  of  the  natives  of  the  islands,  who  told  me  that  they 
had  at  one  time  cut  the  ears  of  some  pups  so  that  they  could  be  readily 
distinguished;  that  when  the  pups  were  grown  they  had  noticed  eacli 
one  on  a  particular  rookery,  and  that  in  the  years  following  the  rook- 
ery had  the  same  occupant. 

The  female  seals  begin  to  arrive  the  latter  part  of  May,  going-  di- 
rectly to  the  breeding-  rookeries.     The  young  male 
seals  from  1  to  5  years  of  age,  called  "  bachelors,"  come 
about  the  same  time  as  the  females,  but  do  not  go  onto     Bachelors. 
the  breeding  rookeries,  evidently  fearing  the  old  bulls.    These  bachelors 
haul  up  by  themselves  on  narrow  places  along  the  shore  left  between 
the  breeding  rookeries,  and  from  these  points  proceed  inland  much 
farther  than  the  breeding  rookeries.    The  seals  killed  on  the  islands 
for  their  skins  are  these  bachelors,  those  of  from  2  to  4 
years  old  being  carefully  selected.     Under  no  circum-  kiiiJIi.'^ 
stances  is  a  female  seal  killed.    In  a  "drive"  the  natives 
drive  the  seals  from  the  hauling  grounds  a  little  way,      Driving, 
separate  the  young  killable  males,  and  allow  the  re- 
mainder to  return  to  the  water  or  the  hauling  grounds.     Then  these 
young  males  so  selected  are  driven  to  the  killing  grounds  and  there 
dispatched  with  clubs.     During  the  entire  time  I  was  on  the  islands  I 
never  saw  a  single  seal  killed  by  overdriving. 

At  the  time  I  was  on  the  islands  I  do  not  think  there  were  any  fish  at  all 
within  3  miles  of  the  islands,  and  that  the  seals  to  feed 
had  to  go  farther  than  that  from  land.     This  belief  is  n^ne';  oti'shJd"''"  ^ 
founded  on  statements  made  me  by  natives  on   the 
islands,  and  also  from  the  fact  that  fresh  tish  were  seldom  eaten  upon 
the  islands.     Very  soon  after  a  female  lands  she  gives  birth  to  a  puj), 
I  think  that  she  never  gives  birth  to  more  than  one,      p^^    ,^,^^    ^^  . 
and  that  she  only  suckles  her  own  })ui).     During  the  ]am\}]^ 
two  sealing  seasons  I  was  on  the  islands  I  only  saw  a 
very  few  dead  pups,  and  these  had  been  killed  by     r)ea<i  pupa. 
the  larger  seals  crushing  them.     I  have  never  seen  a 
pup  that  was  starved  to  death,  or  which  had  been  abandoned  by  its 
mother.     A  pup  is  at  least  a  nnuith  old  before  it  learns  to  swim,     lie- 
fore  that  it  not  only  can  not  swim,  but  is  afraid  of  the  water.     If  a  pup 
should  be  born  in  the  water  it  would  unquestionably 
be  drowned;  but  I  believe  that  it  is  an  absolute  im-  poSf'''  ''""'   '"" 
possil)ility  for  successful  birth  to  take  place  in  the  water, 
for  the  reason  that  the  mother  would  die  of  exhaustion  before  or  while 


22  TESTIMONY 

l)riiii;iii.ii'  foi'lli   lior  young.     Tliere  were,  wliilo  T  was  on  the  islands, 

.stringent  rulesenioicedon  the  islands  as  to  the  use  of  tirearms,  making 

noises,  appioaeliing  the  rookeries,  etc.     In  fa(;t  every  precaution  was 

taken  that  the  seals  on  the  islands  might  not  be  frightened.     Because 

of  the  manner  of  killing  seals  on  the  islands,  the  precautions  taken  to 

•  kin  only  males  of  from  2  to  5  years,  and  the  careful 

kinfu'r'^on'i'siands.  ^^  liuiitation  of  the  numbers  taken,  I  am  fully  convinced 

that  the  taking  of  seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  could 

never  affect  the  nund^ers  of  the  seal  herd  or  deplete  the  rookeries.     In 

my  judgment  pelagic  seal  hunting  should  be  absolutely 

Pioiiibition  of  pe-  prohibited  both  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific. 

u^  sealing  neces-  j^^  ^^^^^  ^j^^^.^  -^  ^^^^  ^^^^^^  ])rohibition  the  Pribilof  seal 

herd  will  be  either  exterminated  in  a  very  short  time  or 
else  the  few  which  escape  from  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  pelagic 
hunters  Avill  be  driven  from  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

Stephen  N.  Buynitsky. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  this  28th  day  of  March,  1892. 
[l.  s,]  Sevellon  a.  Brown, 

Noiary  FnhUc  in  ami  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  U.  iS.A. 


De])osiiion  of  WiUiam  Healey  Dall,  biologist  and  imlcontologist  in  U.  S. 

Geo  log  ica  I  Purvey. 

pelagic  sealing  and  pribilof  rookeries. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

William  Healey  Dall,  of  Washington,  aforesaid,  being  duly  sworn, 

deposes  and  says:  That  in  connection  with  my  scien- 

Expencnce.  ^.^^,  studics  at  c'ambrid ge,  Mass.,  I  devoted  nearly  three 

years   to   the   study   of  biology,  anatomy,  and  medicine;  that    since 

completing  my  studies  with  Prof.  I^ouis  Agassiz  at  Cand)ridge,  in  the 

year  1803,  I  have  been  engaged  in  scientific  work,  and  am  now  a 

^-  -.It,   1    „^,i  paleontologist  in  the  U.  S.  Geological  Survey.     I  first 

Visiteil  Alaska  and    ^.    .^      ,  ,,    f^.  l-         ■       .-,  j^-io,-~  i 

Beiiiis;  Sea  in  1865,   visitcd  Bering  Sca  111  the  summcr  ot  IbOi)  as  a  member 
'^^^^-  of  the  scientific  corps  of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph 

expedition.    Visited  the  Aleutian  Islands  and  went  to  St.  Michael, 
passing  near  the  Pribilof  group.     In  the  spring  of  18G0  again  went 
to  northern  Alaska,  in  the  same  capacity,  and  remained  there  until  the 
fall  of  18G8.     In  1807  the  aforesaid  exi)Odition  was  abandoned,  but  I 
remained  in  the  country  in  order  to  continue  my  scientific  investiga 
tions,  wintering  on  the  mainland.     In  the  fall  of  1808  I  made  my  way 
back  to  San  Prancisco  on  the  schooner  Francis  Steele,  owned  by  the 
Pioneer  American  Fur  Company,  which  had  a  station 
isUi'nd'inisiw  ^'^'"^°  '^^  St.  Gcoige  Ishiiul,  where  we  stopped  on  our  way 
south,  and  thus  gave  me  a  chance  to  observe  seal  life 
for  several  weeks.     In  1871  1  joined  the  U.  S.  Coast  and  Geodetic  Sur- 
vey for  the  ])urpose  of  carrving  out  a  proposed  survey 
fnuumi'toisu""'^^  of 'the  Aleutian  chain  of  islands.     I  was  thus  engaged 
from  the  summer  of  1871  to  the  end  of  the  season  of 
1874,  and  during  the  winter  of  1871-72  wintered  at  Unalaska.    During 
this  period  had  o})i)ortunity  to  familiarize  myself  with  aquatic  seul  life, 
and  in  1874  made  a  reconnoissance  survey  of  the  Pribi- 
is^TuTL'^isTi^"''"'*'  ^<*^"  A^liii'tls,  which  afforded  me  an  additional  opportu- 
nity to  observe  seal  life  on  the  rookeries. 


RELATING   TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  23 

In  1880  I  again  visited  all  my  former  stations  about  and  in  Bering 
Sea  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  magnetic  observations. 
This  was  my  last  opportunity  to  examine  the  rookeries.  BeTinJ'sef  1^1880!"*^ 
As  a  result  of  the  above  experience  I  would  further 
state  the  following  facts:  During  my  visit  to  St.  George  Island  in  1808, 
before  referred  to,  this  vast  territory  of  Alaska  had  just  fallen  into  the 
possession  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Government     ^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^ 
had  not  yet  fairly  established  more  than  the  begin-        ^"^   ^^° 
ning  of  an  organization    for  its  management,  as   a  whole,  without 
mentioning  such  details  as  the  Pribilof  Islands.     In  consequence  of 
this  state  of  aflairs,  private  enterprise  in  the  form  of  companies  deal- 
ing in  furs  had  established  numerous  sealing  stations  on  the  islands 
during  18(38.     During  my  stay,  except  on  a  single  occasion,  the  driving 
from  the  hauling  grounds,  the  killing  and  skiiniing  was  done  by  the 
.natives  in  the  same  manner  as  when  under  Eussian  rule,  each  com- 
peting party  i^aying  them  so  much  per  skin  for  their  labor  in  taking 
them.     Despite  the  very  bitter  and  more  or  less  unscrupulous  com- 
petition among  the  various  parties,  all  recognized  the  importance  of 
preserving  the  industry  and  protecting  the  breeding  grounds  from 
molestation,  and  for  the  most  part  were  guided  by  this  conviction. 

In  1880  I  found  the  rookeries  full,  and  in  my  opinion  there  were  as 
many  seals  on  the  islands  as  at  any  time  during  my  ex-  p^p,,^^^,  anduaui- 
perience.  I  have  never  known  of  a  pup  being  born  ins  pound's  ouiyi  on 
or  of  hauling  grounds  existing  anywhere  along  the  I'^wiof islands. 
Alaskan  coast  or  in  the  islands  adjacent  thereto,  except  the  Pribilof 
Islands.  I  have  heard  stories  and  traditions  to  that  effect,  but  I  have 
never  known  of  their  being  substantiated. 

From  my  knowledge  of  natural  history  and  from  my  observations  of 
seal  life  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  young- 
seals  to  be  brought  forth  and  kept  alive  in  the  water. 
When  it  is  the  habit  of  an  animal  to  give  birth  to  its  ,,Sf.'  ^^"'  ™* 
young  upon  the  land  it  is  contrary  to  biologic  teach- 
ing and  common  sense  to  sujipose  they  could  vSiu-cessfully  bring  them 
fortli  in  the  water.  It  does  not  seem  to  me  at  all  likely  that  a 
mother  would  suckle  any  pup  other  than  her  own,  for  I  have  repeatedly 
seen  a  female  select  one  pup  from  a  largo  group  and  pay  no  attention 
to  the  solicitations  of  otliers.  Pups  require  the  nourishnuMit  from  their 
mothers  for  at  least  three  to  four  months  after  their  birtli,  and  would 
perish  if  deprived  of  the  same.  There  were  not  in  1880  sufficient 
dead  pups  scattered  over  the  rookeries  to  attract  atten-  ^  ^^^  ^^ 

tion  or  to  form  a  feature  on  the  rookery.     A  pu])  when        '"*  ^"'^"' 
first  Ixnn  can  not  sustain  itself  in  the  water  and  would  unquestionably 
])erish. 

Tlie  Pribilof  Islands  are  the  chosen  home  of  the  fur-seal  {CallorMnns 
itrsinxfi).       Upon  these  islands  they  are  born;  there 
they  first  learn  to  swim  and  more  than  half  of  their   i„?^/;e  ^r nl'^nlr-seaL 
life*^  is  spent  upon  them  and  in  the  waters  adjacent 
thereto.     Here  they  give  birth  to  their  young,  l>rced,  nurse  their  pups, 
and  go  to  and  come  from   their  feeding  grounds,  Avhich  may  be  miles 
distant  from  the  islands.     I  have  seen  seals  in  the  waters  of  Bering 
Sea  distant  100  miles  or  more  from  the  islands  at  various  times  be- 
tween the  first  of  July  and   October.     These  seals  were  doubtless  in 
search  of  food,  which  consists,  according  to  my  obser-     reeding  females, 
vation,  of  fish,  squid,  crustaceans,  and  even  niollusks. 
Upon  the  approach  of  winter  the  seals  leave  their  home,  influenced 


24  TESTIMONY 

doubtless  by  tlie  severity  of  the  climate  mid  decrease  in  the  food  supply. 

They  go  southward,  niakiug  their  way  through  the 
igra  ion.  passes   of  the  Aleutiau  chain.      In   latitude  50^  or 

thereabouts,  extending  across  the  Pacific  east  and  west,  is  a  warm  cur- 
rent of  about  70  or  80  miles  in  breadth;  in  this  warm  water  are  found 
fish'  and  crustaceans.  This  current  sets  eastward  and  is  somewhat 
quickened  at  the  approach  of  spring  in  harmony  with  the  monsoons  of 
its  place  of  origin.  In  the  spring  and  fall  I  have  seen  seals  in  these 
warmer  waters,  but  in  August,  wdien  I  once  crossed  the  current,  they 
w^ere  absent.  Undoubtedly  the  seals  find  there  agreeable  temperature 
and  suflicient  food  supply,  and,  following  the  eastward  set  of  the  cur- 
rent and  the  migrations  of  the  fish,  find  their  way  to  the  western  coast 
of  the  United  States  and,  thence  turn  northward  being  influenced  by 
the  bountiful  food  supply  along  the  northwest  coast,  and  finally  by  that 
route  return  to  their  home  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

I  have  had  ami)le  opportunity  to  form  an  opinion  in  regard  to  the 

efl'ect  upon  the  herd  of  the  killing  of  female  seals.  The 
femaiesi   °^   ki'ii"g  female  briugs  forth  a  single  ofi'spring  annually,  and 

hence  the  repair  of  the  loss  by  death  is  not  rapid.  It 
is  evident  that  the  injury  to  the  herd  from  the  killing  of  a  single  female, 
that  is,  the  producer,  is  far  greater  than  from  the  death  of  a  male,  as 
the  seal  is  polygamous  in  habit.  The  danger  to  the  herd  therefore  is  Just 
in  lU'oportion  to  the  destruction  of  female  life.     Killing  in  the  open 

waters  is  peculiarly  destructive  to  this  animal.  No 
kioini^^"^  *"^°'^**'  discrimination  of  sex  in  the  water  is  possible,  the  secur- 
ing of  the  prey  when  killed  is  under  the  best  of  circum- 
stances uncertain,  and  as  the  period  of  gestation  is  at  least  eleven 
months,  and  of  nursing  three  or  four  months,  the  death  of  a  female  at 
any  time  means  the  destruction  of  two,  herself  and  the  foetus,  or  when 
nursing  of  three,  herself,  the  nursing  pup,  and  the  foetus.  All  killing 
of  females  is  a  menace  to  the  herd,  and  as  soon  as  such  killing  reaches 
the  point,  as  it  inevitably  must  if  permitted  to  continue,  wiiere  the 
annual  increase  will  not  inake  good  the  yearly  loss,  then  the  destruction 
of  the  herd  will  be  equally  rapid  and  certain,  regarded  from  a  commer- 
cial staudpoiut,  though  a  few  individuals  might  survive. 

Upon  the  amount  of  protection  depeiuls  the  safety  of  the  seal  herd  in 
the  future.  If  protected  only  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands  extermination 
Avill  be  rapid;  if  they  are  protected  upon  the  islands  and  in  the  waters 
of  Bering  Sea  also  the  decrease  will  be  slower,  but  ultimate  extinction 

will  probably  follow.  To  ]n"eserve  them  completely  it 
^j^roiiibition  neces-  j^  neccssary  that  they  should  be  protected  in  all  waters, 

which  they  frequent  at  all  times.  Killing  upon  land 
can  be  regulated  and  interference  with  the  females  rigidly  prohibited, 
but  all  killing  at  sea  is  indiscriminate  and  uncontrollable,  and  hence 
fatal  in  its  consequences  if  carried  on  to  any  serious  extent.  Kegarded 
as  a  factor  in  the  world's  commerce,  extinction  means,  and  is  here  used 
to  mean,  a  dimiiuition  so  great  that  the  catch  would  not  ])ay  for  hunt- 
ing, without  reference  to  the  fact  that  a  few  scattered  individuals  may 
long  survive  the  general  mass. 

Wm.  H.  Dall. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  John  J.  Malone, 

Notary  Public,  J).  (J. 


RELATING    TO    TRIBTLOF    ISLANDS.  25 

Deposition  of  G.  L.  Fowler,  AHHistant  Agent  of  the  lessees  on  the  rrihilof 

Islands. 

HABITS  PELAGIC   SEALING 

Alaska,  U,  S.  A., 

St.  Paul  Island,  Prihilof  Group,  ss: 
0.  L.  Fowler,  being-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  a?n  40  years  of 
age,  and  was  born  at  Stoneliani,  Mass.     I  have  been  a  resident  of  the 
Pribilof  Islands  most  of  the  time  since  1879.     My  occupation  is  that  of 
assistant  agent  of  the  lessees  of  the  ivslands.     1  have 
had  eight  years'  experience  on  the  sealing  tieldsof  St.      Experience. 
Paul  and  St.  George  islands,  and  I  have  a  practical 
knowledge  of  the  habits  of  the  fur-seal  while  on  the  islands,  and  of  the 
methods  used  in  taking  and  preparing  the  skins  for      ^^^,^^^  ^^  ^^^^^^ 
shipment.     The  bull  seals  arrive  on  the  islands  Irom 
the  latter  part  of  April  to  June  15,  and  most  all  of  them  . 

,  .        .  ;  T   ,~,        I  ^  1    r  1  „„        „   -f,   .,         Migration  of  bulls. 

leave  in  August  and  September,  and  I  have  seen  a  few 

as  late  as  October.     The  cows  come  to  the  islands  be-       .    .    ,    „ 

tween  June  1  and  July  20,  and  commence  leaving  in      ^'^"'"^  "'  '="'^^- 

October,  and  but  few  are  found  on  the  islands  as  late 

as  December,  unless  it  should  be  a  mild  winter.     The     ^'s'"'^"""  <»*■  *'*'^^- 

young  male  seals  from  2  to  5  years  old  come  in  May 

or  June,  and  haul  out  by  themselves;  the  older  ones  „j_:^^f ' ''"' ''^  ^"""^ 

usually  come  first,  and  they  remain  on  or  about  the 

islands  until  the  inclemency  ol'  the  weather  compels 

tliera  to  leave,  which  is  usually  late  in  the  fall  or  early  j^^^^^f^^*'""  of  young 

winter.     Occasionally  some  remain  till  late  in  January. 

The  pups  are  born  soon  after  the  cows  arrive,  and  re-      ^^.^^^^  ^^ 

main  until  October  and  November,  and  when  they  re-        "^  '"  ^"^^' 

turn,  the  following  season,  do  not  stay  on  land  much  of  the  time. 

The  killing  season  for  skins  takes  place  in  June  and  July,  and  none 
but  males  are  killed,  and  it  is  seldom  that  the  cows 
are  ever  in  the  drives  at  this  time  of  the  year.     Should     ^'""'"  "'^■'^"•'°- 
a  cow  happen  to  get  into  one  of  the  drives  she  is  care- 
fully separated  from  the  rest,  and  permitted  to  go  to     oniy  males  killed. 
the  water.    Later  in  the  season,  when  food  drives  are 
being  made,  and  the  harems  are  broken  up,  a  small      No  females  kiiiod. 
number  of  cows  are  in  the  drives,  but  none  are  killed 
unless  by  accident.     The  natives  who  make  the  drives  are  very  partic- 
ular on  this  point,  and  nothing  oiiends  them  quicker  than  to  have  a 
female  seal  killed.     They  are  very  careful  in  handling  the  seals,  and 
seem  to  fully  appreciate  the  necessity  of  i^reserving  the  seals  as  well  as 
the  laws  relating  to  that  subject.     I  never  saw  any     ^^  .^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^ 
impotent  bulls  on  the  rookeries,  and  do  not  believe        o""i>oen 
there  ever  was  any,  unless  it  Avas  the  result  of  age;  nor 
do  I  believe  that  young  male  seals  were  ever  rendered  .i,.?^.-,^"-'"''^  ^'""^ 
impotent  by  driving.   There  has  always  been  a  plenty  of 
bulls  on  the  rookeries  for  breeding  ]mrposes  ev^er  since     N^iack  ..t  buUs. 
I  have  been  on  the  islands.     Seals  have  decreased  in 
numbers  very  rapidly  in  the  last  few  years,  and  to  any-      ^^prease. 
one  who  saw  the  breeding  rookeries,  as  I  did,  in  1880, 
the  (ihange  is  most  wonderful.     The  flesh  of  the  fur  seal  is  used  for 
food  by  the  natives  and  white  men  on  the  islands,  and       seais  as  food. 
is  relished  by  them.     I  have  never  known  of  any  sick- 
jiess  or  epidemic  among  the  seals,  and  I  am  of  the      x„  gigi^npsg  a„jong 
opinion  that  the  thousands  of  dead  pups  on  the  rook-  seals. 


26  TESTIMONY 

eries  last  year  died  of  starvation  on  accoinit  of  their  mothers  being 
.  ,       shot  and  killed  while  feeding  at  the  tisliinji'  banks  in 

Pups  (lying  of  star-     ,,,,,  ^,,^,  *'  ^ 

vatioii.  LIIC  oca. 

I  was  present  last  year  and  saw  some  of  the  dead  pups  examined. 
Their  stomachs  were  empty,  and  they  presented  all  the  appearances  of 
starvation.  1  also  noticed  on  the  rookeries  a  great  many  emaciated 
pups,  which,  on  a  later  visit,  would  be  dead.  It  has  always  been  the 
practice  prior  to  181)1  for  the  natives  to  kill  three  to  four  thousand  pups 
in  November  for  food,  and  we  always  find  their  ston\achs  filled  with 
milk.  I  have  also  observed  that  the  male  seals  killed  soon  after  they 
come  to  the  islands  are  fat  and  their  stomachs  filled 

J5a.holors  do  uot    ^.j^^j   f^,^^^^  ^^|^jj^  ^j^^g^  j.jjj^,^|     -^^    ^|^^    j.^^^^j,  ^.^^.^  ^^   ^^^ 

season  are  i)oor  and  lean  and  without  food  in  their 
stomachs.     It  was  on  the  breeding  rookeries  and  among  the  cows  that 

I  first  began  to  notice  the  decrease  in  seal  life,  and  I 
fom^bririVmr y«u8.   ^^^  ^'^^^  think  tlicre  was  more  than  one-fourth  as  many 

cows  on  the  breeding  rookeries  in  1891  that  there  was 

in  1887.    And  I  know  of  no  other  cause  for  the  decrease  than  that  of  the 

Pelagic  sealing  the  killing  of  the  COWS  at  sca  by  the  pelagic  hunters,  which 

''•'•^s'*-  I  believe  must  be  prohibited  if  the  Alaskan  fur-seal  is 

to  be  saved  from  total  destruction. 

C.   L.   FOWLEK. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  admin- 
ister oaths  under  section  11)70,  llevised  Statutes  of  the  United  States, 
this  8th  day  of  June,  1892,  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  H.  Williams, 

Trcaaunj  Agent  in  clianje  of  Seal  Islands. 


Deposition  of  J.  ?tf.  TT((!/s%  master  mariner  in  employ  of  lessees  of  Prihilof 

T si  amis. 

rookellies  and  pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

Vity  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Capt.  J.  ^I.  Hays,  being  duly  sworn,  dei)Oses  and  says:  I  reside  in 
San  Francisco,  and  am  by  occupation  master  of  a  ves- 
Expericnce.  scl.     Havo  bceu  ill  the  employ  of  the  Alaska  Commer- 

cial C'Oin]>any  since  1881,  and  in  the  discharge  of  my 
duties  have  visited  annuall3%  with  one  exception,  the  different  trading 
posts  on  the  islands  of  the  Aleutian  Archipelago,  and  on  the  Alaskan 
coast  ill  the  lieiing  Sea  as  far  north  as  St.  Michaels,  and  prior  to  1890 
I  went  annually  to  the  seal  islands  in  Bering  Sea,  and  frequently  vis- 
ited the  seal  rookeries  on  the  same.  I  have  noticed  a 
decrease  in  number  of  seals  from  year  to  year  in  the 
waters  of  the  Bering  Sea  since  about  1886,  and  for  the  last  three  years 
the  decrease  has  been  very  rapid.  Up  to  about  1884  the  Bering  Sea 
around  the  Piibilof  Islands,  and  bt^.tween  said  islands  and  the  passes, 
Avas  swarming  with  seals  during  the  breeding  season,  but  for  the  last 
few  years  the  decrease  in  numbers  has  been  so  marked  that  I  could 
not  fail  to  notice  it.     I  never  have  known  or  heard  of  fur  seals  hauling 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF   ISLANDS.  27 

np  Oil  land  aiiywlieve  on  tlie  iSToitli  Pacific  or  Alaskan  coast,  or  islands 
thereof,  except  on  the  seal  ishmds.     1  have  often  con-      ^^^^^^  ^^    ^^^^ 
versed  with  masters,  seamen,  and  hnnters  engaged  in  rribiiot  iXiTds?'  °" 
hunting  the  fur  seals,  and  their  statements  to  me  have 
always  been  that  tlie  capture  of  a  male  seal  was  a     reiagio  catch  most- 
rarity;    that  nearly  all  of  their  catch  were  cow  seals  lyjjie^naut  or  miik- 
heavy  with  young,  or  those  who  had  given  birth  to  their  ^"^ ''°"''' 
young  on  the  islands,  and  gone  out  to  the  fishing  bank      ^^,_^^^^  _^  ^.^^ 
to  feed,  and  that  they  lose  a  large  proportion  of  those 
kdled  and  wounded.     I  am  decidedly  of  the  opinion 
that  the  decrease  in  numbers  of  seals  in  the  North  Pa-      ^"^'"^  "*  decease. 
cific  and  Bering  Sea  is  owing  to  jielagic  hunting,  and  that  unless  dis- 
continued they  "will  soon  become  so  nearly  extinct  as  to  be  worthless 
for  commercial  purposes. 

I  am  not  now,  nor  never  have  been,  in  the  em^doy  of  the  present 
lessees  of  the  seal  islands. 

J.  M.  Hays. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  31st  day  of  March,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Puhlic. 


•    Deposition  of  71/.  A.  JTealcij,  captain,  U.  S.  Hcreuue  Marine. 
pribilof  islands  and  pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

Giiy  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Capt.  M.  A.  Healey,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I 
am  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.     I  am  now  and  have 
bren  tor  the  last  twenty-five  years  an  ofhcer  m   the 
United  States  Eevenue  Marine  Service,  and  have  been  on  duty  nearly 
all  the  time  in  the  Avaters  of  the  North  Pacific,  Bering  and  Arctic 
Seas.     For  the  past  six  years  I  have  been  in  command  of  the  United 
States  revenue  steamer  Bear,  prior  to  which  time  I  had  connnand  of  the 
United  States  revenue  steamer  Gorwia  lor  six  years;  both  of  Avhich 
vessels  were  employed  almost  exclusively  in  navigating  the  waters  of 
Bering  Sea,  guarding  the  seal  islands,  and  protecting  the  seals  found 
in  those  waters  from  destruction  by  iioaching  vessels  engaged  in  what 
is  known  as  pelagic  sealing.     My  first  voyage  was  made     j,;,.^^^  voyaKo  to 
to  the  seal  islands  in  18(!!),  and  I  have  cruised  annu-   rriuiiof   jsknSs    in 
ally  for  the  last  twelve  vears  in  the  Alaskan  waters 
about  the  Pribilof  Islands  up  to  the  present  time.     My  official  position 
and  the  character  of  my  einploynient,  as  well  as  natural  inclination,  has 
given  me  an  opportunity  for  familiarizing  myself  with      jjixperiemc 
the  character  of  the  fur-seal  industry  and  the  habits 
of  the  seals,  and  has  also  bnmght  me  in  contact  with  many  people  en- 
gaged in  the  hunting  of    the  fur-seals,  and  of  the  general   methods 
employed  in  catching  them,     louring  my  visits  to  the  islands  of  St. 
.  Paul  ami  St.  GeorgeVor  the  last  twenty  years  I  have  carefully  noticed 
that  those  islands  weie  visited  by  great  herds  of  fur-seals  during  the 
breeding  season,  and  that  although  10(),(H)0  male  seals  were  taken  annu- 
ally at  the  islands  by  the  lessees  no  perceptilde  diuii-      ^^^^^  diminution   of 
nution  in  their  numbers  was  noticeable  until   within   seals  on  isianrts  nntii 
the  past  few  years  when  WiQ.  killing  of  seals  in  the  oi>en   -  it iun„ast.ew. years. 
sea  on  the  part  of  fishing  vessels  became  prevalent;  since  which  time 


28  TESTIMONY 

there  has  been  a  very  perceptible  diminution  in  the  number  of  seals 
seen  iti  the  water  of  the  Bering  Sea  and  hauling  grounds  on  the  islands. 
This  decrease  has  become  alarmingly  sudden  in  the 
last  three  or  four  years,  due  I  believe  to  the  ruthless 
and  indiscriminate  methods  of  destruction  employed  by  vessels  in  tak- 
ing female  seals  in  the  oj^en  sea. 

JMy  experience  has  been  that  the  vessels  employed  in  hunting  seals 

T    ,.      .    .     ^     shoot  indiscriminately, pups,  male  and  female  seals, re- 
in (1 1  s  c  r  1  in  1 11  a  t  e  T 1  ,.  ^  7  L     1     7  .    1    . 

slaughter.  gardlcss  ot  age  or  sex,  and  even  should  sealers  wish  to 

discriminate  in  the  killing  it  would  not  be  possible  for 

Sex  indistiiisiiisb-  tlieui  to  do  SO.  My  study  of  tliom  in  a  long  experience 
ai)ie  in  water.  ^^^^  ^^^^  enabled  ]ne  to  positively  distinguish  the  sex  of 

a  seal  while  in  the  water.     It  is  the  custoih  to  pay  seal-hunters  per 

-n      f ,     <  skins  taken,  hence  it  is  the  object  of  the  hunters  to  se- 

Pay  of  Inniters.  "  .,  _  •,■,,„ 

cure  as  many  as  possible,  without  reterence  to  sex,  <age, 

or  condition.     While  hunting  they  use  small  row  boats,  with  two  or 

,,  .,   ,  f,     ^.       three  men  in  each  boat  armed  witli  shotgun  and  rifle, 

Method  of  hunting.       t  ■    n       .^        n  i     ■  i  ■,-,■,  •,•  •-,  ■• 

chiefly  the  loriuer,  and  it  would  be  simply  impossible 
for  the  master  or  owners,  even  should  they  desire  it,  to  supervise  ten 
or  a  dozen  hunters  as  to  the  killing  of  any  particular  sex  or  kind. 

Formerly  the  seals  were  gentle  and  the  approach  of  a  vessel  did  not 
even  alarm  them,  but  when  firearms  came  into  use  it  so  frightened 
Waste  of  life  them  that  they  had  to  be  shot  at  long  range,  entailing 

a  loss  of  not  less  than  three  out  of  every  four  or  five 
killed.  The  ruthless  practice  of  killing  seals  by  shooting  them  in  the 
sea  is  not  only  extravagant  in  the  loss  of  skins,  but  is  also  a  wanton 
and  useless  destruction  of  a  valuable  and  useiul  animal,  and  must 
necessarily  soon  lead  to  its  extermination  if  not  discontinued. 

It  will  be  readily  seen  that  the  demoralization  jn-oduced  by  a  sealing 
fleet  of  fifty  to  a  hundred  vessels  with  Irom  1,000  to  2,000  men  scat- 
tered over  the  sea,  hunting  and  shooting  indiscriminately,  would  soon 
imt  an  end  to  all  seal  life  in  "those  waters. 

My  ow^n  observation  and  the  information  obtained  from  seal  hunters 
convince  me  that  fully  00  per  cent  of  the  seals  found  swimming  in  the 
Bering  Sea  during  the  breeding  season  are  females  in 
search  of  food,  and  their  slaughter  results  in  the  de- 
struction of  her  young  by  starvation.     I  flrml}^  believe 
that  the  fur-seal  industry  at  the  Piibilof  Islands  c;ui  be  saved  from 
destruction  onlv  by  a  total  prohibition  against  killing 
^jmhihition  neces-  g^,.,]^  j,^,^  ^^^jy  f,j  ^j^^  Avatcrs  of  the  Bering  Sea  but  also 

during  their  annual  immigration  northward  in  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean. 

This  <'()n(lusi(ni  is  based  ui)on  the  well-known  fact  that  the  mother 
seals  are  slaughtered  by  the  thousands  in  the  North  Pacific  while  on 
their  way  to  the  islands  to  give  birth  to  their  young,  and  extinction 
must  necessarily  eonie  to  any  sjiecies  of  animal  where  tlie  temaleis  con- 
tinually hunted  and  killed  during  the  period  required  for  gestation  and 

rearing  ot  her  young;  as  now  practiced  tliere  is  no  re- 
of^Slr  ^"""'^   «l>itc  iij  the  female  seal  from  the  relentless  pursuit  of 

the  seal  hunters,  for  the  schooners  close  their  season 
with  the  departure  of  the  seals  from  the  northern  sea,  and  then  return 
home,  refit  immediately  and  start  out  upon  a  new  voyage  in  February 
or  March,  commencing  u])on  the  coast  of  California,  Oregon,  and  Wash- 
ington, following  the  seals  northward  as  the  season  advances  into  the 
Bering:  Sea. 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  29 

I  have  made  diligent  iiitjuiry  into  the  habits  of  the  seals  aud  have 
yet  to  learn  that  they  hanl  upon  land  on  the  American 
coast  or  islands  except  the  Tribilof  Islands,  at  which  rSf  islands^  ™ 
place  alone  they  bear  their  young,  and  I  have  no  rea- 
son to  believe  that  the  pups  are  born  in  the  water  or      peiagic   birth  im 
that  they  can  be  saved  in  the  water  if  accidentally  born   rossiijro. 

there. 

M.  A.  Healy. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


iJeposition  of  Max  Heilhronncr,  ^Secretary  of  the  Alaslca  Commercial  Com- 

pany. 

RAIDS. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Max  Heilbronner  having-  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  aud  says:  I  am 
secretary  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  and  as  such  have  in  my 
custody  all  record  books  of  tl;e  Company;  and  among  them  the  daily 
records  or  ''  log  book"  kept  by  the  agents  of  the  Com-  ^ana-emeut 
pany  on  St.  George  Island  from  1873  to  1889,  inclusive,  anagemeu  . 
and  on  St.  Paul  Island  from  1870  to  1889,  inclusive.  In  these  books 
every  occurrence  was  carefully  noted  from  day  to  day  by  the  agent  in 
charge  at  the  time.  They  have  been  examined  under  my  supervision 
and  "show  only  the  folhAving  raids  on  St.  George  Island  during  the 
time  covered  by  them,  to  wit: 

October  23,  '^1891  [1881]. — The  carcasses  of  fifteen  dead  pup   seals 
and  a  cargo  hook  were  found  on  a  rookery.     It  was     ^^^.^^^ 
supposed  that  the  crew  of  a  schooner  seen  about  the 
island  a  few  days  previous  landed  in  the  night. 

October  10,  1884.— Fifteen  seal  carcasses  Avere  found  on  Zapadnie 
rookery.  A  guard  was  stationed,  and  the  following  night  the  crew  of 
a  schooner  made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  land.  The  boats  were 
fired  on  by  the  guard  and  retreated. 

Jnly  20,  1885. — A  party  landed  under  the  cliffs  in  a  secluded  place 
and  killed  about  five  hundred  adult  female  seals  and  took  the  skins 
away  with  them.  They  killed  about  five  hundred  pups  at  the  same 
time,  leaving  them  unskinned. 

July  22, 1885. — A  party  landed  at  Starrie  Arteel  rookery  and  killed 
and  skinned  one  hundred  and  twenty  seals,  the  skins  of  which  they  Ictt 
in  their  flight,  when  pursued  by  the  guard.  They  killed  also  about  two 
hundred  pups,  which  were  left  unskinned. 

November  17,  1888. — A  crew  landed  and  killed  some  seals  at  Zai^ad- 
nie;  how  many  is  not  known,  but  at  this  season  of  the  year  the  number 
must  have  been  small,  because  the  seals  have  nearlv  all  migrated. 

September  30,  1889.—¥Ag\\tee\\  dead  seals  and  four  clubs  were  found 
on  a  beach  near  a  rookery.  It  is  not  kuo\vn  whether  any  others  were 
killed. 


30  TESTIMONY 

An  examination  of  the  St.  Paul  record  does  not  show  any  dostructive 

raids  upon  the  island.     It  is  a  faet,  however,  that  in 

PauiisS  ""         J'lly,  1875,  prior  to  the  beoiuninji-  of  the  record,  the 

crew  of  the  schooner  kSuh  I)ief/o  landed  on  Otter  Island, 

a  small  islet  (5  miles  from  St.  Paul,  and  killed  and  skinned  ],()(;()  seals. 

She  was  captured  befoi-e  leaviuo-  the  island,  and  both  the  skins  and 

vessel  were  condemned  to  forfeiiure  by  the  United  States  court. 

The  reports  of  the  superintendent  for  the  lessees  show  that  it  was 

-,  .   ...     .,       ,     the  custom  of  the  Company's  agents  on  the  islands  to 

erfcs       °^  frequently  patrol  the  rookeries  whenever  the  weather 

was  such  that  a  binding  could  be  effected  on  them,  and 

to  kee])  watchmen  at  points  distant  from  the  villages,  whose  special 

duty  it  was  to  report  e^'ery  unusual  or  suspicious  occurrence.     For  this 

purpose  the  northeast  point  of  St,  Paul  Island  was  connected  with  the 

village  by  telephone  in  1880,  a  distance  of  12  miles,  and  the  natives 

instructed  in  the  use  of  the  instrument.     If  any  raids  upon  the  islands, 

other  than  those  herein  mentioned,  had  occurred.  I  am  sure  they  would 

have  been  detected  and  reported  to  this  ofiice.     ]S'o  such  reports  are  on 

file. 

Max  Heilbronner. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  0th  day  of  ^Maj',  A.  D.  1892. 

[SEAL.j  Clement  IJennett, 

Kotary  I'libliv. 


Depofiition  of  H.  H.  Mclntyre,  super  iniciuhnt  of  A  la  si- a  seal  fisheries. 

State  of  Califuk/nia, 

Oitij  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss  : 

H.  H.  Mclntyre,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was 
superintendent  of  the  seal  fisheries  of  Alaska  from  1871  to  1880,  inclu- 
sive. The  records  above  referred  to  were  kept  umler  my  direction  by 
my  assistants  on  the  respective  islands.  I  was  in  frequent  C(UTespond- 
ence  with  these  assistants  when  not  personally  present  and  am  sure 
that  anything  worthy  of  notice  Avould  have  been  promptly  rejjorted  to 

Indorses  record.s  ^"^-  ^  l^^cli^'ve  that  those  rccords  contain  a  true  account 
of  all  destructive  raids  upon  the  islands.  If  there  had 
been  any  others  I  sliould  have  heard  of  them.  Every  unusual  occur- 
rence at  any  point  about  the  islands  was  noted  by  the  keen-eyed  natives 
and  at  once  reported  to  the  Coni])any's  ofiice,  tlie  matter  was  investi- 
gated, and  a  record  of  it  entered  in  the  daily  jcmrual.  I  am  confident 
that  the  oidy  marauding  ex])edition  that  ever  succeeded  in  killing  more 
than  a  few  dozen  seals  each  were  those  of  1875,  upon  Otter  Island,  and 
of  1885  upon  St.  George  Islajid,  the  details  of  v>hich  are  set  forth  by 
]\Ir.  Heilbronner  in  the  foregoing  afiidavit.  If  there  were  othei's  of 
which  no  record  appears,  the  number  of  seals  killed  Avas  comparatively 
very  small  and  had  no  appreciable  eflect  upon  seal  life. 

H.  U.  McIntyke. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  (itli  day  of  May,  A.  J).  1892. 
[seal.]  Ceemets^t  Benket'I', 

JS^otary  rnhlic. 


DELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  31 

Deposition  of  Gapt.  John  A.  Henriqucs,  JJ.  S.  Revenue  Marine. 

EOOKEKIES   ON    rEIBILOF   ISLANDS. 

DisTEiCT  OF  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 
John  A.  Hcnriques,  of  Xew  London, Conn., being-  dnly  sworn,  deposes 
and  says:  I  am  05  years  of  ace,  and  a  captain  in  the 

TT    o     11  Tir       ■  111  •        j-1  ■  Lincoln,  1869. 

U.  S.  Eevenue  Marine,  and  liave  been  m  the  service 
for  twenty-nine  years.  In  the  fall  of  1808  I  was  ordered  to  Sitka 
and  in  the  spring  of  1809  received  instructions  to  i)roceed  at  once 
with  the  revenue  steamer  Lincoln  to  Bering  Sea  in  order  to  pro- 
tect the  seal  life  from  depredations,  information  having  Ijeen  received 
that  sealskins  had  been  taken  from  the  Pnbilof  Islands  by  iiuanthori/ed 
persons  during  the  previous  season.  On  the  Itli  of 
May,  1809, 1  left  Sitka  for  Kodiakj  on  the  13thof  i^lay  ,akliXhh,f  top,^' 
I  left  Kocliak  pursuant  to  orders,  with  14  men  of  the  !^*^|y^^'^^'*  ""  '»i-'"'i8 
Second  Artillery  and  the  commissioned  oftic  er,  Lieu- 
tenant Mast.  Thence  proceeded  to  the  Pribilof  islands,  touching  at 
Unalaska.  On  May  22nd,  I  landed  a  portion  of  the  troi^ps  and  Lieuten- 
ant Barnes,  of  the  revenue  service,  with  rations  and  stores,  on  St.  I*aul 
Island,  one  of  the  Pribilof  group.  The  troops  were  here  landed  for  the 
purpose  ot  enforcing  the  United  States  statute  providing  lor  the  pro- 
tection of  seal  life.  Lieutenant  Barnes  had  charge  of  St.  Paul  Island, 
and  no  seals  were  allowed  to  be  killed,  except  a  suflicient  number  for 
the  food  of  the  natives,  and  these  were  to  be  killed  only  under  the 
direction  of  said  Lieutenant  Barnes. 

After  landing  I  called  the  natives  together,  and  through  an  inter- 
preter informed  them  of  thepur}iort  of  the  orders  and  diiections  of  the 
Treasury  Department  in  relation  to  the  island,  and  the  natives  readily 
agreed  to  follow  such  instructions.  I  had  heard  from  the  natives  that 
seals  were  very  timid,  and  thereupon  ordered  all  the  dogs  on  the  island 
to  be  killed,  which  order  was  executed  within  ten  miinites  after  it  was 
given.  I  Irirther  asked  the  natives  to  surrender  all  tirearms  in  their 
possession  until  the  close  of  the  sealing  season,  so  that  the  sound  of 
the  tiring  of  the  same  might  not  disturb  the  seals;  this  also  they  im- 
mediately did.  During  the  time  I  was  on  the  island  I  particularly 
noticed  the  care  that  the  natives  took  not  to  disturb  the  seal  rookeries, 
even  warning  some  of  our  party  from  the  use  of  tobacco  in  any  form 
in  the  neighborhood  of  such  rookeries.  On  May  24th  I  landed  Lieu- 
tenant Henderson,  of  the  Eevenue  Marine,  on  St.  George  Island  with 
the  remainder  of  the  troops,  their  stores  and  ecjuipments.  Lieutenant 
Henderson  was  vested  with  the  same  authority  on  St.  George  Island 
that  Lieutenant  Barnes  had  on  St.  Paul  Island.  Here  I  also  had  an 
interview  with  the  natives  as  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  they,  too,  readily 
complied  with  the  orders  in  relatiou  to  dogs  and  the  use  of  firearms 
above  stated.  Every  j)!  ecaution  that  was  x>*^i^f^ihle  was  taken  by  the 
Government  officers  to  protect  the  seal  life  on  the  islands,  and  also  to 
prevent  the  breeding'  rookeries  from  being  disturbed  in  anyway.  While 
in  Bering  Sea  during  the  summer  of  1809, 1  never  saw 
a  vessel  sealing  about  the  islands  or  anywhere  in  the  in  Bering'^sea'''in 
sea,  nor  did  I  hear  any  report  of  the  presence  of  such  i^co. 
sealing  vessels  in  those  waters.  ^     .     Hfnrioues 

'  Captain,  U.  S.  E.  M. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  A]nil,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  Geo.  Y.  Coffin, 

Notary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia. 


32  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  William  8.  Hereford^  phy.sician  on  Frihilof  Islands. 

habits  of  seals — kookekies  and  pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Califoenia, 

Ciiy  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss  : 
William  S.  Herefoid,  having-  been  duly  .sTvom,  deposes  and  says:  I 
am  39  yeai  s  of  ace,  and  am  a  plivsician.     I  liold  the 

Experience.  ■■  x-  -n     o      S    \l       /n  ^^    ti""  c,     t  -.,,r,j 

degree  of  B.  S,,  feanta  Clara  College,  S.  J.,  year  1874, 
also  a  regular  graduate  of  the  medical  department  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania,  year  1877;  am  aiegular  piactitioner  of  medicine  and 
surgery. 

I  entered  the  service  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Compauy  August, 
1880,  for  the  purpose  of  being  one  of  the  resident  i>liysicians  on  the 
seal  islands,  and  Avas  continuously  in  their  employ  until  May,  1890,  at 
which  time  I  Aventinto  the  employ  of  the  Korth  American  Commercial 
Company  in  the  same  capacity  until  the  latter  i)a}  t  of  August,  1891, 
having  left  by  resignation.  I  was  in  the  service  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Compauy  almost  ten  years  and  with  the  North  American  Com- 
mercial Company  about  liftcen  months,  and  had  a  total  connection  with 
the  seal  islands  a  little  over  ten  years.  Seal  and  seal  life  being  the  only 
and  all  absorbing  topic  of  conversation,  business,  food,  etc.,  equally 
with  the  natives  as  ourselves,  one  naturally  becomes  almost  as  familiar 
with  the  fur-seals  and  their  habits,  as  a  farmer  would  with  those  of  the 
cattle  and  horses  on  his  farm,  or  a  hunter  of  the  animals  by  whom  he  is 
surrounded  in  the  woods,  and  by  the  killing  of  which  he  gains  a  liveli- 
hood, both  as  a  means  of  sustenance  and  article  of  commerce. 

In  my  capacity  of  physician  and  surgeon  to  the  sealing  companies, 
i.  e.,  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  and  the  North  American  Com- 
mercial Comi)any,  I  was  stationed  the  first  year,  i.  e.,  1880  and  1881,  at 
St.  George  Island,  and  in  188L  and  1882  at  IJnalaska,  at  which  time  my 
duties  required  me  to  sail  from  Unalaska  to  Attn,  Belkofskie,  Atk;i, 
Unga,  etc.  I  have  been  from  Kadiak  to  Attu  and  have  visited  the 
way  i:)laces  between  those  points.  I  have  also  iu  the  same  capacity 
made  three  trips  to  St.  Michaels,  Norton  Sound,  one  of  which  trijis  on 
account  of  the  ice  carried  me  over  on  to  the  Russian  coast  and  as  far 
north  as  the  Bering-  Straits.  I  have  also  visited  St.  MattheAvs  Island, 
though  ncAxn-  having  landed,  passed  by  St.  Lawrence  Island,  etc. 
After  1882  I  Avas  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Avith  the  exception  of  my  vacations 
in  San  Francisco,  Cal.,  until  1890  and  1891,  Avheu  I  Avas  again  placed 
on  St.  George  Island,  My  knoAvledge  is  from  personal  observation  and 
experience,  as  well  as  from  conversation  with  the  natives,  having  be- 
come more  or  less  intinmtely  acquainted  Avith  the  language  spoken  by 
tlie  natives  of  the  islands. 

The  h)ss  of  life  of  pup  seals  on  the  rookeries  up  to  about  1884  or  1885 
Loss  of  pnps  up  to  ^as  couipai  ativcly  sliglst  and  was  generally  attributed 
1884  or  18S5  compaia-  to  the  death  ot  the  mother  seal  from  natural  causes  or 
tiveiysiigiit.  from  their  natural  enemies  in  the  Avater,  or,  as  some- 

times ha])pened,  sudden  storms  with  heavy  surfs  rolling  in  from  certain 
diiections  on  to  the  breeding-  rookeiies,  but  never  at  any  time  Avould 
a  sufficient  luimber  of  pups  be  killed  to  make  it  the  subject  of  special 
conunent,  either  among  the  natives  or  the  employes  of  the  company. 

Coincident  Avith  the  increase  of  hunting  seals  in  the  sea,  there  was 

an  increase  in  the  death  rate  of  j)up  seals  on  the  rook- 

ratuo7pup8?^  '^*''^^^'  eries;  also  a  perceptible  diminution  of  female  seals.    As 

hunting  increased,  it  becamo  self-evideutj  even  to  tho 


RELATING   TO    PRI3IL0F    ISLANDS.  33 

most  casual  observer,  that  the  rookeries  were  becoming-  devastated.  It 
is  positively  a  fact  tliat  there  are  not  near  as  many- 
seals  occupying  the  rookeries  now,  at  the  present  time,  ro^terfe^g*.^"^^'^'^'*'"' 
as  there  weie  when  I  first  saw  the  islands.  The  va- 
cant spaces  ou  the  breeding  and  hauling  grounds  have  increased  in 
size  from  year  to  year  since  1884,  and  have  been  very  noticeable  for  tlio 
last  four  or  five  years. 

When  I  first  went  to  the  seal  islands  the  seals  were  actually  increas- 
ing in  numbers,  instead  of  diminishing.     Two  facts 
presented  themselves  to  me  later  on.  ArstT'^ltf  °^  ^*^^'^ "' 

First.  Seals  were  arriving  each  year  in  diminished 
numbers. 

Second.  At  the  same  time  that  the  female  seals  were  decreasing  in 
numbers,  the  number  of  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  was  increasing. 

There  lias  been  no  change  in  the  manner  of  conducting  the  business 
ashore,  but  there  has  been  added  the  open  sea  hunting 
industry  in  the  waters  surrounding  the  rookeries,  and        anagemen  . 
which  industry,  as  is  well  known,  has  rapidly  increased  since  1884, 
until  now  it  has  assumed  grand  proportions.     It  is  a  well-known  fact 
that  the  female  seals  leave  the  islands  and  go  great  dis-     ^     ,    .   ,. 

.  i>^i  1    -J.    •         1         1  i.1      J.  £•      Females  feedins'. 

tanees  for  food,  and  it  is  clearly  proven  that  many  ot 

them  do  not  return,  as  the  number  of  i)ups  starved  to  death  on  the 

rookeries  denn  nstrates. 

The  old  mother  seal  will  not  nurse  any  but  its  own  offspring,  and  can 
single  it  out  of  a  band  of  thousands  even  after  an  ab- 
sence of  days  from  the  islands.  The  difference  between  o^^^^  p u""'"®'^®  °°^-^  '*^ 
a  well-nourished  pup,  and  one  starving  to  death  is 
also  easily  recognized  ;  one  being  plump  and  lively,  growing  extremely 
rapidly,  the  other  slowly  dwindling  away,  its  body  becoming  lean,  long 
and  lanky,  the  head  beiiig  the  largest  and  most  conspicuous  part.  The 
poor  little  thing  finall^^  diops  from  sheer  exhaustion  in  its  tracks,  being 
only  a  matter  of  time  before  it  succumbs  to  starvation.  In  reference  to 
the  time  a  neAvly-born  seal  could  live  without  its  moth-     „.,  ,.+    <• 

-^  ^-1  Vitality  of  pups. 

er's  care,  1  can  say  that  1  have  known  one  particular 
pup  seal  to  have  positively  existed  for  a  period  of  at  least  two  weeks  or 
more  from  the  moment  of  birth  with  not  over  a  pint  or  so  of  cow's 
milk,  at  the  most,  which  had  to  be  forced  down  its  throat.     Perhaps 
this  will  be  best  understood  by  explaining  the  circumstances. 

Little  "  Jimmie,"  as  this  particular  pup  was  called,  was  the  child  of 
adverse  circumstances  as  his  mother  happened  accidentally  to  be  caught 
in  a  large  drive  and  could  not  be  separated  from  the  herd  until  the 
killing  ground  was  reached.  Shortly  after  being  parted  out  and  al- 
lowed to  go  free,  on  her  way  to  the  water,  she  hurriedly  gave  birth  to 
this  pup  and  continued  on  her  journey.  The  pup  was  Avatched  care- 
fully for  a  few  days,  and  when  it  was  thought  to  have  been  deserted  a 
kind-hearted  employe  of  the  company,  Mr.  iVllis,  brought  it  into  the 
village  with  a  double  view  of  trying  to  save  its  -ife  as  well  as  to  make 
a  pet  of  it.  For  the  first  few  days,  as  nobody  could  manage  to  make 
him  eat  and  as  he  would  generally  get  the  best  of  some  friendly  finger 
in  thci^e  attempts  at  feeding,  he  was  let  severely  alone.  Then  followed 
various  contrivances,  mechanical  and  otherwise,  for  holding  his  hea<l 
so  as  to  feed  him  with  a  spoon  or  a  nursing  bottle,  but  all  to  no  pur- 
pose, for  he  would  get  most  of  the  milk  everywhere  but  where  it  was 
intended  to  go.  This  went  on  for  all  of  two  weeks  or  more.  I  then 
equipped  myself  with  a  large  syringe  and  a  fiexible  tube,  and  about  a 
I)int  or  so  of  warm,  fresh  cow's  milk.  Little  '■•  Jiinmic's"  mouth  was 
2716— VOL  II 3 


34  TESTIMONY 

kept  open,  the  tube  was  passed  down  his  throat  into  Ins  stomach,  the 
syringe  filled  with  milk,  in  qniiiitity  as  before  stated,  and  which  was 
nnauimously  agreed  was  not  too  mncli  for  hira  at  one  feeding,  was 
slowly  injected  down  the  tnbe  into  his  stomach.  After  the  operation 
the  tube  was  carefully  withdrawn  and  "  Jimniie"  w^as  left  to  his  own 
devices.  The  pup,  nunh  to  the  gratification  and  amusement  of  all 
present,  immediately  began  to  show  in  the  most  unmistakable  manner 
the  greatest  of  seal  delight,  /.  e.,  to  lie  down  in  the  various  positions 
of  seal  comfort,  on  his  back  and  side,  and  wave  and  fan  himself  with  his 
flippers,  scratch  himself,  bleat,  etc.  As  these  signs  were  unmistak- 
able to  all  present  who  were  familiar  with  the  habits  of  seals,  the  op- 
eratiou  was  thought  to  be  a  success.  TJi)  to  the  last  time  the  pup  w^as 
seen,  late  that  night,  he  was  doing  finely,  but  next  morning  he  was 
found  dead,  and  1  attributed  his  sudden  taking  off  either  to  the  small 
boy  or  an  accident  during  the  night. 

Another  instance  is  that  of  a  young  pup  seal  born  under  almost  sim- 
ilar circumstances  some  years  previous,  and  deserted  by  his  mother. 
It  was  placed  near  the  water's  edge  to  see  if  in  a  tew  days  its  mother  would 
not  return  to  it,  or  maybe  it  might  take  to  the  water  naturally  and 
swim  across  to  an  adjoining  rookery  a  few  yards  distant,  and  iiossibly 
1  f  h  ^^^^^  ^®  found  by  its  mother  and  its  life  thus  be  saved. 
T^te?/  ^'^'^  °  *  *^  Day  after  day  this  pup  was  watched,  but  it  would  not 
go  near  the  water  and  neither  did  its  mother  return. 
After  several  days  or  so  a  new  employe  of  that  season  only,  and  know- 
ing nothingwhateverof  fur  seal  life  and  habits,  coming  along  that  way 
and  finding  the  pup  in  the  grass,  thinking  probably  that  he  had  gotten 
lost  from  the  other  side  took  him  up  and  threw  him  into  the  water, 
with  a  view  of  giving  him  a  chance  of  swimming  back  home.  It  was  a 
mistaken  kindness,  however,  for  he  was  immediately  drowned,  as  he 
was  too  young  to  swim,  his  head  being  too  heavy  for  his  body. 

These  cases  demonstrate  two  points,  i.e.,  that  a  very  young  fur-seal 
reiafrio  birth  impos-  cau  livc  a  Considerable  time  without  nourishment,  sev- 
^^^^^-  era!  days  or  more;  also  that  they  cau  not  swim,  and  any 

and  all  fur  seals  born  in  the  water  must  necessarilj^  perish. 

I  remember  these  two  instances  distinctly,  as  I  was  very  much 
impressed  by  them  at  the  time.  Others  might  i:)Ossibly  be  cited,  but  I 
think  these  will  snftice.  These  two  isolated  instances  show  that  a 
young  fur  seal  can  live  without  its  mother's  care  for  a  week  or  so,  and 
that  the  little  fellows  on  the  rookeries,  who  probably  have  been  nursed 
to  their  heart's  content  before  the  mother  seals  took  their  departure, 
stand  at  least  an  equal,  if  not  superior,  chance  of  life,  until  their 
mothers  return  from  the  feeding  grounds,  even  giving  them  wide  mar- 
gins for  delays. 

It  is  asserted  that  the  fur  seals  give  birth  to  their  young  also  on 

kelp  patches,  and  lie  asleep  on  their  backs,  with  their 

keTp".^^  °°*  ^"™  °^  offspring  in  their  embrace,  clasped  to  their  breasts. 

This  is  descriptive  of  the  sea  otter,  but  is  not  true  of 

the  fur  seal. 

It  is  known  and  currently  believed  among  the  natives  of  the  seal 
islands,  and  also  among  the  employes  of  the  sealing  company,  past  and 

Females  feedin"-  prcseut,  that  the  motlicr  seal  will  go  great  distances 
and  be  gone  for  long  periods  of  time  in  quest  of  food. 
Such  is  also  my  observation  and  belief.  In  fact  it  is  a  common  thing 
to  see  squads  or  herds  going  out  and  coming  in  at  various  times  dur- 
ing the  day.  Food  around  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  seal  islands 
IS  at  the  best  of  times  scarce,  and  as  the  rookeries  increase  in  the  num- 
])er  of  their  occupants  it  becomes  necessary  for  them  each  day  to  go 


RELATING   TO    PRIBILOF   ISLANDS.  35 

farther  and  farther.  Distance,  however,  is  no  i>arti3nlar  oliject  to 
theiu,  as  they  are  very  speedy  travelers.  I  do  not  know  whether  the 
mother  seal  has  the  power  of  vohiiitarily  restraining-  and  postponing- 
the  involnntary  act  of  hibor  or  not,  bnt  it  wonhl  ahnost  seem  as  if  she 
had,  as  on  many  occasions  she  will  have  but  Just  dragged  herself  ashore 
when  she  will  give  birth  to  her  young.  This  nniy  be  a  coincidence  only, 
but  when  not  disturbed  they  usually  c(nne  ashore  with  plenty  of  time 
to  make  themselves  condbrtable. 

1  have  dissected  the  brains,  eyes,  and  hearts,  and  have  examined 
the  lungs,  liver,  and  internal  viscera  generally,  of  such  seal  as  are  to 
be  found  on  the  killing  grounds.  Have  also  examined  some  of  the 
stomachs  of  the  i:>nps  on  the  rookeries  in  the  fall. 

The  fur-seal  has  unusually  thin  bones  covering  the  brain.  The  brain 
is  well  shaped,  the  same  almost  as  a  human  brain,  quite  large,  and  if 
one  could  judge  from  external  ap[)earances  the  animal 
possessing  such  a  brain  should  be  unusually  iutelli-  na,omyo.  esea. 
gent.  The  eye  during  life  is  large,  dark,  sympathetic,  and  intelli- 
gent-looking, but,  alas  for  api^earances !  On  land  they  may  be  occa- 
sionally suspicious,  especially  should  their  other  senses  be  helped  out 
by  their  olfactories,  for  they  have  the  keenest  scent,  but  in  the  water 
they  display  the  g'reatest  curiosity  and  confidence  in 
passing  objects.  They  will  catch  up  and  follow  a  boat,  tu?e  in  the  wi'tw.  ^^' 
and  in  fact  I  have  seen  them  play  around  the  "  killer- 
whale"  totally  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  this  "  killer  "  is  their  bitter  enemy. 
I  have  at  the  same  time  seen  the  sea  lion,  which  is  generally  consid- 
ered more  stupid,  though  braver,  rush  into  shore  and  land  on  the  rocks 
under  similar  circumstances,  apparently  preparing  to  chance  death  from 
the  natives  to  being  snapped  in  two  and  made  a  meal  of  in  two  mouth- 
fuls  by  the  "killers." 

I  am  of  the  impression  that  the  fur-seal,  notwithstanding  its  mag- 
nificent-looking eye,  has  rather  a  short  range  of  vision;     ^, 

•  ,  1  ^^'1  1  1.       J.^         ^       j_  Shortrangeot  Vision. 

it  may  be  more  powerful  under  water  than  out. 

Of  the  stomachs  of  the  killable  seals,  I  may  say  that  there  is  no  de- 
gree of  regularity  in  what  may  be  found  in  them ;  perhaps  oftener  noth- 
ing, many  times  a  few  worms,  frequently  a  few  small  stones,  sometimes 
a  quantity  of  pea-soup-looking  fluid,  the  result  of  the  process  of  diges- 
tion, while  some  may  contain  the  remains  of  fish  bones,  kelp,  etc.  Of  the 
iemale  fur-seal  stomach  I  know  nothing,  as  they  are  not  allowed  to  be 
killed  on  the  islands,  but  I  think  it  would  bo  safe  to  say  remnants  of  a 
fish  and  kelp  diet  would  frequently  be  found,  as  that  ^^^j 
is  their  natural  food,  and  they  do  considerable  travel- 
ing backwards  and  forwards  from  the  fishing  banks  while  nursing  their 
young  after  having  received  the  attention  of  the  bulls.  The  pups 
driven  up  for  native  use  in  the  fall  were  always  full  to  overflowing 
with  milk,  their  stomachs  containing  nothing  else.  These  pui)s  are  as 
round  and  plump  as  partridges,  while  those  dead  on  the  rookeries,  un- 
less killed  by  accidents  of  some  kind,  are  never  of  the  i)lump  and  well- 
nourished  looking  order,  but  are  generally  lean  and  thin,  bearing  all  the 
external  signs  of  neglect  and  starvation. 

Of  the  lungs,  liver,  heart,  and  testicles  of  the  male  fur-seal,  which  1 
have  observed,  thereis  nothing  peculiar aboutthem.  The  ])enis  is  charac- 
teristic of  the  class  to  which  the  fur-seal  belongs.  The  brain,  heart, 
liver,  and  kidneys  make  very  good  eating,  and  taste  about  the  same 
as  those  of  other  animals.  The  meat,  imwever,  which  must  be  entirely 
freed  from  all  its  blubber  or  fat,  though  (piite  nutiitious  and  palatable, 
is  somewhat  soft,  of  a  dark  color,  and  reminds  one,  according  to  how 
it  is  cooked,  of  wild  duck,  venison,  etc.,  only  it  must  never  be  eaten  rare, 


36  TESTIMONY 

but  always  ^ell  done.  On  our  table  it  generally  went  by  the  name  of 
St.  Paul  or  St.  Georg-e  mutton,  resi)ectively,  and  had  its  regular  place 
in  our  bill  of  fare,  being  far  more  preferable  to  "  salt  horse  "  and  canned 
stufts. 
The  methods  employed  in  handling  the  drives  are  the  same  identi- 
^  ^  ment  cally  as  of  twenty  years  ago.     The  same  methods  were 

observed  when  I  first  went  to  the  islands,  and  were  in 
vogue  during  the  period  tliat  I  referred  to  as  an  actual  increase  in  seal 
life,  and  have  been  continued  uj)  to  the  present  times.     There  is  noth- 
Great  increase  in  ^^S  different,  cxccpt  the  euomious  increase  of  vessels 
number    of  sealing  and  liunters  engaged  iu  pclagic  Sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 
jj^  ^^  -j^^^gg  ^^^  1884  it  was  only  an  occasional  venture- 
some vessel  that  came  around  and   secured  a  few  hundred  skins  and 
thought  itself  lucky  and  cleared  out,  but   since  that  time  not  even 
the  smallest  craft  is  satisfied  unless  it  secures  its  thousands  of  pelts, 
regardless  of  sex.     The  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  seals  in  the  water 
has  so  depleted  tlieir  number,  that  the  company  is  at 
qji^ta."*'^*^™"'''^"'^^  present  unable  to  get  their  quota  of  skins  on  the  island 
as  allowed  per  contract  with  the  Government,  and  is 
restricted  to  such  an  insigniflcaut  number  that  it  is  not  enough  to  sup- 
ply  food  to  the  native  population  of  the  islands. 

It  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  large  portions  of  the  breeding  rookeries 

Decrease  in  area  of  ^'"^  liauliiig  grouuds  are  bare,  where  but  a'few  years 

breeding  aud  hauiiiig  ago  uotliing  but  the  happy,  uoisy,  and    snarling  seal 

*''™""''''-  families  could  be  seen. 

The  first  arrival  of  bulls  is  about  the  same  time  as  formerly,  but  after 

that  they  fill  in  very  much  slower,  and  the  females  for 

Arrival  of  buUs  and  ^hc  last  fcw  ycars  havc  been  somewhat  later  in  their  ar- 

rival. 

The  driving  rookeries  also  necessarily  have  suffered, 

Du^^rrTuota'"  *"""■  ^^  witness  the  difference  in  the  catch,  a  drop  from  100,- 

•    000  to  about  20,000  in  1890. 

years  and  I  am     I  made  the  conditions  of  seal  life  a  careful  study  for 

firmly  of  the  o]»inion  their  decrease  in  number  on  the 

oni^unAs!  '^'''''''^''^''  Pribflof  Islauds  is  due  wholly  and  entirely  to  hunting 

and  killing  them  in  the  open  sea. 

Wm.  S.  Hereford. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Eennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  Edirard  ITnglieft^  steward  on  vessels  and  in  employ  of  the 

lessees. 

PELAGIC   SEALma. 

Alaska,  U.  S.  A., 

St.  Paul  Island,  Pribilof  Group,  ss: 
Edward  Hughes,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  lam  52  years 
of  age,  and  I  was  born  in  Wales.     I  am  a  citizen  of  tlie  United  States, 
where  I  have  resided  for  thirty-five  years,  of  which  twenty-eight  years 
have  been  spent  in  Alaska.     For  eighteen  years  I  have 
Experience.  bccu  cook  Or  stcward  Oil  board  vessels  doing  business 

in  the  North  Pacific  and  in  Bering  Sea,  along  the  en- 
tire coast  of  Alaska  from  Sitka  to  Norton  Sound,  and  all  along  and 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  37 

around  the  Aleutian  Islands  as  far  west  as  Attn  Island,  and  also  along- 
the  coast  of  Siberia  as  far  as  Plover  Bay.     In  all  those   years  I  have 
met  and  talked  with  hunters,  trappers,  traders,  and  miners  whose 
business  called  them  into  Alaskan  waters  and  1  never 
knew  or  heard  tell  of  any  fur-seals  hauling  out  on  land  pSf  iTs.^  ""^ 
to  breed  anywhere  on  the  Alaskan  coast  or  islands  in 
tlie  North  Pacific  or  American  waters  of  Bering  Sea,  excepting  the 
Pribildf  Islands.     I  have  I'een  employed  on  the  seal  islands  since  1882, 
and  1  have  resided  upon  tliem  continuously  for  ten  years,  and  have  a 
])ersonal  knowledge  of  seal  life  as  it  exists  on  these  islands  and  in  the 
waters  surrounding  them,  and  there  is  less  than  one- 
third  as  many  seals  coming  to  the  islands  last  year  thh-drfnTeny^eai*!!^"' 
than  there  was  in  1S82.    The  decrease  in  the  number 
of  seals  coming  to  the  ishmds  was  first  noticed  and  talked  about  in  two 
or  three  years  after  I  first  came  to  live  here;  and  since  1887  the  de- 
crease has  been  very  rapid. 

A  careftil  inspection  of  the  rookeries  each  returning  season  since  1887 
showed  that  the  cows  were  getting  less  and  less,  al-      j,- wer  females 
though  it  was  a  rare  thing  to  find  a  cow  seal  that  did 
not  have  a  pup  at  her  side.     It  was  also  during  these  years  that  dead 
emaciated  pups  were  first  noticed  on  the  rookeries,  and 
they  increased  in  numbers  until  1891,  in  which  year,  in  ^^^u  awS'pnp's'.'^''"''^ 
August  and  September,  the  rookeries  were  covered 
with  dead  pups.     I  was  present  when  Dr.  Akerly,  the  resident  physi- 
cian, made  an  examination  of  some  of  them  and  it  was  found  that  their 
stomachs  were  empty,  ami  that  they  exhibited  all  the  conditions  of 
starvation. 

I  have  been  steward  and  cook  at  the  Company  house  for  the  lessees 
since  1882,  and  during  the  time  when  seals  are  killed 
for  skins  or  food  I  have  daily  prepared  and  cooked  the     E'^pe^eace. 
meat  in  various  ways  for  the  use  of  the  table  at  which 
all  wliite  people  board  Avho  live  on  or  come  to  the   t^'^n'^''®''  ^^'^^^  ""*" 
island,  and  such  a  thing  as  a  diseased  seal  has  never 
been  known. 

Edw'd  Hughes. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  admin- 
ister oaths  under  section  1976,  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States, 
this  8th  day  of  June,  1892.     At  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  H.  Williams, 
Treasury  Agent  in  charge  seal  islands. 


Deposition  of  Ahial  P.  Loud,  speeial  assistant  Treasury  agent  on  PribiloJ 

Islands. 

manageiment  and  pelagic  sealing. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 
Abial  P.  Loud,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  resident 
of  Hampden,  Me.,  and  am  55  years  of  age.     On  April  4,  1885, 1  was 
appointed   special    assistant  Treasury    agent  for  the     ^^  .erience 
seal  islands,  and  immediately  started  for  the  islaiuls,        ■'^i>«"ence. 
arriving  at  the  island  of  St.  Paul  on  ]\Iay  28  or  30.     Spent  that  season 
on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  returned  for  the  winter  to  the  States,  leaving 
the  islands  on  the  18th  of  August.     Went  back  again  next  spring, 
arriving  there  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  and  remained  until  August, 


d8  TESTIMONY 

1887,  on  St.  Paul  Island.  Spent  the  season  of  1888  and  1889  on  St. 
George  Island,  letiiriiing  in  the  fall  of  1889  to  the  States.  In  1889  I 
spent  some  time  in  tlie  fall  on  St.  Panl  Island.  On  whichever  island  I 
was  located  I  always  kept  careful  watch,  and  made  frequent  examina- 
Decrease  of  breed-  ^^^u  of  the  rookeries  during  this  entire  period.  During 
ing  grounds  from  1885  the  time  from  1885  to  1889  there  w^as  a  very  marked  de- 
*°  ^^^^-  crease  in  the  size  of  the  breeding  grounds  on  St.  Paul 

Island,  and  from  1887  to  1889  I  also  noticed  a  great  decrease  in  the 
areas  covered  by  the  rookeries  on  St.  George  Island. 

In  his  reports  of  188G  and  1887  George  R.  Tingle,  special  Treasury 
„     ,.        o     ■  1   agent  in  charge  of  the  seal  islands,  reported  havina; 

Questions     Special       ^  ,     ,        °       ,        .  ,         .         '         ^         t     , ,      ,     , ,  * 

Agent  Tingle's  re-  mcasurcd  the  roolvcries  on  the  islands,  and  that  the 
ports  of  an  increase,  geals  had  largely  increased  iu  number,  giving  the  in- 
crease at  about  2,000,000.  From  this  report  I  dissented  at  the  time,  as 
I  was  unable  to  see  any  increase,  but  on  the  contrary  a  perceptible  de- 
crease, in  the  rookeries.  I  expressed  my  views  to  many  on  the  islands, 
and  all  agreed  that  there  had  been  no  increase  in  seal  life.  I  do  not 
think  that  there  was  a  single  person  on  the  island  except  Mr.  Tingle 
jir.  Tingle's  meth-  ^ho  thought  there  had  been  an  increase,  or,  in  fact, 
od  of  measuring.  that  there  had  uot  been  a  decrease  in  seal  life.  The 
measurements  of  the  rookeries  on  which  Mr.  Tingle  relied  were  made 
with  a  common  rope,  by  ignorant  natives,  while  the  seals  were  absent 
from  the  islands,  the  grounds  covered  by  them  being  designated  by  Mr. 
Tingle  fiom  memory.  Even  if  these  measurements  had  been  correct, 
., .,.,     „       winch  was  impossible,  I  do  not  believe  it  is  possible  to 

Impossibility  of  as-  i       i    j.  •         4.    i     ii  i  n  i 

certaiuing  number  of  calculatc  cvcu  approxiinately  the  number  of  seals  upon 
^^^^^-  the  rookeries,  because  of  the  broken   nature  of  the 

ground  and  the  irregular  outlines  of  the  breeding  grounds.    While  I 

Driving  and  over-  was  ou  the  islauds  I  attended  nearly  every  "  drive"  of 
driving."  the  bachelor  seals  from  the  hauling  grounds  to  the 

killing  grounds,  and  these  "drives"  were  conducted  by  the  natives 
with  great  care,  and  no  seals  were  killed  by  overdriving,  plenty  of  time 
being  always  given  them  to  rest  and  cool  off.  A  few  Avere  smothered 
by  the  seals  climbing  over  each  other  when  wet,  but  the  number  was 
very  inconsiderable,  being  a  fraction  of  1  per  cent  of  those  driven,  and 
did  not  to  any  extent  affect  the  seal  life  on  the  islands.  The  greatest 
care  w^as  always  taken  to  avoid  overdriving  both  by  the  Government 
officers  and  employes  of  the  lessees. 

During  my  experience  (and  I  was  on  the  killing  ground  at  every 
killing  that  took  place  while  I  was  on  the  islands)  I  never  saw  a  male 
seal  which  had  been  injured  by  being  redriven  several  times  from  the 
same  hauling  ground.     I  am  convinced  that  while  I  was  there  there 

Virility  of  seals  not  ^^^'^  ^^^^  '^'  single  casc  ill  wliicli  the  virility  of  a  male 
impaired  by  driving,  scal  was  destroyed  or  impaired  in  the  slightest  degree 
*'^*''  by  dri-viug,  redriving,  or  overdriving,  and  I  took  par- 

ticular notice  of  the  condition  of  the  males  during  each  drive.  The 
males  old  enough  for  service  on  the  breeding  grounds  were  always 
allowed  to  return  to  the  hauling  ground  from  a  "  drive,"  and  I  am 
satisfied  a  sufticient  number  of  males  was  ahvays  reserved  for  fiiture 
breeding  purposes.  A  suggestion  was  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  in  the  fall  of  1885  that  some  old  bulls  should  be  killed,  but 

Decrease  cause  of    *^®  Secretary  declined  to  permit  such  animals  to  be 

destroyed.     I  am  convinced  that  the  decrease  iu  the 

rookeries  Avas  caused  entirely  by  open-sea  sealing.     As  I  was  not  pres- 

Deadpups  ^^'^  ^^  ^^^  islauds  iu  the  fall  of  1885,  I  am  unable  to 

make  a  statement  as  to  the  number  of  dead  pups  on 

the  rookeries  in  that  year,  but  in  18SG  I  saw  a  large  number  of  dead 


RELATING    TO   PRIBILOF   ISLANDS.  39 

pups  lying  about.  These  pups  were  very  mucli  emaciated,  and  evidently 
had  been  starved  to  death.  I  account  for  this  by  the  killing  of  the 
mothers  by  open-sea  sealers  before  the  pups  were  weaned,  and  because 
a  mother  will  not  suckle  any  pup  except  her  own. 

In  18S7  the  number  of  dead  pups  was  much  larger  than  in  1886.     In 
1888  there  was  a  less  number  than  in  1887,  or  in  1889,  owing,  as  I  be- 
lieve, to  a  decrease  of  seals  killed  in  Bering  Sea  that  year;  but  in  1880 
the  increase  again  showed  itself.     I  believe  the  number  of  dead  pups 
increased  in  about  the  same  ratio  as  the  number  of  seals  taken  in  Ber- 
ing Sea  by  pelagic  sealers.     While  I  was  on  the  island     j,^^^ 
there  were  not  more  than  three  or  four  raids  on  the 
rookeries  to  my  knowledge,  and  I  think  that  the  destruction  to  seal 
life  by  raiding  rookeries  is  a  small  part  of  1  per  cent  as     Greatmajorityknied 
compared  with  the  numbers  taken  by  killing  in  the  **rt^of  "^{^ch  "a?e 
water.     Another  fact  in  connection  with  open- sea  seal-  pregnant  or  nursing 
ing  is  that  the  great  majority  of  seals  killed  are  fe-   *^*^^^'®- 
males,  and  that  a  great  part  of  the  females  are  pregnant,  or  in  milk. 
The  milking  females  are  most  all  killed  while  visiting  the  teediug 
grounds,  which  are  distant  40  or  GO  miles,  or  even  tar-      ^^^^^^^  feeding, 
ther,  from  the  i.slands.     The  female  necessarily  feeds  so 
she  can  supply  nourishment  for  her  young,  while  the  males  during  the 
summer  seldom  leave  the  islands.     This  accounts  for      r..j,tureoftiie  "An 
the  large  number  of  females  killed  in  Bering  Sea.     In  gei  Dony?"  iss;. 
Julv,  1887,  I  captured  the  poaching  schooner  Angel 
Doily  while  slie  was  hovering  about  the  islands.     I  examined  the  seal 
skins  she  had  on  board,  and  about  80  per  cent  were 
skins  of  females.    In  1888  or  1880 1  examined  something     Eighty  per  cent  of 
like  5,000  skins  at  Unahiska  which  had  been  taken  £{;!  ^^^  ^°'^<^  ^*'- 
from  schooners  engage  1  in  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering     p^^^^^^age  on  board 
Sea,  and  at  least  80  to  bo  i)er  cent  were  skins  ot  le-  other  poachers. 
males. 

I  have  conversed  with  the  captains  of  several  marauding  schooners, 
and  others  who  were  employed  in  pelagic  sealing  have  informed  me 
that  they  usually  use  ritles  in  shooting  seals  in  the 
water.     Some,  however,  use  shotguns,  but  to  no  great  pe^|i!fsTaUng!^*^  "* 
extent.     From  these  conversations   I   should  judge 
they  did  not  secure  more  than  one-half  of  the  seals  killed;  and  this,  I 
think,  is  a  large  estimate  of  the  number  secured.     I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  the  Pribilof  seal  herd  should  be  protected  both  in 
Bering  Sea  and  the  Xorth  Pacific  Ocean.     If  an  imag-   ^aS."*"''''"'  "'''^'' 
inary  line  were  drawn  about  the  islands,  30  or  10  miles 
distant  therefrom,  within  which  sealing  would  be  prohibited,  this  Avould 
be  little  protection  to  seal  life,  for  all  the  poachers 
whom  I  interviewed  acknowledged  that  they  could  get  butmtie  iH-itocW^ 
more  seals  in  the  water  near  the  fishing  banks,  30, 
40,  or  more  miles  from  the  islands,  than  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
thereof,  and  the  hunters  on  the  schooners  always  complained  if  they 
got  much  nearer  tlian  40  miles  of  the  islands.     I  am  certain  that  even 
if  sealing  were  prohibited  entirely  upon  the  islands  the  seal  herd  would 
in  a  short  time  be  exterminated  by  pelagic  sealing,  if  permitted,  because 
the  females,  that  is,  the  producers,  are  the  seals  principally  killed  by 
open-sea  sealing. 

Abial  p.  Loud. 

Subscribed  and  s\a  orn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  the  District 
of  Columbia,  this  lath  day  of  April,  1802. 

[L.  hA  (.Jhas.  L.  Hughes, 

Notary  Public. 


40  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  H.  H.  Mclntyre^  Treasuri/  agent,  and  siqienntendent  for  the 
lessees  of  the  Vribilof  Islands. 

HABITS. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Waslmigton,  ss : 

H.  H.  McJiityre,  of  Kandolpli,  Orang-e  County,  Vt.,  on  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says,  concerning  the  fur  seals  of  Alaska,  and  mat- 
ters relative  thereto,  as  follows:  I  am  a  nati\'e  of  Vermont,  48  years 

Exieiience  *^^^'  Commissiouer  from  Vermont  to  the  World's  Co- 

xpeiR  te.  lumbian   Exposition  of  1893,  etc.     In  the  years  1868 

and  1809  I  was  si)ecial  United  States  Treasury  agent,  assigned  to  duty 
in  Alaska,  and  from  1870  to  1889,  inclusive,  superintendent  of  the  seal 
fisheries  of  Alaska  for  the  lessees.  I  spent  ten  months  as  special 
Treasury  agent  from  November,  1868,  to  August,  1869,  in  inquiry  con- 
cerning the  fur-seal  fisheries  then  recently  acquired  from  Russia,  with 
a  view"  to  advising  the  Government  of  the  United  States  what  dispo- 
sition .should  be  made  of  them,  and  to  this  end  visited  all  the  princi[)al 
points  along  the  northwest  coast  of  the  American  continent  from  Van- 
couver's Island  to  the  most  westerly  island  of  the  Aleutian  Archipel- 
ago, the  Pribilof  group,  and  points  along  the  Bering  Sea  coast. 

As  superintendent  of  the  seal  fisheries  I  visited  the  seal  islands  twice 
in  the  summer  of  1870;  remained  constantly  thereon  from  April,  1871, 
until  September,  1872,  and  thereafter  went  to  the  islands  every  summer 
from  1873  until  1889,  inclusive,  excepting  1883,  1884,  and  1885.  I  usu- 
ally remained  on  the  islands  about  four  months,  from  May  until  August, 
in  each  season,  supervising  the  annual  seal  catch,  examining  the  condi- 
tions of  seal  life,  studying  the  habits  of  the  seals,  and,  in  brief,  doing 
such  work  as  the  interests  of  the  lessees  seemed  to  demand.  I  also 
went  twice  to  Loudon,  first  in  1872  and  again  in  1886,  to  attend  the  fur- 
seal  trade  sales  with  a  view  to  becoming  more  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  the  demands  of  the  sealskin  market.  My  duties  as  such  special 
Treasury  agent  and  superintendent  demanded  and  received  my  atten- 
tion to  every  detail  of  seal  life  and  its  relation  to  commerce.  In  the  exe- 
cution of  these  duties  I  was  constantly  aided  by  able,  intelligent  assist- 
ants and  native  seal  hunters,  whose  daily  observations  and  reports  were 
from  time  to  time  communicated  to  me. 

Based  upon  my  own  observation  and  experience,  and  corroborated 
by  those  of  my  assistants  and  hunters,  I  deduce  the  following  facts  in 
regard  to  the  habits  of  the  seals : 

The  Alaska  fur-seals  breed  only  on  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St. 

Alaskan  fur-seal  Grcorge,  of  the Pribilofgroup  iu  Bering  Sea.  They  have 
breeds  only  ou  Pribi-  bccu  unsuccessfully  Searched  for  at  every  other  point 
!of  Islands.  aloug  the  coast.    In  1872  Captain  Archimandritoff  spent 

the  greater  part  of  the  summer  in  a  schooner  looking  for  a  reef  or  island 
alleged  to  lie  to  the  southward  of  Ounalaska.  His  cruise  was  fruit- 
less, not  only  at  this  x)oint,  but  at  several  others  where  he  was  led  by 
some  legendary  tale  or  delusive  dream  to  expect  to  find 
thlmciaewhe^^e  ^"^  ^^^^  roolvcries.  Siuce  that  date  the  coast  has  been  ex- 
plored at  every  point,  and  it  may  be  safely  stated  as  a 
fact  that  no  other  ro  tkeries  exist  on  the  northwest  coast  of  the  North 
American  continent  or  the  islands  adjacent  thereto. 

The  seals  are  migratory  and  return,  as  I  believe,  after  migration  to 

the  vicinity  and  ])robably  to  the  ground  or  rookerj'  on 

igra  ory.  which  tlK\v  wcrc  bom.     I  liavc  in  several  cases  seen  a 

certain  seal  with  his  harem  during  a  number  of  consecutive  seasons  in 


RELATING   TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  41 

the  same  spot.  Tbey  are  attracted  to  the  islands  in  preference  to  other 
places  by  closely  defined  hereditary  habits  of  migration,  which  take 
them  from  and  to  their  breeding-  places  -with  constant  regularity,  varied 
only  within  the  limit  of  a  very  few  days  by  meteorological  conditions. 
The  isolation  and  climate  no  doubt  first  induced  their  habitat  upon 
these  islands.  If  there  has  been  any  autlientic  observation  of  the 
birth  of  seals  at  other  points  on  the  nortliwest  coast  of  Korth  America, 
whicli  I  very  much  doubt,  the  case  was  anomalous  and  accidental.  No 
d<mbt  the  young  are  occasionally  aborted,  out  of  season  and  out  of 
place,  and  such  birth  may,  i)erhaps,  have  been  witnessed,  but  i-hould 
not  form  the  basis  for  any  valuable  deduction  in  locating  the  home  of 
the  animals. 

The  young  seals,  called  "pups,"  are  born  in  June  and  July  upon  the 
grounds  on  these  islands  known  as  "breeiling  rook- 
eries."   They  are  at  birth  very  (dumsy  and  helj^less,      ^'"^'''• 
possessing  little  ability  to  move  about,  on  lancl;  and  if  born  in  the 
Avater,  or  swept  from  the  shore  soon  after  the  birth,  as  I  have  several 
times  witnes.sed,  by  the  outgoing  surf  of  heavy  seas,  perish  from  in- 
ability to  swim.    At  this  time  they  are  simplv  land 
animals,  with  less  aquatic  instinct  and  less  ability  to      ^'"•'^''i'^  tos.vi.n. 
sustain  themselves  in  water  than  newly  hatched  ducklings.     When  the 
l)nps  are  a  few  days  old  the  mothers  leave  them  (geneially  soon  after 
coitus  upon  the  rookeries  with  the  old  male)  to  go  to  the  feeding  grounds, 
returning  at  intervals  of  one  to  three  or  four  days  to  suckle  their  young. 
The  pups  do  not  appear  to  recognize  their  own  dams, 
but  the  mother  distinguishes  her  own  offspring  with  ^ j^"^ mother!'"^  ""'-^ 
unerring  accuracy,  and  allows  no  other  to  draw  her 
milk.     The  pui^s  remain  upon  the  rookeries  at  or  near  the  place  where 
they  are  born  until  about  five  or  six  weeks  old,  when 
they  congregate  in  groups  or  "pods,"  and  about  the       "      ^' 
same  time  begin  to  make  excursions  clown  to,  and,  after  considerable 
hesitation  and  repeated  trials  and  tiounderings, out  into      t  ..  .  •  „t^,  ■ 
the  water,  where  they  become,  Avithin  a  few  days,  expert       ••  "  s  ^  ^ 
swimmers.     From  this  time,  say  about  the  10th  of  August,  until  the 
latter  part  of  October  or  November,  the  young  seals  remain  alternately 
upon  the  land  and  in  the  water,  as  their  comfort  may  dictate.     They  are 
greatly  intiuenced  in  this  respect  by  the  weather;  very  calm,  pleasant 
days,  as  well  as  particularly  rainy  ones,  inducing  them  to  remain  in 
the  water,  while  during  violent  storms  and  heavy  surf  nearly  all  are 
found  upon  shore.     But  during  this  whole  period,  after  they  have  ac- 
quired the  ability  to  swim,  they  remain  the  major  part  of  the  time  upon 
land.    It  should  be  particularly  noted  that  they  are  not  amphibious 
until  several  weeks  old. 

Early  in  November,  convoyed  by  the  older  seals,  the  pups  leave  the 
island  and  go  to  the  southward,  apparently  moved  there-  -^.^j.  .^^^ 
to  not  only  by  migratory  instincts,  but  because  the 
weather  at  the  islands  at  this  time  becomes  unendurably  severe  for  them, 
and  perhaps  for  the  further  reason  that  a  sufficient  food  supply  for  all 
can  not  be  found  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  islands.  But  the  infer- 
ence is  reasonable  that  they  i)refcr  to  stay  upon  or  near  the  islands  at 
thistime,  from  the  fact  that  aslongas  the  weather  is  comfortable  the  pups 
and  nonbreeding  seals  may  always  be  found  there  in  large  numbers; 
and  even  after  snow  falls,  aiul  severe  weather  has  been  recorded,  the 
nonbreeding  males,   upon   the  recurrence  of  milder      ,        . ,    ,      , 

, ,  '^  .  '  j_     .        1         1  11  •- 1   •        XI  Leave  i.slrtBfis   only 

Aveather,  again  resort  to  land,  and  have,  Avithin  the  wiicnforcedbyweatii- 
time  of  my  connection  Avith  the  business,  been  repeatedly  *^*'  "^  "'*"*'  "^  ^^*^^ 


42  TESTIMONY 

captured  upon  the  islands  in  considerable  numbers  in  December  and 
January.  Without  the  data  at  hand  from  Avhich  to  absolutely  verify 
my  statement,  I  think  I  am  correct  in  saying  that  this  class  of  animals 
remained  in  the  vicinity  of  the  islands  throughout  three  of  the  twenty 
years  from  1870  to  1891)  and  more  or  less  of  them  were  killed  on  shore 
in  every  month. 

I  believe  all  classes  of  seals  would  remain  constantly  about  the 

islands  if  conditions  of  cliuuite  and  food  supply  were  favorable  to  their 

doing  so.     The  fact  remains,  however,  that  the  great  mass  of  the  pups 

.^  migrate  with  their  elders  down  through  the  passes  be- 

ouTheo  migTa  ion.  ^^^,^^^,j^  ^^iQ  isluiids  of  tlic  Aleutian  Arclui)elago  into  the 
North  Pacific,  and  are  found  at  any  time  during  the  winter  months 
east  of  longitude  170°  west  and  north  of  latitude  35°  north.  Toward 
spring  they  appear  in  increasing  numbers  off  the  coasts  of  California, 
Oregon,  and  Washington,  and  as  the  season  advances  still  further 
north  along  the  British  Columbia  and  Alaska  coasts  in  March  and 
April;  thence  westerly  in  May  and  June  and  July  until  they  reapi^ear 
in  Bering  Sea.  The  course  pursued  by  the  seals  in  their  migration  is, 
to  some  extent,  a  juatter  of  conjecture,  and  the  knowledge  upon  which 
evidence  is  given  concerning  it  can  not  of  course  be  based  upon  actual 
personal  cognizance  by  any  one  man  of  all  the  facts  from  which  the 
conclusion  is  reached;  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  I  have  no  doubt,  as  ac- 
curately stated  in  this  paragraph  as  is  warranted  by  any  series  of  ob- 
servations. 

The  imps  which  I  have  so  far  followed  in  their  first  migratory  round, 
now  appear  as  "  yearlings."  They  spend  perhaps  the 
yeariiu{,'8.  greater  portion  of  their  time,  the  second  summer,  in  the 

water,  until  the  latter  part  of  August  and  September,  when  they  come 
upon  the  laud,  both  sexes  herding  together  indiscrim- 
inately. They  are  not  at  this  time,  nor  are  their  elders, 
particularly  timid.  IJpon  the  near  approach  of  a  human  form  they 
start  towards  the  Avater,  but  generally  stop  and  look  about  them,  un- 
less closely  folloAved,  without  any  indication  of  fear,  and  leisurely  proceed 
to  the  beach,  or  again  lie  down  upon  the  sand  or  rocks.  The  same 
demeanor  in  the  Avater,  when  abcmt  the  islands,  as  they  calmly  float 
upon  the  surface  until  a  boat  is  almost  upon  them  before  they  awaken 
to  any  sense  of  danger,  seems  to  indicate  that  they  feel  at  home  on  and 
about  the  islands. 

They  again  migrate  southward  for  tiie  second  time,  uj^on  the  approach 
„       1    .     ,.         of  cold  weather,  going  a  little  earlier  than  in  the  pre- 

Second  miration.  ..  "1,1  i  ij_  j_     \li 

ceding  year,  make  the  same  round,  and  return  to  the 
islands  as ''two  year  olds"  in  June  or  July.  Now  the  sexes  separate, 
the  females  going  upon  the  breeding  grounds,  where  they  are  fertilized 
before  the  old  male  leaves  the  island  in  August.     It  has  been  said  that 

co])ulation  also  takes  jdace  in  the  water  between  these 
th^watcr'!'^""''"  *"  young  females  and  the  so  called  "noubreeding  males," 

but  with  the  closest  scrutiny  of  the  aninmls  wlien  both 
sexes  were  swimming  and  inlaying  together  under  conditions  the  most 
favorable  in  which  they  are  ever  found  for  observation,  1  have  been 
unable  to  verify  the  truth  of  this  assertion.  After  coitus  on  shore,  the 
young  female  goes  off  to  the  feeding  grounds,  or  remains  on  or  about 
the  beaches,  dis])orting  on  the  land  or  in  the  water,  as  her  inclination 
may  lead  her.  The  male  of  the  same  age  goes  upon  the  "hauling 
,r    ,.  ,        grounds"  back  of  or  beside  tlie  rookeries,  where  he  re- 

Hauliiig  grounds.  •  .,  ,  ^      £•  ^.i       x-  -i?  i       j.     i  x-i 

mains  the  greater  ])art  of  the  tinu',  if  uiiinol(\sted,  until 
nearly  the  date  of  his  next  migration.     Here  he  has  only  the  native 


RELATING    TO    PKIBILOF    ISLANDS.  43 

islauder's  club  to  fear,  whicli,  iu  the  best  interests  of  commerce,  should 
not  be  used  on  liim  until  tlie  following-  year. 

After  tlie  third  migration  the  female  returns  to  the  breeding  grounds 
to  be  delivered  of  her  first  ])n]),  and  the  male  comes 
again  to  the  hauling-  grounds,  but,  as  a  whole,  consid-  blr'th  offifsTpup '"'^ 
erably  earlier  than  he  did  w.hen  2  years  old.  Here  he 
renniins  i)retty  constantly,  if  he  escapes  the  club,  until  the  beginning 
of  the  rutting-  season,  when  his  instincts  lead  him  to  stay  much  of  the 
time  in  the  water  adjacent  to  the  breeding  grounds  through  which  the 
females  are  passing-  from  and  to  the  rookeries,  or  when  allowed  by  the 
older  non-breeders,  to  coquette  with  the  females  upon  the  beach  stones 
awash  at  the  edge  of  the  water. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  migrations  are  about  the  same  as  the  third. 
The  female  has  already  become  a  yearly  producer  of  a 
single  offspring,  and  the  non-produciug  male  is,  in  each  mi>aWs^°*^  ^"'^ 
of  the  fourth  and  fifth  years  respectively,  contributing 
a  decreasing  number  of  skins  for  market,  and  gaining  size  and  strength 
to  enable  him,  when  G  or  7  years  old,  to  usurp  the  authority  and  juris- 
diction of  some  old  male  whose  days  of  usefulness  are  numbered.  This 
change  is  not  effected  without  sanguinary  conflicts. 

The  food  of  the  fur-seal  I  believe  to  consist  mainly  of  fish,  and  prob- 
ably chiefly,  while  in  Bering  Sea,  at  least,  of  codfish, 
the  partially  digested  vertebrie  of  this  sj)ecies  having 
been  found  in  the  stomachs  of  slaughtered  animals  more  frequently 
than  any  other  food.     Sijuid  and  crustaceans  have  also  been  found  in 
some  instances,  but  the  supply  of  these  is  comj)aratively  liuiited,  while 
it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea  at  nearly  all 
points,   and  particularly  in  that  zone,  irom  20  to  00  miles  south  of 
the  Pribilof  group  abound  in  cod.     The  presumption  is  well  grounded 
that  the  old  male,  at  least,  makes  good  use  of  his  oppor- 
tunity  in  the  off  season,  for  he  leaves  the  islands  in        ^'  *  '^''^  *"^' 
August,  after  an  absolute  fast  of  three  to  four  months,  very  lank  and 
lean,  and  again  takes  his  place  upon  the  breeding  grounds  in  April  or 
May  well  rounded  out  with  a  thick  envelope  of  blubber. 

In  regard  to  the  material  facts  here  recited,  there  is,  as  far  as  I  am 
aware,  no  controversy.  All  who  have  studied  the  matter  with  any  care, 
and  whose  oinnions  are  entitled  to  consideration,  including  many  whose 
testimony  htiiS  not  been  and  can  not  now  be  recorded,  agree  to  all  the 
substantial  facts  as  I  have  herein  written  them. 

H.  H.  McIntyre. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  31st  day  of  March,  1892. 
[seal.]  Sevellon  a.  Brown, 

Notary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  the  District  of  Colunihia,  U.  IS.  A, 


Deposition  of  H.  H.  McIntyre^  Treasury  agent,  and  superintenderit  for 
the  lessees  of  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

rookeries  on  pribilof  islands. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss  : 
H.  H.  McIntyre,  of  Randolph,  Orange  County,  Vt.,  on  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says,  concerning  the  fur  seals  of    jj^pgrience. 
Alaska  and  matters  relative  thereto,  as  follows:  I  am 
a  native  of  Vermont,  48  years  old,  commissioner  from  Vermont  to  the 


44  TESTIMONY 

World's  Columbian  Exposition  of  1893,  etc.  In  the  years  1868  and 
18G9  I  was  special  United  States  Treasury  agent,  assigned  to  duty  in 
Alaska,  and  from  1870  to  1889,  inclusive,  superintendent  of  tlie  seal 
fisheries  of  Alaska  for  the  lessees. 

As  superiutendent  of  the  seal  fisheries  I  visited  the  seal  islands 
twice  in  tlie  summer  of  1870,  remained  constantly  thereon  from  April, 
1871,  until  September,  1872,  and  thereafter  went  to  the  islands  every 
summer  from  1873  until  1889,  inclusive,  excepting  1883,  1884,  and  1885, 
I  usually  remained  on  the  islands  about  four  months,  from  May  until 
August,  in  each  season,  supervising  the  annual  seal  catch,  examining- 
the  conditions  of  seal  life,  studying  the  Imbits  of  the  seals,  and,  in 
brief,  doing  such  work  as  the  interests  of  the  lessees  seemed  to  demand. 

Tliat  while  located  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  I  was  the  greater  part  of 
that  ])eriod  npon  the  island  of  St.  Paul;  that  during  the  twenty-one 
years  upon  the  islands  I  examined  at  frequent  intervals  of  time  the 
breeding  rookeries  on  said  island  of  St.  Paul,  and  now  recollect  the 
condition  of  said  rookeries  and  the  approximate  area  Avhich  each  of 
them  covered  at  different  times  during  my  experience  on  said  islands; 
.  ,.   ^  -  ,     that  1  have  indicated  to  the  best  of  mv  recollection  the 

Has     iiitlicated    by  ,  ,  ,  .  ,  i         •  •     "j. i  -i  o^/\  i 

linos  ou  charts  limits  giouuds  covcrcd  uv  Said  rookcrics  m  the  year  18/0  by 
ofrooke.riesini870and   ^  j.g^|  jjj^^,^  j^j^,|  thc'grounds  SO  covcrcd  ill  the  ycar  1882 

by  a  blue  line,  on  the  exhibits  signed  by  me  and  marked 
exhibits  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  and  G.     That  the  grounds  indicated  by  said 
lines  are  practically  correct  and  rei)resent  approximately  the  areas  cov- 
ered by  breeding  seals  <»n  said  rookeries  in  said  years  of  1870  and  1882. 
I  further  depose  and  say  I  have  examined  the  charts  of  said  St.  Panl 

Island,  made,  as  I  am  informed  and  believe,  by  J. 
b/j-'stonty  Browi'?  Staulcy  Browu ;  that  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  the 

spaces  represented  on  said  charts,  as  grounds  over 
which  the  bachelor  seals  have  hauled  at  various  times  during  my  ex- 
perience, are  practically  correct. 

H.  H.  McIntyre. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  31st  day  of  March,  1892. 
[seal.]  Sevellon  a.  Bkown, 

J^otary  Public  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  U.  iS.  A. 


Deposition  of  II.  IT.  McIntyre,  Treasury  agent,  and  superintendent  for  the 
lessees  of  Pribilof  Islands. 

management  and  pelagic  sealing. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss  : 

H.  H.  IMclntyre,  of  Eandolph,  Orange  County,  Vt.,  on  being  duly 
.  sworn,  deposes  and  says,  concerning  the  fur-seals  of 

xpentiKc.  Alaska  and  matters  relative  thereto,  as  follows:  I  am 

a  native  of  Vermont,  48  years  old,  commissioner  from  Vermont  to  the 
World's  Columbian  Exposition  of  1893,  etc.  lu  the  years  1808  and 
1809  I  was  special  United  States  Treasury  agent  assigned  to  duty  in 
Alaska,  and  from  1870  to  1889,  inclusive,  superiutendent  of  the  seal 
fisheries  of  Alaska  for  the  lessees. 

As  superintendent  of  the  seal  fisheries  I  visited  the  seal  ivslands  twice 
in  the  summer  of  1870,  remained  constantly  thereon  from  April,  1871, 


RELATING   TO    PRIBILOP   ISLAND.  45 

until  September,  1872,  and  thereafter  went  to  the  islands  every  snmmer 
li'om  1873  until  1889,  inclusive,  excepting  1883, 1884,  and  1885.  I  usually 
remained  on  the  islands  about  four  months,  from  May  until  August,  in 
each  season,  supervising  the  annual  seal  catch,  examining  the  con- 
ditions of  seal  life,  studying  the  habits  of  the  seals,  and,  in  brief,  doing 
such  work  as  the  interests  of  the  lessees  seemed  to  demand. 

That  from  the  year  1870  there  was  an  expansion  of  the  areas  of  the 
breeding  grounds  and  that  in  the  year  1882  they  were  as  j^^^^.^^^  „^  ^^^^^^ 
large  as  at  any  time  during  my  acquaintance  with  ing  ground  from  istp 
them;  that  during  the  three  years  following  1882,  toi«82. 
namely,  1883, 1881,  and  1885, 1  was  not  upon  the  islands;  that  upon  my 
return  to  said  islands  in  1886  I  noticed  a  slight  shrinkage  in  the  breed- 
ing areas,  but  am  unable  to  indicate  the  year  of  the 
period  of  my  absence  in  which  the  decrease  of  breeding  ^crease  since  isss. 
seals  began;  that  from  the  year  1886  to  1889,  inclusive,  my  observation 
was  continuous  and  that  there  was  a  greater  decrease  of  the  seals  for 
each  succeeding  year  of  that  period,  in  a  cumulative  ratio,  proportionate 
to  the  number  of  seals  killed  by  pelagic  sealers. 

That  during  the  twenty  years  I  was  uf  on  said  Pribilof  Islands,  as 
general  agent  of  said  Alaska  Commercial  Company  there  were  reserved 
upon  the  breeding  rookeries  upon  said  islands  sufficient  vigorous  bulls 
to  serve  the  number  of  females  upon  said  rookeries;  that  while  I  was 
located  upon  said  islands  there  was  at  all  times  a  greater  number  of 
adult  male  seals  than  was  necessary  to  fertilize  the  females  who  hauled 
upon  said  rookeries  and  that  there  was  no  time  when  fin 

there  were  not  vigorous  bulls  on  the  rookeries  who  o^carciyo  s. 
were  unable  to  obtain  female  consorts. 

So  well  was  this  necessity  for  reserving  sufficient  mature  male  life 
recognized  that  when  in  1887,  1888,  and  1889  the  depleted  rookeries 
(depleted  from  causes  that  will  be  explained  further  on)  would  not  fur- 
nish the  quota  of  100,000  large  skins,  two  and  three  years  old  male 
seals  were  taken  to  make  up  the  quota  in  preference  to  trenching  ui)on 
this  reserve  of  maturer  male  life. 

That  during  my  experience  I  have  watched  carefully  the  driving  of 
the  bachelors  from  the  hauling  grounds  to  the  killing      ^^  .  . 
grounds ;  that  there  has  never  been  any  variation  in  the 
methods  of  driving;  that  the  prevention  of  injury  to  the  seals  i"roni 
driving  was  kept  constantly  in  mind  and  the  greatest  care  exercised 
that  no  such  injury  occurred ;  that  the  number  of  seals  killed  by  overdriv- 
ing or  by  smothering  was  very  inconsiderable  at  all  times,  and  that  said 
seals  so  killed  could  not  make  any  appreciable  difference  in  the  num- 
bers of  seals  who  breed  and  haul  upon  the  said  islands;  that  up  to  1882 
there  was  no  difficulty  in  procuring  the  required  num-      :froditiiouity  in  pro- 
ber of  killable  seals;  that  the  killing  of  bachelors  upon  curiiiK  quota  of  skius 
remote  rookeries  such  as  Zapadnie  was  not  from  neces-  "pto^^*^-- 
sity  but  at  the  request  of  the  Government  agents,  in  order  that  the 
number  taken  from  each  hauling  ground  might  be  equalized;  that  this 
did  not  involve  driving  long  distances,  for  a  salt  house  was  established 
at  Zapadnie,  and  the  skins  brought  away  in  boats ;  that 
after  the  year  1875  the  lessees  of  said  islands  supplied  i^te^^'audTminJ 
carts  for  the  transportation  of  skins  from  the  killing 
grounds  to  the  salt  houses  and  storehouses;  that  because  of  the  facility 
for  carrying  the  skins,  killing  grounds  were  established  at  points  much 
nearer  the  hauling  grounds  tlian  ever  before,  and  from  that  date  the 
seals  were  driven  much  shorter  distances  to  the  killing  grounds;  that 
skins  were  so  transported  from  Polavina  or  Halfway  Point,  on  St. 


46  TESTIMOTY 

Paul,  and  from  Zapadiiie,  on  St.  George,  upon  the  backs  of  donkeys; 
that  tliere  were  no  destructive  agencies  at  work  upon  the  ishmd  tliat 
wouhl  not  have  h'ft  the  rookeries  in  better  condition  in  1800  than  they 
were  in  1870;  tliat  until  the  effects  of  the  true  agent  of  destruction 
began  to  be  nmnifest  there  was  an  excess  of  male  life  on  the  islands 
sufficient  to  permit  of  an  annual  catch  of  100,000  seals  for  an  indefinite 
period  without  jeopardizing  the  rookeries;  that  if  it  be  remembered 
that  the  seals  taken  in  the  water  by  hunters  are  chiefly  females,  that 
their  young  die  with  them  and  that  all  of  those  killed  are  not  seemed, 
and  if  then  an  examination  be  made  of  tlie  pelagic  skins  actually  sold 
during  the  past  twenty  years  the  real  source  of  the  depletion  of  the 

rookeries  will  be  found;  that  in  my  judgment  such  de- 

cE.-X^seimu"'''^'^  ^^  pletion  was  caused  by  pelagic  sealing,  and  that  it  grew 

' "      '     "'  greater  from  year  to  year  as  the  number  of  so-called 

poaching  scbooners  increased;  and  that  its  effects  began  to  manifest 

themselves  about  1885  or  188G;  that  the  depletion  on  both   hauling 

and  breeding  grounds  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
ceSftm'a]Ts**^thf  ma-  ^^^^  catch  of  Said  pclagic  sealers  consists  of  at  least  85 
jority  pieguaut  or  per  ccut  COWS;  that  Said  COWS  whcu  takcu iu  the North 
°'^'^®'"^"  Pacific  are  in  the  majority  of  cases  with  pups,  and  in 

Bering  Sea  are  so-called  milking  females;  that  whenever  a  milking 
cow  is  killed,  her  pup  on  the  rookeries  dies  of  starvation.    In  su[)- 

]iort  of  this  fact  last  stated,  the  number  of  dead  pups 
ea(  imps.  duriiig  the  hist  four  ycars  I  was  upon  the  islands  in- 

creased annually;  that  the  effects  of  the  comparatively 
^'*"'''"  few  raids  upon  the  rookeries  themselves,  while  injuri- 

ous, bear  but  a  small  ratio  to  the  enormous  damage  done  by  the  pelagic 
hunting. 
That  those  in  charge  of  said  ishinds  did  not  when  said  decrease  on 

said  rookeries  commenced  know  conclusively  the  cause 
tefuoToTrookelirs™"  tliercof;  that  my  opinion  then  was  that  it  was  caused 

by  pelagic  sealing,  but  had  been  informed  and  believed 
that  the  United  States  Government  intended  to  seize  all  such  poaching 
vessels;  that  relying  upon  such  information  I  authorized  the  taking  of 
seals  as  beibre;  that  such  protection  of  seal  life  was  not  fully  carried  ont 
in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  by  reason  of  England's  interference, 
and  that  the  rookeries  were  thus  depleted. 
I  am  fnlly  convinced  from  my  knowledge  of  seal  matters  that  if  this 
t  -t^i  1  ii"-  "^discriminate  and  reckless  destruction  of  the  Pribilof 
ic  s "aihiK  wiiuiestroy  scal  licrd  contiuucs  as  it  has  done  in  the  past  six  years 
the  Alaska  herd.  '  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  jSTorth  Pacific,  the  seals  will  be 
practi(;ally  exterminated  in  a  very  few  years,  even  if  the  United  States 
Government  should  not  allow  any  seals  to  be  taken  on  the  Pribilof 
Islands,  for  the  destruction  of  females  in  the  water  has  reached  a  num- 
ber that  can  not  be  met  by  the  annual  increase. 

Ill  my  judgment  the  seals  vshould  be  protected  in  Bering  Sea  and  the 

North  Pacific,  and  that  pelagic  sealing  should  be  en- 
^^^otectionnecos-  ^j^^^iy  prohibited  in  the  said  Avaters.^   A  zone  of  30 

miles  about  the  seal  islands  within  which  seal  hunt- 
ing would  be  x^i"*>hibited  would  be  valueless  in  preserving  seal  life; 

first,  because  Bering  Sea  during  the  time  the  seals  are 
vahiire"!"^  ^°  ™*''^''  there  is  almost  constantly  enveloped  in  fogs  and  mist, 

under  cover  of  which  marauding  vessels  could  run  in 
very  near  to  the  islands  without  being  observed,  if  allowed  to  come  as 
near  as  30  miles  thereto;  second,  because  for  over  30  miles  from  said 
islands  great  quantities  of  seals  are  found  coming  from  and  going  to  the 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLAND.  47 

islands  from  the  feeding"  grounds;  and  fnrtlier,  because  seals  found  in 
the  waters  for  GO  to  100  miles  about  said  islands  are  much  bolder  and 
easy  of  approach  that  in  the  open  sea,  through  the  proximity  of  their 
island  home. 

Therefore,  in  my  judgment  such  a  30-mile  zone  would  be  of  practi- 
cally no  use  as  a  means  of  protection  to  seal  life,  because  of  the  impossi- 
bility to  enforce  such  a  hiw,  and  because  of  its  inefficiency  if  enforced. 

(liiterlineations  herein  in  my  handwriting  were  made  before  sign- 
ing.) 

H.    H.   MCINTYRE. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  5th  day  of  April,  IS02. 
[l.  s.]  *  Sevellon  a.  Bkown, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  U.  kS.  A. 


Deposition  of  H.  H.  Mclntyrc,  Treasury  agent,  and  sujyeriiiteiident  for 
the  lessees  of  the  Fribilof  Islands. 

management  and  pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 

Concerning  the  seal  fisheries  of  Alaska  H.  H.  Mclntyre,  of  West  Ran- 
dolph,Vt.,  deposes  and  says,  on  oath :  My  first  knowledge  of  the  fur-seals 
of  Alaska  was  obtained  when  I  went  to  that  Territory  in  18C8,  as  special 
Treasury  agent,  under  instructions  from  thehonorable  Secretary,  to  report 
what  action  was  necessary  to  be  taken  by  the  Govern- 
ment for  preserving  the  seal  rookeries  and  securing  a  '^penence. 
revenue  therefrom.  I  arrived  in  Sitka  in  November,  1808;  remained 
there  a  few  days  and  went  thence  to  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  touch- 
ing at  all  principal  points  between  Sitka  and  Victoria.,  spending  the 
entire  winter  of  1868  and  1869  among  the  Indians  and  fur  traders, 
learning  their  traditions  and  customs,  and  noting  their  catches  of  fnrs 
and  manner  of  doing  business.  It  came  to  my  knowledge  at  that  time 
that  a  considerable  number  of  fur-seals  were  being  killed  by  the  In- 
dians, mostly  by  the  use  of  spears,  in  the  waters  adjacent  to  Van- 
couver's and  Queen  Charlotte's  islands.  The  total 
catch  obtained  in  this  way  amounted  at  this  time,  as  I  fiiS^^jn-iTi^to  iseo.^^' 
was  told  by  the  late  United  States  consul,  Francis,  to 
3,000  to  5,000  skins  per  annum.  The  consul  farther  said  that  the  catch 
was  (;hiefly  females,  many  of  which  were  pregnant.  The  Indians  hunted 
fi'om  dugout  canoes,  and  could  not  go  far  from  land.  In  the  spring  of 
1869  I  joined  the  United  States  revenue  steamer  Lincoln,  and  made  the 
summer's  cruise  in  her  of  about  four  months,  touching  at  many  points 
along  the  Alaska  coast  between  Sitka  and  the  most  westerly  island  of 
the  Aleutian  Archipelago,  visiting  the  Pribilof  group  twice  during  the 
season. 

The  habits  of  the  seals  and  manner  of  driving  and  killing  them 
during  Ilussian  occupation  of  the  islands,  and  in  1868,  after  the  trans- 
fer of  Alaska  to  the  United  States,  were  as  carefully  inquired  into  as 
the  limited  time  and  opportunity  would  admit,  and  re])orted  to  the 
Treasury  Department  under  date  of  November  30,  1869  (House  Ex. 
Doc.  36,  Forty-first  Congress,  second  sesssion).  This  ^fl-,,„t;s  report  to 
report,  together  with  that  of  Special  Agent  Charles  Tnnisury  du  wWcb 
Bryant,  formed  the  basis  of  subsequent  legislation  ^^:^,  *'''  ^^""^ 
providing  for  the  leasing  of  the  right  to  kill  100,000 


48  TESTIMONY 

seals  annually  for  their  skins.  The  report  was,  in  the  absence  of  more 
reliable  information,  largely  based  npon  the  traditions  and  opinions  of 
the  natives  aiid  traders,  to  whom  the  management  of  the  sealeries  was 
intrnsted  by  the  Knssian  Fnr  Company,  and  was  afterwards  found  to  be 
erroneons  in  many  particulars.  Upon  the  main  point,  however,  that 
of  fixing  100,000  seals  as  the  proper  number  to  be  killed  annually,  we 
have  shown  by  the  experience  of  many  years  to  have  been  correct. 
,  This  number  was  easily  secured  every  year  from  1871 

skin.r'c^fsii.^Take"!  to  1885,  and  at  the  sajne  time  a  constant  increase  of 
from  1871  to  1885.  ^^q  gg.jj  rookcries  was  observed.  I  am  satisfied  that 
with  good  management  npon  the  islands,  and  the  cessation  of  j)elagic 
sealing,  this  number  could  have  been  secured  annually  up  to  this 
time,  and  for  an  indefinite  future.  The  total  number  of  seals  was 
stated  in  that  report  to  be ''not  less  than  4,000,000 
niSiolu''*^*'"^''^^"^'  upon  the  two  islands."  I  am  satisfied  that  this  esti- 
mate was  too  high,  and  that  the  more  recent  estimates 
published  in  the  reports  of  ofBcers  of  the  Treasury  Department  who 
have  been  at  different  times  stationed  upon  the  islands,  or  detailed  to 
report  upon  the  sealeries,  have  been  still  more  erroneous  than  my  own. ' 
My  figures  were  made  without  any  attempt  at  mathematical  computa- 
tion, and  were  mere  guesses  at  the  i)ossible  number  of  seals  upon  the 
different  rookeries. 

My  successors  have  attempted  to  measure  the  ground  occupied  by 
the  seals,  and  by  multiplying  the  number  upon  a  given  area  as  ascer- 
tained by  count,  by  the  whole  area  of  the  rookeries,  to  arrive  at  an 
approximation  to  the  total  number.  They  added  to  theu^  computation 
a  large  percentage  to  cover  the  number  sux)posed  to  be  in  the  water  at 
the  time,  but  did  not  subtract  for  the  inaccessible  portions  of  the 
grounds,  vast  tracts  of  which  aie covered  with  bowlders  and  lava  rocks, 
where  no  seals  could  lie,  or  skirted  with  acclivities  they 
mSi^gpopuiation!*^'  could  uot  ascciid.  That  is,  the  estimates  were  made 
from  measurements  necessarily  taken  after  the  seals 
had  left  the  rookeries,  and  sometimes  weeks  or  months  afterward,  with 
only  the  recollection  of  the  ground  they  had  formerly  occupied  to  guide 
the  observer.  J\[any  sections  were  inchided  which  had  been  but  thinly 
poinilated,  if  at  all.  An  attempt  to  secure  even  an  a|>proxiinati\c 
census  of  seals  may  well  be  regarded  with  suspicion.  Yet  their  habits 
are  so  well  defined  and  unvarying  that  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  determine 
But  pasy  to  deter-  wlicther  they  increase  or  decrease  from  year  to  year, 
mine  au  increase  or  bccausc  they  ulways  occupy  tlic  same  portions  of  cer- 
(iccrease.  ^.^-^^^  bcaclies,  aii(l  siiiiply  expand  or  contract  the  bound- 

aries of  the  rookeries  as  they  become  more  or  less  numerous.  I  re- 
turned to  Washington,  D.  C,  in  November,  1801),  and  was  placed  in 
charge  of  work  during  the  following  winter  and  spring  pertaining  to 
Alaska  and  the  S(!aleries,  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 
In  June,  1800,  I  accepted  the  position  of  general  agent  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  Comi>any,  and  in  the  following  August,  when  the  lease  of 
the  right  to  take  seals  was  <'xecuted,  I  became  superintendent  of  seal 
fisheries  for  the  lessees,  and  remained  in  this  position  until  the  spring' 
of  1800.  In  this  capacity  I  visited  tlie  Tribilof  Islands,  and  remained 
there  every  sealing  season  except  those  of  1883,  1881,  and  1885,  and 
D  ■  ■  <r  ikir  "  ^^^  there  also  during  the  winter  of  1871-'72.  In  kill- 
ririiigani  i  mg.  ^^^^  geals  for  their  skins,  tlie  methods  employed  by  the 
Eussian  Fur  Company,  prior  to  American  occupation,  were  closely  fal- 
lowed, except  that  many  innovations  and  improvements  were  instituted 
and  adopted  after  the  first  year  of  the  lease.    The  work  was  chiefly 


' «   ^,sitf"  I 


EELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  49 

(lone  by  the  natives,  each  gang  of  workmen  being  headed,  as  under 
Russian  custom,  by  a  native  chief.  All  thoroughly  understood  the 
work,  having  been  bred  to  it  from  boyhood.  Gieat  care  was  always 
exercised  in  approaching  the  sealing  grounds  to  disturb  them  as  little 
as  possible.  On  some  occasions  a  considerable  number  of  bulls,  nearly 
large  enougli  for  rookery  service,  and  rarely  a  barren  cow,  were  un- 
avoidably gathered  up  from  the  beach  and  started  inland  with  the 
herd.  The  greater  part  of  these,  at  first  opportunity,  were  segregated 
from  the  drove  and  sent  back  to  the  water.  The  drove  was  frequently 
allowed  to  rest,  and  whenever  practicable  driven  through  some  of  the 
numerous  ijonds,  or  across  marshes,  to  keep  tliera  cool.  Generally  the 
loss  of  life  from  the  "drive"  was  very  small,  amounting,  after  the  first 
two  or  three  years,  to  only  a  fraction  of  1  per  cent  of  the  number 
killed.  And  nearly  all  thaf  ])erished  on  the  road  were  skinned,  and  the 
pelts  counted  in  our  annual  quota.  Upon  reaching  the  killing  ground 
the  herd  was,  in  dry  weather,  placed  upon  moist  ground  and  allowed 
to  cool  off. 

When  killing,  if  the  herd  collected  upon  the  slaughter  grounds  was 
of  considerable  size,  a  portion  of  it  was  segregated  and  taken  to  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  workmen,  the  remainder  being  left  at  rest. 
This  portion  wasagain  subdivided  into  "pods"  of  twenty-five  to  seventy- 
five  animals  and  driven  directly  to  the  killing  gang,  generally  compris- 
ing six  or  seven  men,  who  with  a  single  blow  knocked  senseless  such 
seals  as  they  were  directed  by  the  "boss"  to  kill,  and  the  remaining 
ones  were  driven  aside  and  allowed  to  find  their  way  back  to  the  water 
at  will,  whi(*h  they  usualy  did  shortly  after  being  set 
at  liberty.     Of  course  many  of  these  were  redriven,  and     Kedriving. 
some  of  them  several  times  during  the  season,  but  I 
believe  no  injury  resulted  to  them  fiom  this  process.     They  were  sub- 
jected upon  the  drive  to  no  greater  exertion,  and  rarely  to  more  cruel 
treatment  in  any  way  than  we  habitually  put  upon  our  domestic  animals. 
The  only  noticeable  effect  upon  them  resulting  fi'om  the  "drive"  was 
somethnes  abraded  hind  flippers,  and  of  course  the  signs  of  healthy 
fatigue  naturally  following  continued  exertion,  from  which  they  quickly 
recovered.     The  loss  of  virility  and  destruction  of  reproductive  iDower 
in  the  older  males  by  reason  of  relocated  driving  and 
other  hardships  to  which  the  young  animals  are  sub-  iuiJ^iimu..vLdJ^/vi^^^ 
jected  upon  the  islands,  exists,  if  at  all,  only  in  the 
imagination  of  theorists  who  have  reported  upon  the  subject.     It  is 
arrant  nonsense.     Impotent  males  are  never  seen  there  in  any  species 
until  they  have  become  so  l)y  old  age.     Female  seals  were  very  rarely 
included  in  the  driven  herd,  and  never  killed  exce])t  by  accident. 

In  1871,  for  want  of  trained  assistants  the  majority  of  the  seals  were 
killed  under  the  supervision  of  native  chiefs.  We  had  no  teams,  and 
werepoorly  sni)plied  with  boats  and  other  facilities  for  transporting  the 
skins  and  doing  the  work.  Salt  houses  were  inconveniently  located, 
and  the  business  was  transacted  in  a  crude  way,  under  great  disad- 
vantages. The  skins  and  all  other  material  u])on  the  islands  requiring 
to  be  moved  were  carried  upon  the  backs  of  men,  a  wearisome  and  dis- 
agreeable task  after  a  day's  work  on  the  killing  grounds.  Tiie  results 
Avere  unsatisfactory.  The  catch  obtained  under  the  direction  of  the 
chiefs  comprised  mainly  small,  light  skins,  because  siu-h  could  be  easiest 
secured  and  transported.  The  work  progressed  .slowly,  as  it  had  always 
formerly  done  under  Russian  direction.  Less  than  two-thirds  of  the 
quota  of  skins  w^ere  obtained  in  June  and  July.  During  August  Ave 
were  prohibited  by  law  at  that  time  from  killing  seals.  Work  was 
271G — VOL.  II 4 


50  TESTIMONY 

resumed  at  a  later  date,  and  finished  shortly  before  the  seals  migrated, 
thus  keeping  tliemin  a  state  of  unrest  and  commotion  nearly  the  whole 
summer.  But  the  custom  did  not  differ  in  this  respect  from  that  pur- 
sued by  the  Eussians.  In  187:3,  and  every  year  tliereafter,  an  American 
"boss"  was  placed  at  the  head  of  every  gang  of  natives, 
improvea  methods.   ^^^^,  ^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^.^j^  houscs  were  improved,  supplies  of  salt 

for  "kenching"  skins  increased,  and  the  seal  catch  was  pushed  to  com- 
pletion before  the  end  of  July.  Additional  salt  houses  were  erected  in 
this  and  the  two  following  years  contiguous  to  the  respective  rookeries, 
in  order  to  avoid  loug  "drives"  and  facilitate  tlie  work  of  the  men.  In 
1873  a  horse  and  team  of  mules  were  taken  to  the  island  in  furtherance 
of  the  same  object,  and  these  were  added  to  from  year  to  year,  and  sup- 
plemented by  several  boats  and  a  steam  launch,  so  that  long  before  the 
expiration  of  the  lease,  the  labor  put  upon  both  seals  and  men  was  very 
greatly  reduced.  Under  better  management,  the  quality  of  the  catch 
sent  to  market  constantly  improved.  The  sldns  averaged  larger  and 
more  uniform  in  size  than  had  been  formerly  secured. 

During  the  whole  period  of  seventeen  years  from  1868  to  1885,  no 

difficulty  was  experienced  in  obtaining  the  full  quota 
obtai"ed"from  lies  to  of  100,000  wcll  selccted,  marketable  skins.  I  know 
i^^5-  this  to  be  a  fact  during  all  these  years,  up  to  and  in- 

cluding 1882,  from  personal  observation  and  experience  continued  from 
day  to  day,  in  actively  managing  the  business,  and  am  assured  by  the 
daily  record  kept  by  my  assistants,  and  by  their  reports  to  me  from 
time  to  time,  that  they  were  equally  successful  in  seasonably  obtaining 
a  desirable  catch  from  1883  to  1885,  inclusive,  while  I  was  away  from 
the  islands.  The  work  was  not  completed  as  early  in  the  seasons  from 
1880  to  1885  as  it  had  formerly  been .  This  was  chiefly  due  to  the  greater 
care  exercised  in  selecting  animals  to  be  killed.  In  order  that  the 
selection  should  be  made  from  as  large  a  number  as  possible,  and  to  sat- 
isfy the  requirements  of  the  Treasury  agents  in  charge,  who  demanded 

that  all  the  rookeries  be  worked  in  regular  rotation, 
frmTi«!eZiker"es!"^  ^'^  commcnccd  iu  1879  or  1880  to  "drive "with  greater 

frequency  from  the  more  distant  and  less  accessible 
grounds.  These  distant  animals  were  not,  however,  driven  to  the  vil- 
lage killing  grounds,  as  has  been  represented,  but  were  slaughtered  as 
near  the  rookeries  as  seemed  prudent  with  regard  to  the  welfare  of  the 
breeding  seals,  and  the  skins  were  transported  in  wagons  or  boats  to 
the  salt  houses.  With  this  exception,  there  was  no  change  in  the  man- 
ner of  conducting  the  business  from  1870  to  1889. 

In  1880  I  again  assumed  personal  direction  of  the  work  upon  the 

islands,  and  continued  in  charge  up  to  and  including  1889.    And  now, 

-r^-«:    1.  •    .ocn  .    for  the  first  time  in  my  experience,  there  was  difficulty 

Difficult  m  18S9   to     .  .  i        ,   •  -      n         mi        x  i  i      ~ 

secure  the  proper  lu  secuiing  sucli  skius  as  wcwautcd.  Ihc  troublc  was 
«^^°^-  not  particularly  marked  in  1886,  but  increased  from 

year  to  year  to  an  alarming  extent,  until  in  1889,  in  order  to  secure  the 
full  quota  and  at  the  same  time  turn  back  to  the  rookeries  such  breed- 
ing bulls  as  they  seemed  to  absolutely  need,  we  \vere  forced  to  take 
fully  50  per  cent  of  animals  under  size,  which  ought  to  have  been  al- 
lowed one  or  two  years  more  growth.  Concerning  this  matter  I  reported 
to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  under  date  of  July  16,  1889,  as 

follows:  "The  contrast  between  the  present  condition 
on^tTe^Bubject!^''''*''  of  scal  life,  and  that  of  the  first  decade  of  the  lease  is 

so  marked  that  the  most  inexpert  cau  not  fail  to  notice 
it.  Just  when  the  change  commenced  I  am  unable,  from  personal  ob^ 
eervation,  to  say,  for  as  you  will  remember  I  was  iu  ill  health  and  una- 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  51 

ble  to  visit  the  islands  in  1883,  1884,  and  1885.  I  left  the  rookeries  in 
1882  in  their  fullest  and  best  condition,  and  found  them  in  1886  already- 
showing  slight  falling  off,  and  experienced  that  year  for  the  first  time 
some  difficulty  in  securing  just  the  class  of  animals  in  every  case  that 
we  desired.  We,  however,  obtained  the  full  catch  in  that  and  the  two 
following  years,  finishing  the  work  from  the  21th  to  the  27th  of  July 
but  were  obliged,  particularly  in  1888,  to  content  ourselves  with  smaller 
skins  than  we  had  heretofore  taken.  This  was  in  part  due  to  the  neces- 
sity of  turning  back  to  the  rookeries  many  half-grown  bulls,  owing  to 
the  notable  scarcity  of  breeding  males.  I  should  have  been  glad  to 
have  ordered  them  killed  instead,  but  under  your  instructions  to  see 
that  the  best  interests  of  the  rookeries  were  conserved,  thought  best  to 
reject  them.  The  result  of  killing  from  year  to  year  a  large  and  increas- 
ing number  of  umall  animals  is  very  apparent.  We  are  simply  draw- 
ing in  advance  upon  the  stock  that  should  be  I^ept  over  for  another 
year's  growth." 

In  the  process  of  securing  the  annual  catch  of  seals  for  their  skins, 
the  breeding  animals  were  very  little  disturbed.  IS"©  Disturbance  ot  the 
one  was  allowed  to  molest  them;  dogs  were  banished  rookeries. 
from  the  islands.  Tlie  use  of  firearms  was  forbidden.  The  rendering 
of  oil  from  seal-blubber  was  stop])ed  after  the  second  year's  trial,  be- 
cause the  smoke  and  odor  seemed  to  disturb  the  rookeries  near  the  works, 
and  every  precaution  was  adopted  which  good  husbandry  could  sug- 
gest for  the  perpetuation  of  the  industry.  The  seals  were  apparently 
subject  to  no  diseases;  the  pups  were  always  fat  and  healthy,  and  dead 
ones  very  rarely  seen  on  or  about  the  rookeries  prior  to  1884.  Uijon 
my  return  to  the  islands  in  1880,  I  was  told  by  my  as-  ^ 
sistants  and  the  natives  that  a  very  large  number  of  ^^  ^^^^' 
pups  had  perished  the  preceding  season,  a  part  of  them  dying  upon  the 
islands,  and  others  being  Avashed  ashore,  all  seeming  to  have  starved  to 
death.  The  same  thing  occurred  in  1880,  and  in  each  of  the  following- 
years  to  and  including  1889.  Even  before  I  left  the  islands  in  August, 
1886,  1887,  and  1888,  I  saw  hundreds  of  half-starved,  bleating,  ema- 
ciated pups,  wandering  aimlessly  about  in  search  of  their  dams,  and 
presenting  a  most  x)itiable  appearance.  For  if  the  mother  seals  are 
destroyed,  their  young  can  not  but  perish;  no  other  dam  will  suckle 
them;  nor  can  they  subsist  until  at  least  three  or  four  months  old  with- 
out the  mother's  milk.  The  loss  of  this  vast  number  of  pups,  amount- 
ing to  many  thousands,  we  could  attribute  to  no  other  cause  than  the 
death  of  the  mother  at  the  hands  of  pelagic  seal  hunters. 

Between  1874  and  1883  i)redatory  vessels  occasionally  appeared  in 
Bering  Sea,  among  them  the  Cygnet  in  1874  and  tlie 
iSan  Uicgo  in  1870,  but  the  whole  number  of  seals  de-      I'oacbers. 
stroyed  by  such  vessels  was  small,  and  had  no  appre-      Cygnet^isn. 
ci able  effect  upon  the  rookeries;  in  1884  about  4,000      sanj)iego,i876. 
skins  were  taken  in  Beiing  Sea  by  three  vessels,  and 
starved  pups  were  noticed  upon  the  islands  that  year  for  the  first  time. 
In  1885  about  10,000  skins  were  taken  in  this  sea,  and 
the  dead  pups  upon  the  rookeries  became  so  mimer-  „/ deliTpups  "and^of 
ous  as  to  evoke  comment  from  the  natives  and  others  poachers. 
upon  the  island.^     From  1885  to  the  present  time  the 
fleet  of  predatory  vessels  has  constantly  increased  in  proportion  as 
the  seal  herd  has  decreased.     From  180!)  to  1882  the  seal  rookeries 
largely  increased.      I  know  this  from  accurate  personal  observation, 
and  reported  relative  to  it  to  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company  July  10,  1889,  as  follows:    "The  breeding  J^To'^lmtLmT: 
rookeries  from  the  beginning  of  the  lease  until  1882 


52  TESTIMONY 

or  ISS3  wore,  I  believe,  constantly  inci-easiug  in  aroa  and  popnlation, 

and  my  observations  in  this  direction  are  in  accordance  with  those 

of  Mr,  Morgan,  Mr.  Webster,  and  others  wlio  have  been  with  nie  for 

many  years  in  yonr  service,  and  of  Special  Treasury  Agent  J.  M.  JVIor- 

ton,  who  was  on  the  islands  from  1870  to  1880.     Even  as  late  as  1885 

Special  Treasury  Agent  Tingle  reported  a  further  increase  of  breeding 

seals;  but  his  estimates  were  made  in  comparison  with  those  of  Prof. 

H.  W.  Elliott  of  1872  and  1873,  and  he  was  probably  not  fully  aware  of 

the  fact  that  the  increase  had  occurred  prior  to  1883,  and  that  in  1885 

there  was  already  perhaps  a  sliglit  diminution  of  breeders." 

A  very  noticeable  decrease  in  the  herd  commenced,  as  I  have  already 

pointed  out,  in  1880,  and  was  coincident  in  time  and 

Decrease  of  herd  proi)ortionate  iu  cxteut  with  the  number  of  seals  de- 

and  increase  of  peu-    ^        i^        i    •       .1  4.  mi       1         ■  r        1        ■  t 

gic  sealing.  stroycd  lu  the  water.    The  business  oi  pelagic  sealing 

in  Bering  Sea  first  assumed  considerable  proportions 
in  1884,  and  iu  that  year  dead  pup  seals  first  became  numerous  enough 
upon  the  rookeries  to  excite  remark  upon  the  islands.  As  the  sealing 
fleet  increased,  the  starved  animals  became  moie  numerous.  In  1887 
fourteen  vessels  were  seized  for  illegal  sealing,  and  the  eft'ect  was  seen 
in  the  following  year  when  a  much  less  number  engaged  in  the  business 
and  the  Bering  Sea  catch  amounted,  as  I  am  informed,  to  about  34,000 
skins,  against  about  19,000  or  20,000  in  1888.  The  failure  of  the  United 
States  Grovernment  to  vigorously  pursue  in  1888  and  the  following 
years  the  repressive  policy  so  auspiciously  begun  in  1887,  led  to  a  large 
increase  of  the  sealing  fleet  and  corresponding  destruction  of  the  herd, 
but  the  prohibition  of  pelagic;  sealing  nevertheless  continued,  and  the 
usual  proclamation  was  published  by  the  Government  warning  all 
parties  not  to  kill  seals  in  Bering  Sea  or  waters  adjacent  to  the  Alaskan 
coast. 
The  policy  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  during  the"  whole 
Folic  of  th  41  a  P^'^io*^^  of  its  Icasc,  was,  as  might  be  naturally  expected, 
ka  conimerciai  Com-  to  obtaiii  tlic  bcst  ])ossible  skiiis  for  market,  and  at 
P™y-  the  same  time  preserve  the  rookeries  against  injury, 

for  it  was  not  only  in  their  interests  to  be  able  to  secure  every  year, 
until  the  expiration  of  the  lease,  the  full  quota  allowed  by  law,  but 
they  confidently  expected,  by  reason  of  their  good  management  of  the 
business,  and  faithful  fulfiliinent  of  every  obligation  to  the  Govern- 
ment, to  obtain  the  franchise  for  a  second  term.  I  was,  therefore, 
always  alert  to  see  that  the  due  proportion  of  breeding  males  of  serv- 
iceable age  was  allowed  to  return  to  the  rookeries.  This  was  a  com- 
jiaratively  easy  task  prior  to  1882.  but  became  from  year  to  year  more 
diflicult  as  the  seals  decreased.  No  very  explicit  orders  were  given  to 
the  '^ bosses"  upon  this  point  until  1888,  because  the  bulls  seemed  to 
be  jilentiful  enough,  and  because  it  w^as  easier  to  kill  and  skin  a  small 
seal  than  a  large  one,  and  the  natives  were  inclined  for  this  reason  to 
„  ,      ,    allow  the  large  ones  to  escape;  but  in  1888  and  1889 

Scarcity   of  breed-     ,.  '^^  -,■,•!  ,»i  t  i 

in- males  in  1888  and  tlieic  was  such  a  marked  scarcity  01  breecbng  males 
^***^^-  u])on  tlie  rookeries  that  I  gave  strict  orders  to  spare 

all  five-year  old  bulls  and  confine  the  killing  to  smaller  animals. 
Through  all  this  slaughter,  involving  the  driving  and  redriving,  year 
after  year,  of  the  same  seals,  they  did  not  become  more 
solh^''^^^^  °^  ^^^  timid  when  on  land;  but  on  the  contrary,  those  resort- 
ing to  the  grounds  most  frequently  disturbed  were 
more  tractable  and  easier  driven  and  killed  than  the  ones  from  remote 
points,  as  at  Polavina  or  West  Point,  on  St.  Paul,  or  Zapadnieat  St. 
George,    The  "killing  gang"  frequeutly  sxioken  of,  and  I  myself,  ob- 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  53 

served  the  harder  work  in  liandimg  and  subdividing  the  drove  from 
the  more  distant  phiees,  because  of  the  more  savage  intractable  char- 
acter of  the  bulls, 

I  believe  the  seals  to  be  susceptible  of  a  high  degree  of  domestica- 
tion.  If  their  strong  propensity  to  bite  whatever  comes     ^  ... ,     ^ 

.,,  .  nc         •  •      -1  i'    i.1  -J.    1  IT  Susceptible   of    a 

Within  onensive  proximity,  whether  it  be,  seal  cub  or  high  degree  of  domes- 
a  hunter's  limb,  could  be  cured,  they  could  be  as  easily  t>catioii. 
managed  as  a  flock  of  slieej).  Each  one  of  the  >'ouiig  pups  driven  for 
the  customary  food  su])ply  Ijefore  their  lirst  migration  is  picked  up  by 
the  hind  flippers  to  determine  the  sex,  females  even  at  this  age  being 
spared,  and  when  thus  in  the  hands  of  the  hunters     ^     ., .,.,    ,.^ 

J  Ti'  Ti  111  11  j^i  11  Po88ibilil  vol  brand- 

could  be  as  readily  marked  or  branded  as  any  thoroughly  ingorotherwisemark. 

domesticated  animal.  In  fact,  a  large  number  Avere  '"»• 
thus  marked  in  1872,  by  Special  Treasury  Agent  Charles  Bryant,  by 
clipping  the  ear  as  a  means  of  further  identiflcation.  Every  seal  upon 
the  islands  has  in  this  way  been,  or  might  have  been,  if  we  had  so 
elected,  within  our  very  grasp,  to  kill  or  not  to  kill,  to  brand  or  not  to 
brand,  as  we  thought  best,  its  skin  having  at  the  same  time  com- 
mercial value.  I  conceive  tliat  'no  further  act  of  domestication  is  re- 
quired to  constitute  under  c<»mm()n  law  complete  and  absolute  owner- 
ship, coupled,  of  course,  with  the  right  of  protection  of  the  property, 
wherever  found. 

In  respect  to  the  propagation  and  perpetuation  of  the  species,  they 
are  as  controllable  and  amenable  to  good  management 

J.1        •   1         1  1  XJ.1  T_cj.i  •   ?  i  Proi)agation  an  d 

upon  the  islands  as  Sheep  or  cattle.  If  the  right  pro-  perpetuation  of  the 
portion  is  maintained  between  the  sexes,  the  greatest  ^P'^cies. 
possible  number  of  progeny  is  assured.  As  long  as  we  were  able  to 
keep  exclusive  control,  undisturbed  by  outside  influences,  we  main- 
tained the  steady  increase  of  the  herd  and  profitable  returns  from  the 
industry.  When  outside  parties,  beyond  our  jurisdiction,  carried  on 
their  destructive  work,  to  any  considerable  extent,  the  equilibrium  of 
the  sexes  was  destroyed,  any  calculation  of  those  in  charge  of  the 
islands  was  nullified  or  miscarried  and  the  speedy  decrease  and  ulti- 
mate destruction  of  the  seals  and  sealing  industry  made  certain. 

In  contemplating  this  destruction,  the  natives  of  the  seal  islands  are 
most  deeply  interested,  for  they  are  wholly  dependent 
upon  the  seals  for  a  livelihood.    The  ancestors  of  the  ,. Effect  of  destmc- 

.  /  ,  -        .  ,■,.-,-,  tion  on  natives. 

three  hundred  j^eople  now  upon  the  islands  were 
taken  there  more  than  one  hundred  years  ago,  and  their  descendants 
have  been  born  and  bred  to  their  occupation  of  seal  killing,  and  know 
no  other.  Prior  to  1808  the  I'ussians  furnished  them  only  indift'erently 
well  with  coarse  articles  of  food  and  clothing  which  the  seals  did  not  sup- 
ply, but  left  them  to  live  in  unhealthy  conditions  in  their  damp  under- 
ground houses,  often  uiisnp]»lied  with  fuel  and  not  infrequently  short  of 
ibod.  Under  the  liberal  management  of  the  Americans 
they  have  been  provided  with  comfi)rtable  wooden  of^TaVives '"'.' mVe r 
houses,  an  abundance  of  coal  to  heat  them,  warm  cloth-  Anurican  manago 
ing,  well-taught  schools  in  comfortable  school-houses,  at-  ""  "  " 
tractive  churches  in  the  Greco-linssian  faith,  to  which  they  are  devotedly 
attached,  and,  in  sliort,  with  all  the  comforts  and  many  of  the  luxnri(\s 
of  civilization.  With  these  surroundings  they  have  made  remarkable 
progress,  rendered  possible  l)}^  their  income  of  more  than  $10,000  per 
annum  from  the  seal  fisheries,  without  Avhich  they  are  left  in  absolute 
poverty,  and  must  either  leave  their  island  home  in  search  of  other 
employment  of  which  they  know  nothing,  rely  upon  the  charity  of  the 
Government  for  meager  support,  or  starve.     They  rightly  charge  these 


54  TESTIMONY 

dire  alteriiiitives  upon  the  pelagic  seal  hunters,  who  have  ruthlessly 
destroyed  the  herd  in  which  every  native  had  a  certain  vested  right, 
in  the  exercise  of  which  he  deserved  the  protection  of  the  Government 
into  whose  care  he  has  <'ome. 

H.  H.  McIntyre. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  May,  1892. 
[siiAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  H.  H.  McIntyre,  special  Treasury  agent  and  sxiperintendent 
for  the  lessees  of  the  Fribilof  Islands. 

management. 

State  of  Vermont, 

Orange  County,  ss: 

H.  H.  McIntyre,  of  Randolph,  in  said  county,  having  been  duly  sworn, 
deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native  of  Vermont,  48  years 

Experience.  ^j^^_      j^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^^    -j^ggg  j  ^^.^^  SpCCial  Uiutcd 

states  Treasury  agent  assigned  to  duty  in  Alaska,  under  particular 
instructions  to  visit  and  report  upon  the  seal  fisheries  of  Alaskii,  and 
from  1870  to  1881),  inclusive,  I  was  superintendent  of  the  sealeries  for 
the  lessees  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.  In  these  capacities  T  first  visited 
the  seal  islands  in  the  summer  of  18G0,  and  every  year  thereafter  until 
and  including  1889,  except  the  years  1883, 1884,  and  1885.  In  1871  and 
1872  I  stayed  there  continuously  for  about  sixteen  months,  and  in  each 
of  the  other  years  from  two  to  four  months,  thr<mgh  the  sealing 
season.  I  also  visited  London  twice  during  my  superintendency  in 
connection  with  the  sealing  industry,  and  was  at  all  times  actively  at 
work  in  the  interests  of  my  employers.  My  duties  as  such  special 
Treasury  agent  and  superintendent  demanded  and  received  my  atten- 
tion to  every  detail  of  seal  life  and  its  relations  to  commerce.  In  the 
discharge  of  these  duties  ]  was  constantly  aided  by  able,  intelligent 
assistants  and  native  seal  hunters,  whose  daily  observations  and  reports 
were  from  time  to  time  communicated  to  me. 

The  work  of  seal  killing  is  done  by  the  Aleutian  inhabitants  of  the 
seal  islands  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the 
^^^'  superintendent  for  the  lessees  and  his  assistants.    The 

natives  are  directed  by  th.eir  chiefs,  who  are  either  chosen  by  them- 
selves or  appointed  by  the  Treasury  agent  in  charge.  The  force  of 
natives  is  divided  into  gangs  of  20  to  30  men,  each  gang  being  led  by 
an  assistant  superintendent  and  native  chief,  and  comx^rises  the  jjroper 
number  of  "clubbers,'"  "rippers,"  and  "skiuners." 

Driving. 

In  describing  the  habits  of  the  seals  it  has  alieady  been  pointed  out 
that  the  "bachelors,"  or  killable  seals,  haul  out  upon 

Drxving;  how  done.  ^^^^^  hiud  Separate  and  apart  from  the  breeding  rook- 
eries, and  it  follows  that  they  may  be  lierded  together  and  driven  in 
from  the  beaches  to  the  killing  grounds  without  in  the  least  disturbing 
the  breeding  seals.    During  the  killing  season,  beginning  the  1st  of 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  55 

June,  or  as  soon  as  the  seals  arrive  thereafter,  it  is  customary  for  the 
superintendent  to  ascertain  the  day  before  a  drive  is  to  be  made  where 
the  killable  seals  lie,  and  to  instruct  the  chief  in  the  evening  in  regard 
to  the  work  for  tlie  following  day. 

At  daybreak,  about  1  or  2  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  chief  calls  a 
sufficient  number  of  men,  usually  from  six  to  twelve,  and  leads  them 
to  the  designated  beach.  They  approach  the  hauling  ground  as 
noiselessly  as  possible,  keeping  to  the  leeward  of  the  seals  until  a  point 
is  reached  whence  the  "  run"  is  to  be  made,  when,  at  the  word,  all  move 
at  the  top  of  their  speed  along  the  edge  of  tlie  surf  and  take  intervals, 
like  a  skirmish  line  of  soldiers,  between  the  seals  and  the  water,  at 
the  same  time  making  such  demonstrations  by  swinging  the  arms, 
flourishing  caps  and  coats,  or  beating  bones  or  sticks  together  as  to 
alarm  the  animals  and  cause  them  to  rush  inland.  The  drove  is 
quickly  collected  and  brought  together  in  one  mass.  When  it  has 
moved  a  short  distance  from  the  water  it  becomes  perfectly  manageable 
and  is  then  divided  into  detachments  of  500  to  1,000  seals;  each  detach- 
ment is  placed  by  the  chief  in  charge  of  a  trusty  man,  who,  aided  by 
two  assistants,  one  on  each  flank  and  himself  in  the  rear,  brings  his 
drove  along  tow^ards  the  killing  grounds  at  a  speed  varying  from  a 
few  rods  to  a  mile  an  hour,  in  accordance  as  the 
weather  may  be  hot  and  dry  or  moist  and  cool.  If  the  ^^'^^^  ^°  dnving. 
chief  is  efficient  and  properly  instructed,  the  seals  are  at  the  killing- 
ground  by  5  or  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  are  given  an  hour  or  two 
to  rest  and  cool  before  the  gang  turns  out  after  breakfast  for  the  day's 
work. 

The  longest  drive  made  during  recent  years  is  that  from  English  Bay 
to  the  village  on  St.  Paul  Island,  about  2^  miles. 
Formerly  it  was  customary  to  drive  from  Halfway  ceuM^ars'^"^^""^'^' 
Point  and  Southwest  Bay  to  the  village  grounds,  but 
it  was  found  to  be  less  trying  to  the  seals  and  better  economy  of  labor 
to  kill  nearer  to  these  rookeries.  Mule  teams  and  boats  on  St.  Paul 
and  pack  animals  on  St.  Geoige  were  accordingly  supplied  several  years 
ago  for  transporting  the  skins  from  these  more  distant  i)oints,  and  the 
killing  has  since  been  conducted  as  near  the  rookeries  as  practicable. 

In  driving,  advantage  is  taken  of  every  snowbank,  small  lake,  or 
stretch  of  marshy  ground  to  rest  and  cool  the  drove; 
and  if  very  hot  and  dry  or  the  sun  breaks  out,  it  is  r^cautions  ta -en. 
kept  in  a  cool  place  until  the  conditions  change.  Sometimes  the  prac- 
tice of  driving  the  seals  in  the  afternoon  and  evening  of  the  day  before 
they  are  to  be  killed  has  been  followed.  In  this  case  one  herdsman 
tbrough  the  night  is  suiflcient  to  prevent  their  escaping. 

The  fur-seals  do  not  travel  on  the  land  with  that  ease  of  locomotion 
characteristic  of  imrely  land  animals,  but  on  the  other     ^  .       ,. 

T  TJ.1  ■j_i  j_     n         T  -I         •it         Locomotion  of  fur- 

hand,  they  move  Avith  great  ireedom  compared  with  seals. 

other  species  of  seals.    Their  enforced   action  on  the 

drive  is,  as  a  rule,  but  little  more  violent  than  they  voluntarily  take 

upon  the  rookeries  w^hen  mo\ing  up  and  down   the  slojies  and  playing 

with  each  other. 

There  are  generally  in  each  drive  a  few  bulls,  full  grown  or  nearly  so, 
too  large  for  killing,  and  occasionally  a  dw^arf  or  sickly      _  ,,        ,  ^     , 

1        S  1  ,-1  11       /.        1  •    1  .1        Bulls   and   females 

seal  and  rarely  a  lemale,  all  oi  winch  are  segregated  excluded   from   the 
from  the  mass  as  soon  as  possible  and  left  behind  to  ^^°^'^- 
find  their  way  back  to  the  water.     l\ruch  depends  in  driving  upon  the 
good  judgment  of  the  man  in  charge  as  to  when  and  how  long  they 
should  be  allowed  to  rest,  and  in  keeping  the  herd  spread  out  so  as  to 


56  TESTIMONY 

I)revent  tlie  aiiininls  from    liuddliiig-  togetlier   and  crowding.     With 
,  ■  .        proper  inaiiaiienient,  the  loss  fiom  driving  is  but  a 

Loss  from (Inviiiir.       T.        x-  !>     t'  ^  i  i  n  i   •  i 

traction  oi  1  per  cent,  and  nearly  all  are  skinned 
and  the  skins  counted  as  a  i)art  ot  the  annual  quota.  Tlie  aninuils 
that  are  found  unfit  for  killing  and  are  allowed  to  return  to  the  water 
to  be  repeatedly  driven  later  in  the  season,  suffer,  in  my  opinion,  no 
^^  ^  injury.  I  have  seen  it  stated  by  tlieorists  with  little 
not 'iVn paired"  hy  ov  uo  practical  cxpericiice,  that  the  exertions  to  which 
'^'^^'"'-  the  seals  are  subjected  on  the  drive's  is  unusual   and 

excessive;  and  they  infer  that  it  must  injure  the  animal's  reinoductive 
usefulness.  With  more  extended  observation  and  experience  they 
would  discover  that  such  is  not  the  case.  The  best  practical  illustra- 
^    .         ^,  tion  of  this  fact  is  found  on  Cor)per  Island  of  the  Com- 

Island.  mander  group  where,  tor  the  i)ast   twenty  years  or 

more,  it  has  been  customary  to  drive  nearly  all  the 
the  seals  over  a  very  rough  mountain  trail  across  the  island,  and  to 
])racticethe  same  methods  in  the  killing  that  we  have  pursued  at  the 
Pribilof  Islands,  with  the  result  of  constantly  and  healthfully  in- 
creasing the  herd.  That  seals  are  occasionally  injured  or  lost  by  im- 
]U'oi)er  handling  is  no  sufficient  reason  for  abandoning  a  system  of  man- 
agement which  proves  satisfactory  when  properly  administered. 
These  theorists  apiiarently  find  it  very  easy  to  criticise  the  manage- 
ment of  the  seals  without  suggesting  any  way  in  which  to  improve  it. 

KilJinf/. 

During  the  seal  Icilling  season  the  men  turn  out  to  their  work  al>out 
()  o'clock  a.  m.  Each  man  in  the  gang  is  assigned  by 
lug;  ow  one.  ^^^^  chief  to  liis  appropriate  part  of  the  work.  If  the 
force  comprises  say  twenty-two  men,  the  most  ineihcient  one  will  be 
designated  as  "herdsman"  to  watch  the  drove  and  keep  it  as  near  the 
workmen  as  practicable;  five  of  the  most  active,  athletic  young  men 
are  detailed  as  "clubbers,"  of  whom  two  are  called  "drivers,"  it  being 
their  duty  to  cut  off  from  the  drove  small  detachments  or  "pods,"  of 
from  forty  to  seventy-five  seals  and  drive  them  u])  to  the  killers.  If  the 
drove  contains  a  considerable  number  of  adult  bulls,  or  the  seals  are 
tired  or  the  day  warm  and  humid,  the  "drivers"  have  the  most  labor- 
ious part  of  the  work.  Next,  one  boy  is  detailed  as  "stabber,"  five  as 
"tlipperers,"  and  the  remaining  ten,  those  who  are  most  expert  in  the 
use  of  their  knives,  as  "skinners." 

The  clubbers  are  each  armed  with  a  turned  hickory  club,  5  feet  2 
inches  long,  of  best  straight  grained  wood,  like  an  exaggerated  base- 
ball club,  and  a  sharp  pointed  hook,  similar  to  a  stevedore's  cargo 
hook,  which  he  carries  in  his  belt  or  boot  leg.  The  stabbers  and  Hip- 
perers  have  double-edged  knives  G  or  7  inches  long,  and  the  skinners 
ten  or  twelve  inch  single-edged  blades;  and  each  man  a  small,  fine- 
grained oil  stone  of  which  he  makes  very  frequent  use,  finishing  the 
shar])ening  process  on  his  own  palm  or  the  seaFs  flipper,  for  the  edges 
must  be  as  keen  as  razors  to  eflectually  do  the  work. 

If  the  drove  contains  more  than  a  few  hundred  seals,  a  portion  of  it 
is  cut  off  and  brought  to  within  about  To  or  100  feet  of  the  place  where 
the  first  "pod''  is  to  be  killed.  The  drivers  step  quickly  along  the  flanks 
of  the  drove  at  sev(n-al  feet  distant  from  it,  and  approach  each  other 
from  opposite  sides  at  a  point  to  detach  oO  or  GO  animals.  These 
are  driven  directly  to  the  clubbers  who  have  been  previously  instructed 
by  the  assistant  superintendent  what  class  of  seals  they  are  to  kill  and 


RELATING   TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  57 

wliere  tliey  are  to  begin  operations.  At  the  word  from  the  chief  the 
bhjws  fall  ill  quick  succession,  a  single  blow  upon  tlie  head  of  each  seal 
designated  being  always  sufficient  to  completely  stun  him,  and  usually 
to  fracture  his  skull.  Those  remaining  are  carefully  looked  over  by  the 
assistant  superintendent,  such  of  the  doubtful  ones  killed  as  he  may 
direct,  and  the  remaining  ones  diiven  to  one  side  and  allowed  to  return 
to  the  water  at  will;  or,  after  a  few  hours,  if  any  remain  about  the  held, 
a  boy  is  sent  to  head  them  toward  the  sea.  The  clubber's  shar})  hooks 
ai-e  now  stuck  into  the  noses  or  flippers  of  the  fallen  seals  and  they  are 
dragged  apart  and  laid  singly,  as  closely  together  as  convenient  for  the 
skinners.  This  is  very  necessary,  because,  if  left  in  a  heap  as  they  are 
slain,  the  heat  at  points  of  contact  quickly  loosens  the  fur  and  spoils 
the  skin.  The  drivers  now  "run"  to  bring  up  the  next  "pod,"  the 
stabber  thrusts  his  knife  to  the  heart  of  the  stunned  animals  ami  the 
fiipi)erers  follow  as  soon  as  the  seals  are  dead,  to  cut  the  skin  around^ 
the  head  just  in  front  of  the  ears,  around  tlie  posterior  extremity  be- 
tween the  body  and  hind  tli])i)ers,  around  the  two  fore  flippers  and 
down  the  median  line  of  the  belly.  Next  he  is  taken  in  hand  by  the 
skinner,  who  quickly  flays  him  with  dexterous  strokes  of  his  long,  keen- 
edged  knife,  leaving  a  considerable  layer  of  blubber  upon  the  skin  to 
prevent  its  hardening  and  drying  in  the  salting-  process.  When  it  is 
desired  to  save  the  blubber  as  well  as  the  skin,  both  are  removed  from 
the  carcass  together  and  flayed  apart  with  skillful  strokes  of  the  knife. 

The  seal  killing  is  done  in  a  very  orderly,  systematic  manner,  and  the 
attendant  waste  is  surprisingly  small  when  done  with  skilled  labor. 
Rarely  an  undesirable  seal  is  hit  by  a  clubber,  and  occasionally  the  sun 
will  shine  out  unexpectedly  and  so  heat  the  skins  before  they  can  be 
removed,  as  to  loosen  the  fur  and  cause  it  toi)ull  out,  but  the  entire  loss 
under  judicious  management  amounts  to  only  a  few  score  of  skins  in  a 
hundred  thousand.  An  experienced  force  of  22  men  can  easily  slaughter 
and  properly  cure  the  skins  of  an  average  of  1,;j()0  seals  per  day  through 
the  season. 

When  the  skin  has  been  removed  from  the  carcass  it  is  thrown,  flesh 
side  down,  upon  the  damp  ground,  and  as  soon  thereafter  as  convenient 
hauled  to  the  salt  house,  wlu're  each  one  is  examined  and  counted,  in 
the  presence  of  the  native  chief,  by  the  Treasury  agent  and  the  assist- 
ant superintendent,  in  order  to  determine  when  the  number  allowed  by 
law  has  been  taken  and  to  form  the  basis  for  xiayment  to  the  natives 
for  their  work. 

Salting. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  sealing  industry  it  was  always  customary 
to  dry  the  skins  for  niaiket  by  stretching  them  ui)on 
the  ground  by  means  of  wooden  pins  driven  through  '"^' 
their  edges  or  by  the  use  of  stakes  and  twine.  But  this  process  made 
the  skin  difficult  to  unhair  in  dressing,  and.  moreover,  in  the  very  dam]) 
climate  of  Alaska  it  was  often  inii)()ssible  to  dry  the  skins  thorougldy 
enough  to  prevent  their  decaying  en  route  to  market.  Large  numbers 
of  skins  were  lost,  I  am  informed,  in  this  way,  even  after  artificial  heat 
was  resorted  to  for  drying  them,  and  it  was  found  most  ])i-olitable  to 
salt  them  and  ship  them  in  sjilt  to  market. 

The  salting  is  done  in  rows  of  bins  called  "keiiches."     Each  skin  is 
thrown  to  the  man  iii  the  kench,  who  quickly  spreads   .;jj;g„(.,,i„„  - 
it,  flesh  side  up,  and  a  third  shovels  salt  enough  upon 
it  to  completely  cover  its  surface.     The  next  skin  is  si)read  in  the  same 
way  above  the  lirst,  and  so  on  with  alternate  layers  of  skins  and  salt 


58 


TESTIMONY 


uutil  the  kencli  is  full.  Here  they  lie  from  five  to  seven  days  and  are 
then  shaken  ont,  any  curled  odf>es  are  unrolled  and  salted,  and  the  skins 
are  folded  with  a  small  quantity  of  salt  between  the  folds,  and  again 
piled  to  complete  the  cnrin,u  process.  A  few  days  hiter  tliey  are  once 
more  pulled  apart  and  S])read  out,  s])riidcled  with  a  handful  of  salt  and 
rolled  and  tied  in  compact,  cylindrical  bundles  containing  two  skins 
each,  llesh  sides  together.  In  this  shape  they  are  lightered  from  the 
wareliouses  to  the  vessel  in  the  skin  boats  built  by  the  natives,  and 
shi])ped  to  San  Francisco,  were  they  are  packed  in  casks  holding  from 
fifty  to  sixty  skins  each,  and  forwarded  to  Loudon  via  New  York,  by 
railroad  and  steamer. 

The  practice  of  salting  the  skins  was  followed  to  some  extent  by  the 
Kussiaus  during  the  last  few  years  prior  to  the  cession  of  Alaska  to 
the  United  States,  and  in  nearly  every  particular  the  management  of 
the  sealeries  by  the  Americans  is  the  same  as  that  pursued  by  the  Kus- 
siaus  during  the  last  years  of  their  occupation.     Since  about  1835  the 

female  seals  have  been  invariably  spared,  and  if  the 
sinceTsasf '"^   spared  gQ-xleries  are  to  yield  the  best  returns  in  future,  the  mse 

system  under  which  they  have  been  heretofore  pro- 
tected must  be  rigidly  maintained.  The  habits  of  the  animals  are  such, 
in  the  separation  of  breeders  from  nonbreeders  when  on  shore,  that  this 
can  be  easily  accoinplished;  yet  the  fact  should  not  be  lost  sight  of  that 
both  breeders  and  nonbreeders  are,  in  the  course  of  every  season,  com- 
pletely in  the  power  of  the  occu])ants  of  the  islands,  and  the  entire  herd 
may  be  slaughtered  to  the  immediate  advantage  of  their  possessors,  if, 
by  reason  of  international  complications,  or  any  other  cause,  it  is  found 
desirable  to  exterminate  them. 
Many  improven)ents  were  introduced  by  the  Americans  upon  Eussian 

methods,  more  particularly  in  systematizing  the  work 
byAmericMia!*^"^^'^*'  upou  the  slaughter  grounds,  in  providing  convenient 

buildings  in  w^hich  to  salt  and  bundle  the  skins,  and  in 
furnishing  means  for  transporting  them  from  the  field  to  the  salt  houses 
and  chence  to  the  vessels;  but  the  management  of  the  rookeries  as  re- 
gards their  preservation  and  growth  lias  varied  very  little  since  1835 
or  1840,  wiien  the  Russians  awoke  to  the  fact  that  all  of  the  females  and 
a  proper  i)roportion  of  the  males  should  be  spared. 

The  age  at  which  the  male  seal  should  be  killed  for  his  skin  to  best 

meet  the  ])resent  demands  of  the  market,  is  3   and 

4  years  old.     It  is,  of  course,  as  with  other  animals, 

imi)ossible  to  say  in  every  case  just  how  old  a  seal  is, 
but  in  the  large  majority  of  cases  an  experienced  seal-killer  will  deter- 
mine with  accuracy  from  the  size  of  the  animal,  the  growth  of  hair  upon 
the  neck,  and  the  length  and  size  of  the  canine  teel^h. 

The  average  Aveight  and  length  of  the  different  sizes  and  ages  may 
be  generally  stated  about  as  follows: 


Proper  age  at  wliich 
Reals  should  bo  killed. 


Length. 


Weight. 


At  time  of  birtli 

A 1 1  yeai'  old 

At  2  years  ol<t 

At  3  years  old,  male 

At  3  years  old,  female,  nearly  fullgrowu 

At  4  years  old,  male 

At  4  years  old,  female,  full-grown 

At  5  years  old,  male 

At  6  years  old,  male,  nearly  fall-growii .. 
At  full  adult  age,  male 


Inches. 

Pounds, 

12 

7 

;)8 

39 

46 

60 

54 

90 

54 

60 

60 

150 

56 

80 

66 

225 

7f 

350 

78 

450 

RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF   ISLANDS.  59 

The  sex  of  the  yearliugs  is  not  easily  determined  unless  the  animal 
is  canght  and  examined.  Tlie  shape,  size,  and  color  Distinguishing  the 
of  the  two  sexes  are  very  closely  alike  at  this  age.  "'^^• 
At  2  years  old  it  is  less  difficult,  and  there  is  very  little  risk  in 
assuming  that  all  those  found  at  this  age  with  the  nonbreeders  are 
males,  because  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  females  at  2  years  old  consort 
with  the  breeding  seals  upon  the  rookeries.  In  the  last  two  years  of 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company's  lease  of  the  sealeries  large  numbers 
of  2-year  old  seals  were  killed  under  my  direction,  but  never,  to  my 
knowledge,  any  females  of  this  age. 

H.  H.  McIntyre. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  at  Randolph,  Yt.,  this  28th  day  of  July, 
A.  D.  1892,  before  me. 
[seal]  J.  B.  Eldredge, 

Notm-y  Puhlic. 


Deposition  of  Thomas  F.  Morgan,  sealer  on  PrihUof  Islands  in  1868  and 
1869,  and  agent  of  lessees  from  1874  to  1887. 

pribilof  island  rookeries. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Wasliingtoji,  ss  : 

Thomas  F.  Morgan,  being  duly  sworn,  says :  1  am  44  years  of  age,  and 
reside  in  the  town  of  Groton,  Conn.  In  1886  I  shipped  as  second 
mate  of  the  bark  Peru,  owned  by  the  firm  of  Wil- 
liams &  Haven,  of  the  city  of  New  Loudon,  Conn.,  '^ptnence. 
which  vessel  was  commanded  by  my  father,Capt.  Ebenezer  Morgan,  and 
sailed  on  that  bark  from  Honolulu  about  the  27th  day  of  February, 
1868,  for  the  purpose  of  catching  seals  on  the  islands  in  Bering  Sea, 
Williams  &  Hav^en  having  for  many  years  been  engaged  in  seal  fisheries, 
and  being,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  largest  firm  in  the  United  States  en- 
gaged in  that  business.  We  sailed  to  the  port  of  Sitka  and  there  ap- 
plied to  the  commander,  Gen.  JeftVrs(Ui  C.  Davis,  for  permission  to  land 
the  cargo  of  the  bark  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  take  seals  on  those 
islands.  At  the  end  of  the  season  I  remained  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul, 
one  of  the  said  Pribilof  Islands,  until  August,  1869,  as  a  representative 
of  Williams  &  Haven's  interest  in  and  about  said  island.  In  the  last- 
mentioned  year  I  returned  to  this  country,  and,  at  the  lequest  of  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company,  of  which  Williams  &  Haven  were  stock- 
holders, I  was  employed  in  the  year  1874  to  return  to  the  Pribilof  Is- 
lands as  a  representative  of  said  Alaska  Commercial  Company. 

In  pursuancHi  of  such  request  I  returned  to  the  island  as  agent  of 
said  last-mentioned  company  in  charge  of  the  island  of  St.  (ieorge, 
which  with  the  islaiuls  of  St.  Paul,  Otter,  and  Walrus,  (jonstitute  the 
group  known  as  the  Pribilof  Islands.  I  arrived  at  said  island  some- 
time in  May,  1874;  took  u])  my  residence  there,  and  remained  in  my 
capacity  of  agent  in  and  about  that  island  during  each  sealing  season 
thereafter  until  the  year  1887.  That  duiing  the  years  1868  and  1869, 
and  from  May  to  July,  1874,  I  was  located  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  also 
from  July,  1882,  to  May,  1883;  that  during  the  remainder  of  the  time  I 
was  upon  said  islands  I  was  resident  on  St.  George  Island;  that  during 
my  residence  on  said  islands  I  examined  fi-equently  the  breeding  rook- 


60  TESTIMONY 

erics  on  the  island  where  I  then  was  located,  and  now  recollect  the 
condition  of  said  rookeries,  and  the  approximate  area  whic.li  each  of 
them  covered  at  ditfereiit  times  diirin};  my  experience  on  said  ishiiids; 
that  I  have  carefully  examined  the  lines  drawn  by  H.  H.  Mclntyre  on 
exhibits  siirned  bv  him  and  marked  Exhibits  A,  B,  C, 

nulicaics  on  charts    -i-vt\t:t        ^   -i   /~^     •'    t       i.-         i.i  i  ii  -i 

the  areas  covend  by  D,  E,  F,  and  Gr,  indu'atiiig-  tjic  ^Tounds  covered  by  said 
the nmkeriea.  rookcrics  On  St.  Paul  Island  in  the  year  1870,  and  tho 

year  18813,  and  that  the  red  line  shoAvs  the  approxinnite  area  so  covered 
in  1860,  and  the  blue  line  the  approximate  area  so  covered  in  1882; 
that  I  have  indicated  to  the  best  of  my  recollection  the  grounds  covered 
by  breedings  rookeries  on  St.  George  Island  in  the  year  1874,  by  a  red 
line,  and  the  grounds  so  covered  in  the  year  1884  by  a  blue  line,  on  the 
exhibits  signed  by  me  and  marked  Exhibits  H,  I,  J,  and  K;  tliat  the 
grounds  so  indicated  are  practically  correct  and  represent  approximately 
the  area  covered  by  breeding  seals  on  said  St.  George  Island  in  said 
years  of  1874  and  1884. 

I  further  depose  and  say  I  have  examined  the  charts  of  said  St.  Paul 

and  St.  George  Islands,  made  as  I  am  informed  and 

Verifies  charts   i)e]ieve  by  J .  Stanley  Browii :  that  to  the  best  of  my 

drawn  bv   J.  StaiiUiy  t     -,     H  -,  -ii 

Brown  s'howin- haul-   knowlcdgc  the  spaccs  represented  on  siiid  charts  as 
wg grounds  on  isi-  g.^.„„,^js  ^y^r  wliich  the  bachelor  seals  have  hauled  at 
various  times   during-  my  experience  are  practically 
correct. 

Thomas  F.  Moegan. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  5th  day  of  Ai)ril,  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Sevellon  A.  Brown, 

Notary  Puhlie  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia^  U.  IS.  A. 


Deposition  of  Thomas  F.  Morgan,  atjcnt  of  the  lessees  on  the  PrihUef  Islands 
<ind  of  the  lessees  on  the  (Jomniander  Islands. 

habits,  management,  and  pelagic  sealing. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Thomas  F.  Morgan,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  44  years  of  age, 

and  reside  in  the  town  of  (irroton.  Conn.     In  1808  I  shipped  as  second 

mate  of  the  bark  Peru,  owned  by  the  Arm  of  Williams  &  Haven, 

.  of  the  city  of  New  London,  Conn.,  which  vessel  was 

'xptiieuLc.  commanded  by  my  father,  Capt.  Ebenezer  Morgan, 

and  sailed  on  that  bark  from  Honolulu  about  tlie  27th  day  of  Feb- 
ruary, 18(!8,  for  the  purpose  of  catching  sciils  on  the  islands  in 
Bering  Sea,  Williams  &  Haven  having  for  many  years  been  engaged 
in  seal  tislieries,  and  being,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  largest  firm  in  the 
United  States  engaged  in  that  business.  We  sailed  to  the  port  of 
Sitka,  and  there  a[)plied  to  the  commander.  Gen.  Jefferson  C.  Davis, 
for  permission  to  land  the  cargo  of  the  bark  on  the  Pribilof  Islands 
and  take  seals  on  those  islands.  At  the  end  of  the  season  I  remained 
on  the  island  ot  St.  Paul,  one  of  the  said  Pribilof  Islands,  until  August, 
1801),  as  a  representative  of  Williams  &  Haven's  interests  in  and  about 
the  said  island.  In  the  last  mentioned  year  I  returned  to  this  country, 
and  at  the  request  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  of  which  Wil- 
liams &  Haven  were  stockholders,  I  was  emjiloyed  in  the  year  1874  to 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS  Gl 

return  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  as  a  representative  of  the  said  Alaska 
Commereial  Company. 

In  pursuance  of  such  request  I  returned  to  the  islands  as  agent  of 
said  last  mentioned  company  in  charge  of  the  island  of  St.  George, 
which  with  the  islands  of  St.  Paul,  Otter,  and  Walrus,  constitiie  the 
group  known  as  the  Pribilof  Islands.  I  arrived  at  said  island  some 
time  in  May,  1874;  took  up  my  residence  there  and  remained  in  my 
capacity  of  agent  in  and  aljout  that  island  during  each  sealing  season 
thereafter  until  the  year  1887.  At  the  expiration  of  the  sealing  season 
of  1887,  I  returned  to  the  United  States,  and  in  1891  was  engaged  by 
the  Russian  Sealskin  Company,  of  St.  Petersburg,  as  chief  agent  of 
that  comi)any,  to  proceed  to  the  islands  of  Komand(n'ski,  consisting  of 
Copper  and  Bering  Islands,  commonly  called  the  Commander  Islands, 
which  said  company  had  a  lease  of  the  said  Commander  Islands  as  well 
as  of  the  island  of  Tuleni  or  liobben,  in  the  Okhotsk  Sea,  to  kill  seal.H 
and  other  fur- bearing  animals  on  those  islands  on  the  payment  of  a 
royalty  to  the  Eussian  Government.  During  the  years  above-mentioned 
I  have  superintended  the  killing  of,  on  the  average,  18,000  seals  a  year ; 
and  in  the  last  year  of  my  employment  by  the  Russian  Sealskin  Com- 
pany I  killed  or  superintended  the  killing  of  30,000  seals.  The  skinning, 
curing  of  skins,  packing  of  skins,  and  shipping  of  the  skins  from  the 
islands  of  all  the  seals  the  killing  of  which  I  superintended  has  been 
under  my  immediate  supervision,  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  work 
thereof  has  been  done  by  me  i^ersonally. 

That  during  my  employment  on  said  Pribilof  Islands  I  carefully 
studied  the  habits  of  the  fur-seal  and  the  statements  hereafter  made  as 
to  the  habits  of  said  animals  are  based  on  my  own  observation  and  also 
from  the  fact  that  these  statements  have  been  corroborated  by  natives 
and  residents  on  said  islands,  whom  I  know  to  be  familiar  with  every 
I)hase  of  seal  life. 

The  Alaska  fur-seal  breeds,  I  am  thoroughly  convinced,  only  upon 
the  Pribilof  Islands;  that  I  have  been  on  the  Alaska 
coast  and  also  along  the  Aleutian  Islands ;  that  at  no      Aijiskjm s.ai  im .mIh 

.  »  1J.1I4-        11    •''"''  iiiniis  lip  "Illy  <>» 

point  have  i  ever  observed  seals  to  haul  out  on  land  rribiiof  isiamis. 

except  at  the  Pribilof  Islands,  nor  have  I  been  able  to 

obtain  any  authentic  information  which  causes  me  to  believe  such  is 

the  case. 

The  Alaska  fur-seal  is  migratory,  leaving  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  the 

early  winter  going  southward   into   the   Pacific   and 

AXi'T'itiioii 

returning  again  in  May,  June,  and  July  to  said  islands.         " 
I  have  observed  certain  l^ull  seals  return  year  after  year  to  tiie  same 
place  on  the  rookeries,  and  1  have  been  informed  by  natives,  that  have 
lived  on  the  islands,  that  this  is  a  welf-know^n  fact  and  has  been  ob- 
served by  them  so  often  tlnit  they  stated  it  as  an  absolute  fact. 

I  believe  that  the  cause  the  seals  chose  these  islands  for  their  home 
is  because  of  the  isolation  of  these  Pribilof  Islands  and  because  the 
climatic  condition  of  said  Pribilof  Islands  is  particu-  ^  of  i,  land 

larly  favorable  to  seal  life.     During  the  time  the  seals 
are  upon  land  the  weather  is  damp  and  cool,  tlie  islands  being  almost 
continually  enveloped    in   fogs,  the  average  temi)erature  being  al)out 
41°  P.  during  the  summer. 

The  pup  seals  are  born  on  the  breeding  rookeries  on  St.  I'aiil  and  St. 
George  islands  during  the  months  of  June  and  July.     Wlien  first  born 
a.  pup  can  only  live  upon  land,  is  not  ainpliibious,  and  is 
unable  to  swim.     If  it  is  washed  oft'  into  tlie  sea  by  tlie  oua."'"  ""^  '^•"P'^^'j^ 
surf  it  is  drowned,  as  I  have  often  seen.    If  a  pup  was 


62  TESTIMONY 

born  in  the  water  it  could  not  possibly  live  and  I  have  never  heard  of 
such  a  case.  A  further  fact  in  this  connection  is  that  tlie  females  never 
come  to  the  islands  accomi)anied  by  a  pup.  After  birth  a  pup  at  once 
begins  to  suckle  its  mother,  who  leaves  its  offspring  only  to  go  into  the 
water  for  food,  which  I  believe  from  my  observation  consists  mainly  of 

fish,  squids,  and  crustaceans.  In  her  search  for  food  the 
fomf""*^*^^  feedingand  female,  iu  my  opinion,  goes  40  miles  or  even  further  from 

the  islands.  Tlie  pup  does  not  apiiea^r  to  recognize  its 
mother,  attempting  to  draw  milk  from  any  cow  it  comes  in  contact  with; 
but  a  nu)ther  will  at  once  recognize  her  own  i)up  and  will  allow  no  other 
to  nurse  her.     This  I  know  from  often  observing  a  cow  tight  off  other 

pups,  who  approached  her,  and  sear('h  out  her  own  pup 
Cow  suckles  only  her  from  amoug  thciu,  which  I  think  she  recognizes  by  its 

own  pup.  IT  T    •,  o  u 

smell  and  its  cry. 
When  the  jiupsare  about  six  or  eight  weeks  old  they  begin  to  herd 

together  in  groups  called  "i)ods;"  these  by  degrees 
lefrmmr^to^swim  *"'^   woi'k  dowu  to Ward  the  shorc  aud  after  several  trials 

and  fiiilures  at  last  find  the  use  of  their  flipi^ers  and 
learn  to  swim;  from  this  time,  the  1st  of  August  or  thereabouts,  the 
pup  goes  into  the  water  at  intervals,  but  remains  most  of  the  time  on 
the  rookeries  until  about  iSToveinber,  the  time  which  the  pup  spends  in 
^  ^  the    water  depending  a  great  deal  on  the  weather. 

igra  ion.  Toward  the  first  or  mi<ldle  of  November  the  pups  leave 

the  islands;  they  instinctively  turn  southward  toward  the  Aleutian 
Islands. 

The  time  of  their  departure  depends  a  good  deal  on  the  state  of  the 
weather;  if  the  winter  is  open,  they  may  be  found  much  later  upon  the 
islands  and  if  particularly  warm  seals  maybe  found  during  the  whole 
winter  upon  and  about  the  islands.  I'robably,  too,  they  are  induced  to 
leave  the  islands  in  pursuit  of  food.  In  my  opinion  if  the  islands  were 
a  little  warmer  in  winter  and  not  surrounded  by  ice,  the  seals  would 
remain  there  the  year  round,  as  they  evidently  consider  the  Pribilof 
Group  their  home. 

From  the  islands  the  pup  with  his  fellows  goes  .southward,  passing 
through  the  passes  between  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  holds  its  course 
still  south  till  lost  sight  of  in  the  ocean.  From  this  time  until  the  herd 
re  appears  off  the  Californian  coast  their  course  is  a  matter  of  belief;  but 
from  information  of  sea  captains  of  coasting-  vessels  who  have  sailed 
during  the  winter,  seals  during  December  and  the  first  part  of  January 

are  found  heading  soiitheastwardly  toward  the  Califor- 
fom^aS?""^'^^""'  i"ini  ^'OJist.     lu  January  and  Febrrary  they  begiu  to 

appear  along  that  coast;  then  turning  northward  they 
proceed  along  the  coast,  reaching  Vancouver  Island  about  March,  the 
Southern  Alaska  coast  in  April  and  IMay,  and  in  June  the  herd  reenters 
Bering  Sea  and  proceeds  again  to  their  island  home.  It  is  impossible 
to  state  the  course  or  exact  time  of  migration  with  complete  accuracy, 
but  this  course  here  designated  I  believe  to  be  approximately  correct. 
The  pups  which  lelt  the  island  the  year  before  have  now  become 
Teariin-s.  "  ycailiiigs,"  the  males  and  females  herding  together 

indiscriminately  and  not  coming  on   shore  until  some 

time  in  August  or  September;  they  also  leave  the  islands  a  little  earlier 

than  the  first  year  and  make  the  same  course  of  migration  as  before. 

T,  ,,  On  their  second  return  to  the  island  as  "two-year- 

iwo-year-olds.  i  i     11    j^i  j  ■,         n  i  •  j^i 

ORIS "  the  sexes  separate,  the  lemales   going  on  the 
breeding  rookeries  where  they  are  fertilized  by  the  bulls,  and  the  males 
Bachelors  liauling' up  witli  the  nonbreeding  males,  called  ''^bach- 

elors," ou  the  so-called  "  hauling  grounds."    The  "  two- 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  63 

year-olds"  agiiiu  inigiate  southward  over  the  same  course  as  formerly. 
On  their  returu  to  the  islands,  the  female  goes  again  to  the  breeding: 
rookeries  and  there  brings  forth  her  first  pup.  From  tliis  time  for^yard 
she  increases  the  seal  herd  by  one  pup  annually  and  the  male  of  the 
same  age  is  on  the  hauling  grounds  and  is  now  considered  of  a  killable 
age. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  migrations  are  in^actically  the  same  as  the  third. 
After  the  fifth  or  sixth  migration  the  male  seal,  now 
called  a  bull,  returns  to  the  islands  about  the  first  of  ^'""^' 
May  and  hauls  up  on  the  breeding  rookeries  provided  he  is  able  to 
maintain  himself  there,  which  takes  many  bloody  conflicts.  There  he 
gathers  about  him  as  many  females  as  he  is  able.  From  the  time  of 
his  landing  until  the  close  of  the  rutting  season  or  about  the  first  of 
August  he  remains  continuously  on  the  breeding  grounds,  never  eating 
and  sleeping  very  little,  if  at  all.  About  August  first  he  again  takes 
to  the  water,  after  having  fertilized  all  the  cows  in  his  harem,  very  lean 
and  lank,  and  his  harem  becomes  disorganized,  the  pups  gathering  into 
pods,  the  females  going  and  coming  uom  the  water,  and  the  bachelors 
mingling  with  the  cows  and  pups. 

The  bachelors  while  on  the  islands,  in  my  opinion,  feed  very  little, 
and  practically  it  is  only  the  female  seals  which  I'eed     ^^^^   female  i 
while  located  on  the  islands.     The  speed  of  a  seal  when  isiancis  to'ifeed!' 
swimming  is  very  great,  covering,  I  should  say,  from  10 
to  15  miles  an  hour.     Therefore  "a  female  can  easily  go      speeds swmnning. 
to  the  feeding  grounds  and  return  to  the  islands  in  a^  day;  and  that  so 
far  as  I  am  able  to  ascertain  the  foregoing  facts  are  practically  corrob- 
orated by  all  those  who  have  had  the  opportunity  to  study  or  observe 
seal  life  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  in  Bering  Sea. 

On  my  first  arrival  in  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  18G8,  several  other  vessels, 
representatives  of  different  interests,  were  there  for  the  purj^ose  of  killing 
seals;  and  the  natives  of  these  islands,  called  Aleuts,  were  nearly  all 
employed  by  one  or  other  of  the  vessels  in  the  business  of  killing  seals. 
I  noticed  that  the  natives  always  remonstrated  when- 
ever any  female  was  killed  and  stated  that  that  was  timS^aiJr'''^ '" 
forbidden,  and  I  am  informed  that  it  always  had  been 
forbidden  by  the  Russian  (jovernment.  All  the  seals  killed  by  me  or 
under  my  superintendence  on  the  island  have  been  male  seals,  except 
in  the  (;ase  of  accident.  My  knowlege  of  the  catch  of  18G8  enables  me  to 
state  that  the- destruction  of  seals  from  all  sources  in      „,     ,.      „,„^3 

J.1       -  -u        J.     njrt/i/»/i         rni   •       •       j.i  •  blauyhter  of  1868. 

that  year  was  about  240,000.  This  is  the  maximum 
figure.  Despite  the  lowering  of  the  standard  weight  of  skins,  care  was 
taken  annually  on  St.  George  that  the  residue  of  availabhi  male  breed- 
ers was  sufficient  for  the  needs  of  the  rookeries,  and  instructions  to 
that  efl^ct  were  given  to  the  assistants  by  the  superintendent  of  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company.  In  this  we  were  aided  by  the  inacces- 
sible character  of  vsome  of  the  hauling  grounds. 

From  the  year  1874  till  1885  we  Avere  able  to  get  from  St.  George  and 
St.  Paul  islands  100,000  male  seals  within  the  period 
known  as  the  sealing  season  of  six  weeks,  from  the  10th  j^Q'iota taken m  i87i- 
of  June  to  the  1st  of  August,  and  still  leave  a  large 
percentage  of  marketable  seals.     In  1885,  and  in  every  year  thereafter 
until  I  left  in  1887,  there  was  a  marked  decrease  in  the 
number  of  marketable  skins  that  could  be  obtained  in 
each  year  during  the  sealing  season.     We  were  able,  down  to  the  last 
year  (1887)  to  get  our  total  catch  of  100,000  seals,  but  in  order  to  get 
that  numbef  we  Jiad  to  take  what  in  previous  years  we  woukl  have  re- 


64  TESTIMONY 

jecied,  luiiiiely,  undcisi/j-d  skins,  i.  c,  the  skius  of  youug  seals.     Prior 
to  1887  we  liad  endeavored  to  take  no  skius  weighing 
toTiompfete'quota!'"''^  ^^^^  tl''''^  '^  pouuds,  biit  lu  Order  to  make  up  our  quota 
in  the  last  luentioued  year  we  had  to  take  skins  weigh- 
ing as  little  as  Oi  pounds  to  the  number  of  several  thousand. 

In  the  years  1885,  188(),  and  1887,  my  attention  was  attracted  not 

only  to  a  dinuuution  in  the  number  of  killable  seals  appearing-  on  the 

^  ■      ,,,0-    island  but  to  a  decrease  in  the  females  as  well.     Up  to 

Decrease  since  1883.    ,,  1001-11  t  •      xi  1        •        i       i 

the  year  1881,  the  breedmg  space  in  tlie  rookeries  had 
increased,  and  from  that  year  down  to  1887,  when  I  left  the  island,  the 

acreage  covered  by  the  rookeries  which  were  occupied 
grl''Zunpi,!'is8i}''^  ^^Y  ^^als  (joustautly  diminished.     Naturally  the  cause 

of  this  diminution  was  a  matter  of  interest  and  inquiry. 

It  was  not  evident  that  it  was  from  causes  incident  to  the  taking  of 

seals  upon  the  island.     The  greatest  care  was  exercised  in  the  driving; 

.^  .  .  under  ijrecisely  similar  conditions  the  herd  had  in- 

creased  in  former  years;  the  number  of  skins  origi- 
nally apportioned  to  St.  George  Island  were  reduced  at  an  early  date, 
and  cmly  increased  in  proportion  to  the  rookeries'  expansion.  No  dis- 
turbance of  the  rookeries  was  permitted,  even  the  presence  of  dogs  and 
use  of  lirearms  being  prohibited  during  the  presence  of  the  seals.  But 
facts  came  under  my  observation  that  soon  led  me  to  what  I  believe  to  be 
the  true  cause  of  destruction.  For  instance,  during  the  period  of  my 
residence  on  St.  George  Island,  down  to  the  year  1881,  there  were  always 
jj^,^^j   ^^  a  number  of  dead  pups,  the  number  of  which  I  can  not 

pups.  ^^^^  exactly,  as  it  varied  from  year  to  year,  and  was 

dependent  upon  accidents  or  the  destructiveness  of  storms.  Young- 
seals  do  not  know  how  to  swim  from  birth,  nor  do  they  learn  how  for 
six  weeks  or  two  months  after  birth,  and  therefore  are  at  the  mercy  of 
the  waves  during  stormy  weather.  But  from  the  year  1881  down  to  the 
])ori()d  when  I  left  St.  George  Island,  there  was  a  marked  increase  in 
tlie  number  of  dead  pup  seals,  amounting,  perhaps,  to  a  trebling  of  the 
numbers  observed  in  former  years,  so  that  1  would  estimate  the  number 
of  dead  pujis  in  the  year  1887  at  about  five  or  seven  thousand  as  a 
maximum. 

I  also  noticed  during  my  last  two  or  three  years,  among  the  number 
of  dead  pups,  an  increase  of  at  least  70  j)er  cent  of  those  w^hich  were 
emaciated  and  poor,  and  in  my  judgment  they  died  from  want  of  nour- 
islinu'iit,  their  mothers  having  been  killed  while  away  from  the  island 
leeding,  because  it  is  a  tact  that  pups  drowned  or  killed  by  accidents 
were  almost  invariably  fat.  Learning  further,  through  the  London 
sales,  of  the  increase  in  the  x>elagic  sealing,  it  became  my  firm  convic- 
tion that  the  constant  increase  in  the  number  of  dead  piijis  and  the 
decrease  in  the  luimber  of  marketable  seals  and  breeding  females  found 
on  tlie  islands  <luring  the  years  1885,  1886,  and  1887  were  caused  by 
the  destruction  of  female  seals  in  the  open  sea,  either  before  or  after 

giving  birth  to  the  pups.  The  mother  seals  go  to  feed- 
8e^s"wMiefoe(ring.''''  ^"S"  ,iii''>'inds  distant  from  the  islands,  and  I  can  only 

account  for  the  number  of  starved  pups  by  supposing 
that  their  mothers  are  killed  while  feeding. 
As  I  understand  tlie  fact  to  be,  most  of  tlie  seals  killed  in  the  open 

sea  are  females.  My  reason  for  this  conclusion  are  (1) 
in^c"'arlfeu>aie\"''''^  that  from  my  knowledge  of  the  seal,  I  know  that  the 

female  when  heavy  with  young,  as  they  are  during  the 
early  part  of  the  season  when  on  tiieir  wny  to  the  roolreries  where  they 
are  delivered  diu-iug  the  months  of  June  and  July,  are  much  heavier  in 


RELATING     TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  65 

the  water  and  imicli  less  able  to  escape,  because  tliey  are  capable  of  re- 
maining- under  water  to  escape  for  a  very  much  less  period  of  time  than 
when  they  are  not  heavy  with  young-,  or  tlian  the  male  seal  would  be; 
and  (2)  because  I  have  i^ersonally  inspected  skins  talven  upon  the  three 
i^chooYiers  Onivard,  Caroline,  aud  Thornton, ^xhichfikms      ^        .      . 

,     ,  ■      Tt      ■  CI  1         1     1   •      TT       1       1  1  Examination   ot 

taken  m  Bering-  bea  were  landed  in  Unalaska  and  were  catch  ot  the  omvard, 
then  personally  insiiected  by  me  in  the  month  of  iMay,   cvj'^ime,  and  Thom. 
1887.     The  total  number  of  skins  so  examined  by  me 
was  about  2,000,  and  of  that  number  at  least  80  per  cent  were  the  skins 
of  females.     I  have  also  examined  the  skins  taken  by  the  United  States 
revenue  cutter  Bush  from  one  of  the  Xorth  Pacific  Islands,  where  they 
had  been  deposited  by  what  is  known  as  a  i)oaching  schooner  and  taken 
to  Unalaska,  which  numbered  about  400  skins,  and  of  that  400  skins  at 
least  80  per  cent  were  the  skins  of  female  seals.     I  have  also  examined 
the  skins  seized  from  the  James  HamUton  Len-is  in  the 
year  1801,  by  the  Russian  gunboat  Aleuie,  numbering  LiciT^A^ith^'mu 
410,  of  which  at  least  90  per  cent  were  the  skins  of  fe- 
male seals,  and  from  my  long  observation  of  seals  and  seal  skins,  I  am 
able  to  tell  the  difference  between  the  skin  of  a  male  and  the  skin  of  a 
female  seal. 

From  my  knowledge  of  the  aquatic  habits  of  the  seal  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  accurate  shooting  when  the  object  is  in  the  water,  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  a  large  number  of  seals  are  also  killed  by  vessels  engaged 
in  the  business  of  taking  seals  in  the  open  seas,  which  wasteofiife 
are  not  caught.  I  am  unable  to  form  aiij"  estimate  of 
tlie  number  of  seals  shot  or  speared  from  vessels,  which  are  lost,  but  in 
the  last  two  or  three  years  of  my  residence  at  St.  George  Island,  in 
taking  15,000  seals,  I  found,  approximately,  3  pounds  of  lead,  in  the 
form  of  slugs,  bullets,  and  bucksliot,  which  I  personally  took  from  the 
bodies  of  male  seals,  some  of  which  were  so  badly  wounded  that  they 
would  have  died;  and  I  have  personally  examined  the  log  of  the 
schooner  A >;//«>?  Dollie,  in  which  it  was  stated  that  the  hunters  from  that 
vessel  got  about  one  seal  out  of  every  ten  seals  shot  at;  also  that  on 
one  occasion  they  fired  250  rounds  and  got  20  seals;  on  another  occa- 
sion 100  cartridges  and  got  0  seals;  and  which  log  also  stated  that  the 
captain  personally  shot  and  killed  7  seals  of  which  he  got  only  one. 

Deponent  further  says  that  he  thinks  that  the  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  seals  found  in  the  rookeries  and  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
dead  i)ups  are  caused  directly  by  the  open-sea  sealing  commonly  called 
l)oaching  and  that  the  prohibition  of  such  poaching  is 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the  herds,  and  that  gj''"**^*"^'""  "<^cos- 
from  what   he  has   himself  seen  he  thinks,   if  such 
poaching  be  not  X)rohibited  the  herds  will  be  practically  exterminated 
within  hve  years.     One  cause  of  destruction  is  raiding,   j^j^j^^j^^ 
which  has  been  done  upon  the  shores  of  the  islands. 
A  half  dozen  .such  raids  are  known  to  me  personally;  but,  while  it  is 
not  possible  for  me  to  state  with  certainty  the  skins  actually  secured 
by  such  raids,  I  believe  that,  although  such  raiding  is  detrimental,  its 
injurious  effect  as  compared  with  the  disastrous  results  of  pelagic  seah 
ing  is  insignificant. 

Thomas  F.  Morgan. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  5th  day  of  April,  1802. 

[L.  S.]  SEVELLON   a.  IjKOWN, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  Diatrict  of  Columbia,  U.  iS.  A, 
2716— VOL.  II 5 


S6  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  JoM  M.Morton,  afjent  of  the  lessees  and  Treasury  agent  on 

the  PrihiJof  Islands. 

HABITS. 

State  of  Califorivia, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

John  M.  Morton,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:     I  am 
United  States  shipping-  commissioner  at  San  Francisco.    The  Ahiska 
Commercial  Company  obtained  the  lease  of  the  seal  islands  in  1870.     In 
„  the  fall  of  that  year  I  went  to  Alaska  on  the  steamer 

Constantine  as  an  agent  of  said  company,  arriving  at  St. 
Paul  Island  in  October,  where  I  remained  until  the  close  of  the  sealing 
season  in  the  following  year.  During  the  summer  of  1872,  I  visited  all 
of  the  trading  posts  of  the  company,  both  on  the  mainland  of  Alaska 
and  the  various  islands,  thus  spending  the  entire  summer  in  Bering  Sea. 
This  trip  was  extended  to  Co])per  and  Bering  islands,  belonging  to  the 
Eussians,  and  of  which  members  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company 
had  control  at  that  time,  and  to  Petropaulovski  in  Kamchatka.  In 
the  course  of  our  voyage  in  1872,  we  touched  twice  at  the  seal  islands 
of  Alaska,  spending  there  altogether,  perhaps,  a  week  or  ten  days. 
During  our  stay  at  St.  Paul  this  year,  I  visited  (in  Julj^)  most  of  the 
rookeries  and  hauling  grounds  of  the  fur-seals. 

The  summer  Of  1873  I  spent  on  St.  George,  and  v/hile  there  my 
business  called  me  frequently  to  the  various  poi'tions  of  the  island 
where  the  seals  were  accustomed  to  congregate.  I  did  not  go  to 
Alaska  in  1874,  but  in  1875  and  again  in  1876  I  went  north,  spending 
both  seasons  on  St.  Paul  Island.  I  resigned  my  position  with  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company  in  the  fall  of  1870,  but  in  the  spring  of 
1877  I  was  appointed  to  the  position  of  Treasury  agent  at  the  seal 
islands  (in  cha.rge),  and  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  my  official  du- 
ties in  May  of  that  year.  During  my  residence  on  the  island,  which, 
so  far  as  the  sealing  seasons  were  concerned,  practically  covered  a 
period  of  eight  years  (from  1870  to  1878  inclusive),  I  obtained  a  full 
knowledge  of  the  sealing  business  in  its  various  branches,  and  became 
familiar  with  all  of  the  grounds  occupied  by  the  fur  seals. 

I  was  at  all  times  greatly  interested  in  observing  the  movements  and 
habits  of  these  animals  and  scarcely  a  day  i^assed  that  I  did  not  visit 
one  or  more  of  the  rookeries.  During  the  seasons  of  1877  and  1878, 
while  serving  in  the  capacity  of  special  Treasury  agent,  I  devoted  my 
best  attention  and  study  to  this  subject.  It  may  be  said  in  the  start 
that  the  grounds  held  by  the  fur-seals  are  known  at  the  islands  as 
"rookeries"  and  "hauling  grounds."  On  the  former 
in?*'<?TOu'iTs*de  cri'!  ^^^  fouud  the  breeding  seals,  viz,  the  full-grown  males 
twnof°"°  '^'  ®^*''"'''"  not  less  than  six  years  of  age,  and  females  of  three 
years  old  and  upwards.  The  grounds  comprising  the 
rookeries  slope  upward  from  the  sea  in  a  gradual  and  easy  manner,  and 
are  characterized  by  liard  dry  surfaces  of  volcanic  cement  or  basaltic 
rock.  They  are  readily  accessible  from  the  water  and  possess  other 
favorable  conditions  tor  occupancy  by  the  seal  life. 

The  hrst  arrivals  of  seals  at  the  islands  usually  take  place  early  in  May. 
Arrival  of  buUa        Thcsc  are  of  the  class  of  large  bulls  which  occupy  posi- 
tions on  the  rookeries.     The  females,  as  a  class,  begin 
to  appear  in  June,  and  by  the  middle  of  July  the  whole  of  the  vast 
Aiiivai  of  cows        herd  may  be  said  to  have  arrived  and  established  itself. 
The  females  soon  after  their  arrival  give  birth  to  their 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  67 

young  and  are  limited,  so  far  as  I  liave  been  able  to  obser\'e  from  long 
and  close  observation  of  tlie  rookeries  during  the  breed-   ^ 

,  .        T      ,  „  "  Cows  uniparous. 

mg  season,  to  a  single  "  pii])." 

The  statement  that  the  fur-seal  may  bear  aud  rear  its  j^oung  at  sea 
as  well  as  on  land  is,  in  my  opinion,  wholly  gratmtous. 
I  am  unable  to  conceive  of  any  ground  whatever  upon  ^.  P»i«sic  Wrth  impos- 
which  to  base  such  an  assertion.  When  born  the 
"pup"  is  an  exceedingly  stupid  animal,  with  an  abnormal  develop- 
ment of  head,  and  is  api)arently  incapable  of  any  exertion,  except  in 
the  way  of  exercising  its  lungs.  At  this  time  it  is  certainly  not  an  am- 
phibious animal,  for  it  does  not  attemjit  to  approach  the  water  for  a 
month  or  two  after  its  birth,  and  in  its  lirst  natatorial  efforts  not  only 
does  it  seem  to  require  instruction  irom  the  older  seals,  but  considera- 
ble practice  is  also  necessary  in  tlie  shallow  Avaters 
along  the  beaches  before  it  dares  to  venture  away  from  ^J^Hf^  learning  to 
the  shore  and  among  the  turbulent  waves  of  Bering 
Sea.  In  my  opinion,  the  seal  "pup"  when  its  first  introduction  to  the 
world  takes  place  at  sea  must  inevitably  perish .  Assumin g  that  it  might 
float  on  the  surface  of  the  water  for  a  while,  what  is  to  become  ot  it 
during  the  long  voyages  the  mother  must  now  make  in  search  of  nour- 
ishment for  it  aud  herself?  The  supposition  tliat  it  would  be  able  to 
accompany  her  on  such  journeys  is  equally  as  absurd  as  the  idea  of  its 
being  left  unprotected  on  the  surface  of  a  stormy  sea  while  awaiting 
her  return. 

I  desire  also  to  express  my  belief  concerning  the  seal  life  that  the  act 
of  copulation  can  not  be  successfully  performed  in  the 
water.  Those  who  have  witnessed  its  accom])lishraent  watei'lmposliue  *^'^ 
on  the  rookeries  must  coincide  with  such  ojunion.  A 
firm  foundation  for  the  supprnt  of  the  animals,  which  the  ground  sup- 
plies, and  the  water  does  not,  is  indispensable  to  oppose  the  pushing 
motion  and  forceful  action  of  the  posterior  x^arts  of  the  male  which  he 
exerts  during  coition.  The  closest  observation  which  1  have  been  able 
to  give  to  the  movements  and  habits  of  the  seals  in  the  water  has  fur- 
nished no  evidence  to  controvert  the  above  opinion. 

The  rutting  season  among  the  seals  continues  through  the  mouths  of 
June  and  July  and  into  the  early  part  of  August,  and 
upon  its  subsidence  the  rookery  bulls,  after  their  long    '"  '"^  ■-'oas^on. 
fasting  of  two  or  three  months,  after  many  sanguinary  battles,  worn, 
starved,  and  emaciated,  return  to  the  water.     Y'oungcr  males  now  make 
their  appearance  on  the  rookeries,  <;oming  and  going  at  will;  and  now 
thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  "pups,"  "podded"  together  near 
the  beaches  or  plunging  and  rolling  in  the  surf,  may  be  seen.     By  the 
middle  of  September  the  systemati(;  organization  of  the  rookeries  is  * 
entirely  broken  up,  and  the  major  part  of  the  seals  have  leit  the  land. 
The  seal  life  seems  reluctant  to  depart  from  the  islands,   -^j  „.,..,,;„„ 
and  does  not  entirely  disappear  before  December  or  '  '^ ' 
January;  while  indeed,  if  the  winter  be  an  open  and  mild  one,  some 
of  the  old  males  will  not  depart  at  all.     The  seals  are  undoubtedly 
driven  from  the  islands  by  the  severe  winter  climate  of  Bering  Sea 
and  the  necessity  of  seeking  food.     Were  it  not  for  tliese  facts,  I  should 
be  unable  to  conceive  of  anv  reason  tV)r  their  migration. 

The  rookeries  are  covered  by  the  breeding  seals  in  a  very  compact 
and  regular  manner.     There  is  no  evidence  of  crowd-  ^  , 

•_  1  1  •  •  1  j.j_      •  •  ii      ,  Appearance  of  the 

mg  or  bunching  m  one  place,  or  scattering  m  anotiicr,   ,.o„keries. 

and  apparently  no  spaces  within  their  limits,  suitable 

for  occupancy,  which  are  not  covered.     It  is  evident  from  this  system- 


68  TESTIMONY 

atic  arraTigenient  and  distiibution  that  any  expansion  or  contraction 
which  may  take  phiee  of  the  rookery  boundaries  nuist  show  a  cor- 
res])()n(ling'  increase  or  diminution  of  their  popuhrtion;  and  further, 
that  as  the  rookeries  enlarge  or  diminish  so  in  a  like  ratio  will  the 
general  l)ody  of  tlie  seal  life  be  affected.  By  careful  and  intelligent 
study,  then,  of  the  breeding  grounds,  any  material  changes  which  may 
take  place  from  yt'ar  to  year  in  the  numerical  condition  of  the  seal  life 
on  the  two  islands  may  be  determined.  I  uuiy  state  that  the  sum  of 
my  observations  in  the  above  relation  on  the  Pribiloft"  Islands  at  the 
close  of  the  season  of  1878  clearly  indicated  that  since 
,oiA'''"Ti^QT«^*'''*'*'°  1^70  the  rookeries  had  increased  in   an  appreciable 

18/0  and  1878.  i  i    xi      j.  i  xi  •     •  ^ 

manner,  and  1  may  add  that  such  was  the  opinion  of 
everybody  on  the  islands  who  had  given  the  subject  any  careful  study. 
During  the  years  1  have  mentioned, -to  wit,  from  1870  to  1878,  inclusive, 
the  stock  of  killable  seals  was  always  more  than  sufficient  to  meet  the 
annual  demands  made  upon  it  by  the  lessees  and  still  leave  in  reserve 
a  proper  supply  of  males  for  future  use  on  the  rookeries. 
The  slaughter  of  animals  for  their  skins  was  always  conducted  care- 
fully and  systematically,  and  in  accordance  with  wise 
^  '"'"■  regulations  looking  to  the  proper  protection  and  con- 

servation of  the  seal  life.  The  killing  of  females  was  i)rohibited,  and, 
fortunately,  a  strict  adherence  to  the  law  in  this  res])ect  was  entirely 
practicable  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  "  bachelors  "  or  killable  seals 
occupy  positions  on  the  islands  separate  and  apart  from  the  breeding 
animals,  so  that  the  latter  were  never  disturbed  in  the  drove."  There 
were  often  driven  to  the  killing  gr<mnds  at  the  same 
"^*°"'  time  as  many  as  two  or  three  thousand  seals,  from 

which  were  selected  without  difficulty  such  animals  as  were  suitable 
for  slaughter,  while  all  others  were  allowed  to  return  to 
by^aSur^^^'^  °"'^    the  water.     Females  might  occasionally  appear  in  the 
drove,  but  their  presence  was  generally  known  and 
none  were  killed  except  by  accident,  which  occurred  very  rarely. 
In  the  matter  of  driving,  great  care  was  exercised  to  prevent  over- 
heating and  exhaustion  on  the  road,  and  the  loss  of 
seals  iiwa'drhdno*'"   auimals  in  this  respect  was  very  slight.     I  may  state 
here  that  I  have  never  seen  any  evidence  that  the  seals 
derived  any  material  injury  from  their  overland  trip  to  the   killing 
grounds.     It  has,  I  believe,  been  claimed  by  some  one  writing  on  the 
subject,  that  the  large  seals  which  have  been  thus  driven,  and  subse- 
quently in  the  culling-out  process  dismissed  fiom  the  herd  and  per- 
mitted to  return  to  the  water,  sutfer  a  loss  of  virility  or  the  power  of 
procreation  by  tlieir  journey.     Such  statement  seems  to  me  to  be  puerile 
•and  altogether  unworthy  of  serious  consideration.    As  I  have  said,  the 
driving  was  done  carefully  and  without  undue  haste,  and  while    an 
animal  might  occasionally  succumb  to  the  heat  of  an  unusually  warm 
day,  as  a  rule  the  [)hysical  exertion  called  for  on  the  part  of  the  seals 
on  these  enforced  journeys  was  not  greater  than  they  customarily  put 
•forth  in  tlieir  Noluntary  raml)lings  over  the  dunes  and  rocks  of  the 
islands.     Indeed,  the  mortality  among  the  seal  life  from  whatsoever 
cause,  outside  of  that  incident  to  the  killing  of  the  animals  for  their 
skins,  was  always  surprisingly  vsmall,  and  could  not  have  affected  the 
rookeries  in  any  appreciable  manner. 

The  seals  are  never  visited  by  i)hysical  disorders  of  any  kind,  so  far 
as  I  could  ascertain,  and  I  have  never  s(>en  on  their 
seals  '''^*''^*'^  among  bodics  ally  blcmislies,  humors  or  eruptions  whicji  might 
be  attributed  to  disease. 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  69 

I  am  informed  tliat  of  late  years  tbousaiids  of  young  pups  have  died 
on  the  islands  while  the  season  was  in  progress.  Cer- 
tainly  such  condition  did  not  exist  during  my  residence  '^^^  ^"^^' 
on  the  Pribilof  grouj).  The  "pups'*  wer*^.  sometimes  trampled  upon 
by  the  larger  animals,  and  dead  ones  might  be  seen  here  and  there  on 
the  rookeries  but  the  loss  in  this  particular  was  never  large  enough 
or  important  enough  to  excite  any  special  comment. 

I  have  already  stated  that  my  personal  observation  and  investiga- 
tion of  the  conditions  at  the  islands  from  1870  to   1878,  inclusive, 
showed  that  during  those  years  a  steady  expansion  of 
the  breeding  rookeries  took  place.     I  am  also  informed  erksfiSif "sVotoTsss! 
and  believe  that  such  expansion  continued  up  to  the 
year  1882  or  1883.     During  this  period  of  general  increase  it  is  notable 
that  the  destruction  of  animals  from  pelagic  sealing  was  comx)aratively 
unimportant.     But  a  few  vessels  up  to  this  time  had 
made  predatory    excursions  in   Bering   Sea,  and  the  ^^P^^sofP'^^sio 
number  of  seals  obtained  by  them  is  known  to  have 
been  small.     Since  1883,  however,  there  is  said  to  have  occurred  a  very 
material  diminution  of  the  seal  life  on  the  Pribilof     ugj.,,gagg 
Islands,  due,  as  it  is  claimed,  to  a  large  and  indiscrimi- 
nate slaughter  of  these  animals  in  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea  and  the 
Pacific  Ocean.     The  cause  assigned  for  this  loss  is  un- 
doubtedly the  true  one.     If  no  other  i>roof  were  forth-  ,^^^'''  sealing  tho 
coming  in  relation  to  it  tlie  large  display  of  dead  pups 
on  the  rookeries  would  in  itself  furnish  all  the  evidence  required.    Such 
diminution  could  not,  in  my  opinion,  be  the  result  of  the  ordinary 
yearly  slaughter  for  skins.     It  is  shown  that  an  ap])reciable  expansion 
of  the  rookeries  took  place  after  twelve  or  fourteen  years   of   such 
slaughter,  and  I  think  this  fact  conclusively  demonstrates  that  the 
number  of  seals  which  the  law  permitted  to  be  killed  each  year  was 
not  greater  than  the  known  conditions  of  the  seal's  life  would  safely 
warrant. 

The  business  of  pelagic  sealing,  if  permitted  to  be  carried  on  in  the 
northern  waters,  must  soon  result  in  the  extermination      ,,   , ., ... 

'  .  ,  1  T  t  I  loliihituiu     notes- 

of  the  seal  lile  and  the  destructKm  oi  a  great  and  val-  sary. 

uable  industry.     It  nuist  produce  untold  poverty  and 

distress  among  the  native  people  of  the  seal  islands,      Eflect  of  nllI•e- 
^   •  •         '^     1  li-     ^  J-^  J.      •    ^    •    J  strictetl  pelairic  seal- 

and  m  various  adverse  ways  atlect  the  material  inter-  j^g. 
ests  of  other  Alaska  settlenieiits  and  communities. 

I  believe  the  American  (lovernment  to  be  justitied  in  assuming  and 
maintaining  the  absolute  pioi)rietorship  of  the  Ameri- 
can  seals.    They  may,  1  think,  m  the  broad  sense  oi  the  siiip  oi  s.ais. 
word,  be  regarded  as  domestic  animals.    They  certainly 
possess  qualities  of  a  domestic  nature  which  are  susceptible  of  a  high 
degree  of  develoi)meut.     During  the  first  two  or  three 
months  of  their  lives  they  are  as  gentle  and  docile  as  .J',"""'""  "•'*"'■' "^ 
most  domestic  animals.     They  may  be  handled  and 
petted,  will  accept  food  at  one's  hands,  can  Ite  taught  to  follow  one  from 
place  to  place,  and  in  various  ways  are  amenable  to  intelligent  guidance 
and  training.     Even  at  mature  age  they  are  subject  to  as  much  con- 
trol as  are  sheep  or  cattle.     They  may  be  driven  here  and  there  at  will; 
may  be  separated  and  driven  together  again;  divided  into  groups  or 
"  pods,"  great  or  small,  or  be  herded  by  thousands  with  less  effort  and 
trouble  than  bands  of  cattle  are  herded  on  the  i)lains.      They  are  far 
from  possessing  that  excessive  timidity  which  has  been  i)opularly  at- 
tributed to  them.     They  soon  grow  accustomed  to  the  sigiit  of  man, 


70  TESTIMONY 

and   ill  the  absence  of  offensive  demon stratioii  on  liis  part  quickly 

learn  to  regard  liis  proximity  witb  indifference.     At  no  time  can  they 

be  called  aggressive  animals,  but  if  suddenly  attacked  and  their  escape 

shut    off,   thev  will    snap   and  bite  viciously.      The 

Courage  of  bulls.      ^.^^^^^^y  ^^^^^  \^,j]l   defend    his  harem  valiently,  and 

nothing-  less  than  superior  physical  force  ou  the  part  of  his  adver- 
sary can  dispossess  him.  To  test  his  courage  in  this  respect  I  have 
occasionally  attacked  him  with  clubs  and  stones,  and,  though  his 
family  were  driven  oft"  or  deserted  him,  he  still  held  his  ground  and  suc- 
cessfidly  resisted  my  utmost  efforts  to  exjDel  him  from  the  rookery. 
Upon  their  return  to  the  islands  in  the  spring  the  seals  approach  the 
land  confidently  and  their  occupancy  of  the  rookeries 
^  Bulls  return  to  same  jg  i^egular  and  Systematic.  That  the  male  seal  returns 
year  by  year  to  the  same  familiar  spot  or  ground  ou 
the  rookeries,  when  it  is  possible  for  him  to  do  so,  appears  to  be  prob- 
able. I  have  seen  this  fact  demonstrated  in  certain  instances  without 
any  possibility  of  error;  and  when  this  is  considered,  and  his  well- 
known  systematic  and  methodic;  habits  are  taken  into  consideration, 
the  theory  that  such  is  the  prevailing  practice,  at  least  among  the 
rookery  bulls,  seems  a  most  natural  and  plausible  one. 

It  is  now  well  establislied  that,  outside  of  the  Pribilof  group,  there 
are  no  other  islands  or  grounds  in  northwest  America 
on^tbe^siamL"^'  ""'"^    whcrc  the  scals  haul  up  for  breeding  purposes.    These 
islands  are  their  natural  and  permanent  home,  without 
which  they  could  not  exist.     Tiiey  leave  it  only  when  necessity  demands 
and  return  to  it  as  soon  as  the  climatic  conditions  make  it  possible  for 
them  to  do  so.     Here  they  hud  that  x>i'otection  and  supervision  indis- 
pensable to  the  rei)roductiou  of  theii-  kind  and  the  multiplication  of 
their  numbers. 
During  my  residence  on  the  islands  the  native  inhabitants  were  pros- 
perous and  contented.    The  j)rotits  resulting  from  the 
tiveT^^"""  ''^  ^^   labor  of  killing  the  seals  and  salting  and  shipping  the 
skins  were  not  only  ample  to  supply  them  with  the 
needs  of  life,  but  with  many  of  its  luxuries.    Those  who  were  careful 
and  provident  in  the  matter  of  their  earnings  were  enabled  to  and  did 
deposit  some  portion  each  year  of  the  same  with  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company  or  in  the  banks  of  San  Francisco. 

The  comjDany  furnished  to  each  native  family,  without  charge,  a  com- 
fortable frame  dwelling,  employed  a  physi{;ian  on  each  island,  and  sup- 
plied medicines  and  medical  attendance  gratuitously.  It  may  be  said, 
perhaps,  that  it  was  plainly  in  the  interest  of  the  company  to  faithfully 
carry  out  all  of  its  obligations  designated  or  implied  by  the  terms  of  its 
lease.  Such  was  undoubtedly  the  fact,  but,  in  justice  to  the  lessees, 
it  should  be  stated  that  they  always  interi)reted  their  contracts  in  a 
most  liberal  spirit,  and  in  many  ways  exceeded  their  obligations  as  far 
as  their  treatment  of  the  native  people  was  concerned. 

J.  M.  Morton. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


»«     '■^^;g- 


I  ^" 


^■^z  t^jrCof^)^ 


f^r 


Old  Native  Huts. 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  71 

Deposition  of  Jacob  H.  Moulton,  assistant  Tveasunj  agent  on  the  Pribilof 

Islands. 

manage:\ient,  habits,  and  pelagic  sealing. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss : 

Jacob  H.  Moulton,  of  Bowdoinham,  Me.,bem£?  duly  sworn,  deposes 
and  says :  I  am  50  years  of  age,  and  my  occupation  is 
farming.     From    1877   to    1885   I    was  first  assistant      Experience. 
Treasury  agent  on  the  seal  islands.     I  arrived  on  St. 
George  Island  May  21,  1877,  and  left  the  islands  in  the  fall  of  1884.     I 
spent  four  summers  on  St.  George.  Island,  and  one  winter,  from  1877 
to  1881,  and  four  summers  and  four  winters  on  St.  Paul  Island,  from 
1881  to  1881.     Each  season  I  made  careful  examination  of  the  rookeries 
on  the  island  where  I  then  was  located,  in  connection  with  my  official 
duties,  and  1  also  made  some  study  of  the  life  and  habits  of  the  seal. 
While  I  was  on  St.  George  Island  there  was  a  percepti-      ^^^^.^^^^   „  „   g^ 
ble  increase  in  the  number  of  seals,  there  being  more  George  island  from 
in  188  L  than  at  anytime  previous  while  I  was  there,  i^'^toissi. 
While  on  St.  Paul  Island  I  do  not  think  the  number  of  seals  increased, 
and  in  the  last  year  (1884)  I  think  there  was  a  slight     D.^cr.  ase  on  st.  Pani 
decrease.     During  these  years  there  was  always  a  suf-  isumd  in  isu.   su'm- 
flciency  of  male  seals  for  breeding  purposes,  and  in  ^  =eiuy  of  bniis. 
every  year  I  saw  great  numbers  of  idle,  vigorous  bulls  about  and  back 
of  the  breeding  grounds,  which  were  unable  to  obtain  females. 

I  believe  that  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  even  approximately  estimate 
the  number  of  seals  which  resort  to  these  islands.  I  j„p„ggi,j,e  t„  p^ti. 
do  not  mean  that  it  is  impossible  to  measure  the  breed-  mate  number  of  seals 
ing  rookeries,  for  that  can  be  done  by  the  use  of  sur-  resorting  to  islands. 
veyors' instruments  with  practical  accuracy,  but  after  the  measurements 
are  made,  it  is  iini^ossible  to  estimate  the  number  of  seals  contained  in 
these  areas,  the  ground  being  covered  with  broken  rocks  of  all  sizes, 
some  weighing  over  a  ton,  between  which  the  seals  lie,  so  that  where 
the  large  rocks  are  not  so  thick  there  will  be  a  greater  number  of  seals; 
thus  all  over  the  rookeries  the  density  of  seal  life  varies,  and  besides 
this  the  seals  are  constantly  in  motion,  the  females  coming  from  and 
going  to  the  water.  I  do  not  believe  any  estimate  of  the  number  of 
seals  on  the  islands  heretohne  made  can  be  relied  upon  at  all,  as  there 
may  in  reality  be  twice  as  many  seals  as  estimated,  or  half  as  many. 
But  it  is  possible  to  determine  by  close  observation  j,,„^i,,ie  to  deter- 
fi'om  year  to  year  whether  the  seals  are  increasing  or  mine  an  increase  or 
decreasing,  because  the  seals  crowd  together  in  the  '•*^^^""case. 
same  manner,  whether  there  are  a  few  or  a  great  number,  and  as  they 
increase  the  rookeries  necessarily  extend. 

While  on  St.  George  Island  tliere  were  practically  no  dead  pups  on 
the  rookeries.     I  do  not  think  I  saw  during  anyone      ^^^^^^  ^^^^ 
season  more  than  a  dozen.     On  St.  Paul  Island  I  never        "^"^  '"'^'^' 
saw  any  dead  pups  to  amount  to  anything  until  1884,  and  then  the 
number  was  quite  noticealde.     These  latter  pups  I  examined,  and  they 
seemed  to  be  very  much  emaciated.     In  my  o])inion  tlu\v  died  of  starva- 
tion, caused  by  the  mothers  having  been  shot  while  absent  from  the 
islands  feeding.      Another  cause  of  their  starving  is 
because  a  cow  refuses  to  give  suck  to  any  pup  but  her  owuT-ur'^""^^"'""'' 
own,  and  she  recognizes  her  otfsi>iing  by  its  cry,  dis- 
tinguishing its  voice  from  that  of  hundreds  of  others  which  are  con- 


72  TESTIMONY 

stantly  bleating.  The  pup,  however,  seems  to  make  no  distinction 
between  the  cows,  endeiivorin  g  to  luirse  from  any  which  come  near  it. 
Then,  too,  a  pn])  is  not  weaned  till  it  is  four  or  more  months  old, 

depending'  entirely  on  its  mother  for  sustenance.  For 
iimfamma°°  ^'"^  '^  *^®  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  ciglit  wccks  of  its  life  a  pup  is  a  land 

animal,  having  a  coarse  hair,  but  no  fur.  This  coarse 
hair  is  shed  before  the  fur  appears.  A  pup  is  also  unable  to  swim,  and 
I  have  seen  pups  thrown  in  the  water  when  their  heads  would  imme- 
diately go  under  and  they  would  inevitably  drown  if  not  rescued. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  a  seal  born  in  the  water  would 
sibie'*^^'^^"*^^™^''^   at  once  perish.     Another  point  that  shows  a  pup  is  a 

land  animal  during  the  first  weeks  of  its  existence  is 
that  it  uses  its  hind  flippers  as  feet,  running  on  them  in  much  the  same 
manner  as  other  land  animals,  while  a  seal  that  has  learned  to  swim 
drags  his  hind  flippers,  using  his  front  flipi)ers  to  pull  himself  along. 
While  on  the  islands  I  observed  with  great  care  the  manner  of  driving 
T)  •  •  o-     ikir  <r   ^iitl  handling  the  young  male  seals  allowed  by  law  to 
rinng  an   -i  mg.  ^^^  i^iUed  for  their  skins,  and  I  am  convinced  the  meth- 
ods now  in  use  on  the  islands  can  not  be  improved  upon,  and  especially 
because  all  the  tlriving  is  done  by  the  natives,  who  from  generation  to 
generation  have  made  this  their  only  business,  being  trained  up  to  it 
from  boyhood.     Every  precaution  is  taken  in  driving  not  to  overheat  or 
Aveary  the  seals,  frequent  rests  being  had,  and  a  "drive"  never  being 
undertaken  when  the  sun  was  sliining;  if  the  sun  came  out  unex})ect- 
edly  during  a  "drive,"  the  animals  were  at  once  allowed  to  return  to  the 

water.  No  feuuile  is  ever  killed,  and  it  is  very  seldom 
kiEe™'^^*^^    never  ^  female  is  driven.    Very  few  seals  die  during  a  "  drive," 

amounting  to  a  very  small  fraction  of  1  per  cent  of 
those  driven,  and  in  nine  cases  out  often  of  those  accidentally  killed  in 
this  way  the  skins  are  saved.  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  a  seal  being  in- 
jured seriously  by  driving  or  redriving.  I  have  seen  the  hind  flippers  in 
a  few  instances  a  little  sore,  but  never  in  all  my  experience  have  I  seen 
an  old  sore  on  a  seal.  I  am  positive  the  reproductive  organs  of  every 
one  of  the  Imndreds  of  thousands  of  seals  I  have  seen  driven  were  un- 
injured by  their  movements  on  land,  and  I  am  farther  convinced  this 
must  be  so  from  the  fact  that  a  seal  when  moving  on  laud  raises  himself 
slightly  on  the  hind  flippers,  so  that  Ids  reproductive  organs  are  clear 
.  of  the  ground.     Even  if  a  seal  was  driven  twelve  suc- 

^  "'''"s-  cessive  days  for  the  average  distance  between  a  hauling 

ground  and  a  killing  ground,  I  do  not  believe  its  virility  would  be  at  all 
impaired. 

While  I  was  on  the  islands  I  am  convinced  that  the  propagation  of 
seal  life  was  never  aftected  in  the  slightest  degree  by  redriving  or 
overdriving.     The  killing  grounds  were  near  the  water,  so  that  the 

seals  let  go  from  the  killing  could  easily  return  to  that 
grounds""  °^  ^'^^^^s  element,  and  these  killing  grounds  were  established  as 

near  the  hauling  grounds  as  it  Avas  possible  to  do, 
without  having  the  odor  from  the  carcasses  disturb  the  breeding  seals. 
Teams  and  boats  were  also  used  to  transport  the  skins  to  the  salt 
houses,  so  that  tlie  killing  grounds  could  be  located  much  nearer  the 
hauling  grounds  than  Ijefore  this  means  of  transportation  was  provided. 

There  were  only,  as  I  recollect,  four  raids  on  the  islands 

while  I  was  there;  but  little  or  no  damage  was  done, 
and  seal  life  was  not  )[)erceptibly  att'ected  by  such  maurauding.  I 
believe,  to  avoid  certain  extermination  of  the  Pribilof  seal  herd  in  the 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  73 

near  future,  tliat  they  must  be  protected  in  Bering-  Sea  and  in  the  Xorth 
Pacific  Ocean.  Pehigic  sealing  must  be  absolutely  pro- 
hibited, because  the  majority  of  seals  killed  in  this  way  gj™^^*"'^'™  ^^^'^^^ 
are  pregnant  or  milking  females,  and  this  is  certain  to 
cause  extinction  of  the  species  very  soon,  if  continned.  If  pelagic  seal- 
ing- is  stopped,  and  the  present  regulations  enforced  on  the  islands,  the 
seal  herd  will  sloAvly  but  surely  increase  again,  as  they  did  before 
pelagic  sealing-  had  grown  to  such  proportions  as  to  affect  seal  life. 

J.    H.   MOULTON. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  U.  S.  A.,  this  10th  day  of  April,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Seyellon  a.  Bkown. 


Deposition  of  Joseph  Murray^  Treasury  agent  on  the  Prlhilof  Islands. 

DECREASE   OF  HERD. 

Joseph  Murray,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at  Fort 
Collins,  Colo.;  I  am  19  years  of  age,  and  I  am  the  first 
assistant  special  agent  at  the  seal  islands  in  Bering-  xp^^n^ce. 
Sea.  That  in  pursuance  of  Department  instructions  to  me,  dated  April 
20,  1889,  I  proceeded  to  the  seal  islands  and  landed  on  St,  George 
Island  May  31,  1889.  That  I  had  charge  of  that  island  until  July  1, 
1890,  and  I  was  present  during  the  whole  of  two  sealing  seasons  on  the 
island  of  St.  George. 

That  my  attention  was  called  to  the  decrease  of  seals  and  the  deple- 
tion of  the  rookeries  at  an  early  date  after  my  arrival, 
and  th at  I  attempted  to  study  the  habits  and  conditions  ^'''''^^^''  ^'"""^  i^**- 
and  to  note  the  numbers  of  seal  on  tlie  several  rookeries  and  hauling 
grounds,  and  that  the  natives  and  employes  of  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company  were  uiianimous  in  their  opinions  that  the  seal  had  been  de- 
creasing steadily  and  rapidly  since  1884,  and  I  reported  the  fact  to 
Agent  Goflt",  who  had  found  similar  conditions  existing 
on  St.  Paul,  and  he  so  reported  to  the  Department  and  ,.  suggested  dimiuu- 

,,/-,,  ,  ^    ,  ^  ^  i  ,       ,         tion  or  lessees  quota, 

suggested  that  not  more  tlian  00,000  seals  shoidd  be 
taken  in  any  one  season  in  future. 

In  pursuance  of  instructions  from  Agent  Goff  I  left  St.  George  Island 
on  the  19th  of  July,  1890,  and  landed  on  St.  Paul  Island  on  the  20th  of 
the  same  month,  and  remained  there  until  August,  1891.  During  the 
month  of  Jidy,  1890,  I  walked  over  the  rookeries 
and  hauling  grounds  of  St.  Paul  Island  and  Agent  Diminished  area  of 
Goft^  pointed  out  to  me  the  lines  to  which  in  former  i£!'' ""  ^'-  ''^"^ 
years  the  seals  hauled  and  the  large  areas  which  they 
covered;  and  then  he  called  my  attention  to  the  small  strip  covered  by 
seals  on  that  date,  which  was  smaller  than  the  year  previous. 

Agent  Gofit"  stopped  the  killing  of  seals  by  the  lessees  on  and  after 
the  20th  of  July,  1890,  because  of  the  depleted  condi- 
tion of  the  hauling  grounds;  and  I  fully  concurred  in  gtf'^jj^s  by  lessees 
his  order  and  action.  I  spent  the  sealing  season  of  ^  °^^" ' 
1891  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  pursuant  to  instructions  of  Agent  Williams, 
I  gave  my  time  and  special  attenticm  to  the  study  of  the  condition  of 
the  rookeries,  both  the  breeding  and  grounds.  I  visited  the  rookeries 
daily  from  the  7th  to  the  22d  of  July — during  the  period  when  the  rook- 


74  TESTIMONY 

eries  are  fullest  and  at  tlieirbest — and  I  carefully  noted  tbeir  condition 
and  the  number  of  seals;  the  number  of  cows  to  the  family,  and  the 
number  of  idle,  vigorous  bulls  upon  each  rookery. 

From  the  experience  gained  and  observations  made  during  three 
killing  seasons,  from  the  information  gleaned  from  men  who  have  de- 
voted their  lives  to  the  practical  side  ot  the  seal  question,  and  from  the 
books  and  reports  in  the  Government  oftices  on  the  islands,  I  am  able 

Cause  of  decrease  *®  ^^^  ^'^'^^'  "^  ^^  opiuiou,  there  is  Only  one  great  cause 
of  the  decrease  of  the  fur-seal,  and  that  is-  the  killing  of 
the  females  by  pelagic  hunting.  During  my  observations  in  1890, 1  was 
led  to  believe  that  the  decrease  was  partly  due  to  the  lack  of  bulls  on 
the  breeding  rookeries,  and  I  so  rej^orted  to  Agent  Golf;  but  after 
thoroughly  investigating  the  subject  the  next  year  by  daily  visits  ti) 
the  breeding  grounds  of  the  several  rookeries,  where  I  saw  nearly  every 
cow  with  a  pup  by  her  side;  and  hundreds  of  vigorous  bulls  without 

No   •    it'  fbuii     any  cows,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  no 

o  scarci  j  o    us.  ^^^^^^^  |^  ^^iQ  thcory,  and  that  it  was  the  coavs  that  Avere 

scarce  and  steadily  decreasing.     Had  I  had  a  doubt,  it  Avould  have 

been  dispelled  Avhen  I  was  informed  that  the  combined 

ou^oTl'el**     wained  fleets  had  AA  amcd  ]iinety-one  poaching  schooners  out 

of  Bering  Sea  before  August  25,  1891,  and  that  each 

of  the  schooners  had   sealskins  on  board,  AA^hich,   in  the  aggregate, 

Ninet  er  cent  of  Ji'^i"t)ered  about  30,000,  of  Avhich  90  per  cent  Avere 
skins'' mi  ^  board'  fe-  fouud  to  be  femalcs.  Ou  the  19th  of  August,  1891,  I 
™'^^"*-  saw  the  young  pups  lying  dead  upon  the  rookeries  of 

St.  Paul,  and  I  estimated  their  number  to  be  not  less  than  30,000;  and 

^    ,  they  had  died  from  starA'atiou,  their  mothers  ha\ ing- 

Dead  pups.  ,  i  -n     i      i    ji       ,.       i-  t     t  i       .      ,  * 

been  killed  at  the  leeding  grounds  by  pelagic  hunters. 

Joseph  Murray. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington  J  ss: 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day  of  March,  1892. 

Chas.  L.  Hughes, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  S.  R.  Xettleton,  Treasury  agent  on  the  Frihilof  Islands. 

HABITS;    PELAGIC   SEALING. 

S.  E.  Nettleton,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  as  follows :  My  place 
of  residence  since  3Iay,  1 891,  has  been  Seattle,  Washington.  For  a  period 
of  nineteen  years  prior  to  that  date  I  Avas  a  resident  of  the  State 
of  ^Minnesota.  My  occupation  Avas  that  of  a  real  estate  and  invest- 
ment broker.  In  the  autumn  of  1889  1  AACiit  to  the  island  of  St.  Paul, 
one  of  the  Pribilof  group,  as  a  special  agent  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment. In  August,  1890,  I  returned  to  the  States  and  stayed  until  the 
spring  of  1891,  when  I  returned  to  said  island  of  St.  Paul.  I  reniaiiied 
there  during  the  mouths  of  June  and  July  of  that  year,  and  Avas 
then  transferred  to  the  island  of  St.  George,  where  I  remained  until 
June,  1892. 

in  discharge  of  my  duties  as  Treasury  agent  I  made  such  observa- 

-g^  ^  _^.^j^ ,  tions  as  could  be  taken  from  the  breeding  rookeries 

and  hauling  grounds  on  the  islands,  and  in  the  Avaters 

immediately  adjacent  thereto,  and  whi(*h  enable  me  to  make  the  follow- 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  75 

ing  statement  of  facts ;  and  from  personal  observation  as  (veil  as  informa- 
tion received  from  the  native  iiiliabitants  of  said  islands,  and  wliite 
men  resident  thereon,  I  have  formed  the  opinions  herein  exi^ressed, 
based  upon  information  and  belief: 

The  Pribilot  Islaads,  by  reason  of  their  isolated  location,  cool  and 
humid  climate,  rocky  shores,  and  the  fog  which  pre- 
vails from  early  spring-  until  late  autumn,  are  peculiarly  i.jian'rj''^''^^'^*'^"'^'^^  °^ 
well  fitted  to  be  the  home  of  the  fur-seal. 

I  do  not  know  by  what  instinct  they  were  led  to  this  remote  region  to 
which  they  yearly  return.    The  bulls  begin  to  arrive  . 

upon  the  breeding  rookeries  about  the  1st  to  the  10th        "'^^  ^ 
of  May;  they  then  select  their  locations,  which  they  hold  during  the 
season.     During  the  latter  part  of  June  and  the  early  part  of  July  the 
cows  begin  to  arrive  heavy  with  young,  of  which  they  .    , 

are   delivered,   usually,  forty-eight   hours  after  their 
arrival.     In  about  the  same  length  of  time  after  the  birth  of  their  one 
pup  they  have  coition  with  the  male,  upon  the  rookeries,  and  then 
return  to  the  water  to  feed.     The  bull — the  lord  of  the 
harem — remains  on  the  rookery  during  the  entire  sea- 
son of  about  four  months,  protecting  the  young  and  preventing  the 
invasion  of  his  domain  by  neighboring  bulls  and  from  the  young  and 
vigorous  bachelors  who  have  not  yet  readied  the  age  and  condition  of 
strength  to  enable  them  to  cope  successfully  with  the  older  males,  ^^'ho, 
by  reason  of  their  superior  strength,  are  able  to  hold  their  position 
against  all  comers. 

During  my  stay  on  the  islands  I  have  never  seen  a  time  during  the 
breeding  season  when  there  has  not  been  a  number  of 
large,  vigorous  young  bulls  hanging  about  the  borders       "  sMgoiouj,. 
of  the  rookeries  watching  for  an  oi)portunity  to  get  a  position  of  their 
own. 

The  pup  when  born  is  as  helpless  as  a  newborn  lamb,  and  as  inca- 
pable of  living  upon  the  water.     It  is  not  until  six  or 
eight  weeks  old  that  the  pup  of  the  fur-seal  can  swim,   swim!^  I'^uniug  to 
At  that  age  they  form  themselves  into  "•j^ods"  and 
work  themselves  down  to  the  water's  edge;  after  several  days   of 
repeated  trials  and  failures  they  finally  learn  to  swim. 

If  for  any  reason  the  cow  should  not  be  able  to  reach  the  rookery 
in  time  to  give  birth  to  her  pup,  and  it  shoirld  be  born 
in  the  water  the  pup  would  of  necessity  be  drowned.   ^^.^t"['**  ""*  """^  ^" 
If,  as  is  often  the  case,  a  pup  should  be  swept  from  the 
roekery  into  the  surf  before  it  had  learned  to  swim,  it  would  be  drowned. 
Every  season  young  pups  in  more  or  less  numbers  are  thus  drowned. 

Referring  to  the  question  as  to  whether  pelagic  coition  is  possible, 
I  have  to  say  that  I  liave  never  seen  it  attempted,  but 
from  my  observations  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  ^^^^l^   breeding    in 
that  pelagic  coition  is  a  physical  impossibility. 

Upon  my  first  visit  to  the  rookeries  aiul  hauling  grounds  of  the  island 
of  St.  Paul,  my  attention  was  attracted  to  the  evidences  of  recent  and 
remote  occupancy  by  the  seals.  Marked  differences  were  noticeable  in 
the  appearance  of  vegetatioii  on  large  areas  formerly  oc(aii)ied  as  breed- 
ing and  hauling  grounds,  wliile  near  the  water's  edge,  more  recently 
occupied,  the  ground  was  entirely  bare  of  vegetation,  enabling  one  to 
trace  the  gradual  decrease  of  areas  occupied  during  p^.^j.^.^^^ 
the  last  six  to  eight  years.  My  examination  of  the 
rookeries  on  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  during  the  years  1890-'91  and 
1892  enabled  me  to  trace  the  yearly  decreasing  area  occupied  by  the 


76  TESTIMONY 

fur-seals  on  these  islands.    Aside  from  the  evidences  of  deserted  rook- 
eries and  hauling  grounds  shown  by  the  gronnds  themselves,  I  was 
shown  by  native  inhabitants  of  each  island  the  grounds  occupied  in 
former  years  now  deserted  and  grass-grown.    The  silent  witness  of  the 
deserted  rookeries  bears  out  the  testimony  of  the  resi- 
00  -eries  eser  e  .  ^^^^^  agcuts  of  the  Icssces  of  the  ishiuds,  and  of  the  na- 
tive inhabitants  of  the  islands,  that  the  number  of  seals  on  the  islands 
began  to  decrease  with  the  advent  of  pelagic  sealing,  and  that  tlie 
yearly  decrease  has  been  in  proi)ortion  with  the  yearly  increase  in  the 
number  of  vessels  engaged  in  that  enterprise. 
The  result  of  my  observations  of  the  methods  of  driving  the  seals 
from  the  hauling  grounds  to  the  killing  grounds  is  that 
Driving.  ^^  very  small  fraction  of  1  per  cent  of  the  seals  die 

from  being  overdriven  or  from  being  overheated  in  driving.     From 
my  x^ersonal  knowledge  of  the  number  of  seals  killed  upon  the  Pribilof 
,    Islands  by  raids  upon  the  rookeries   during  my  resi 

Raids  imiinporlant.      ,  ,,       "^  i  x-  ■     ^  x-  •         i  j.i  i       j.i 

deuce  there,  and  ix-om  iniormation  gained  through  other 

sources,  I  conclude  that  the  number  of  fur-seals  killed  is  infinitely  sma'd 

compared  with  the  number  killed  in  pelagic  sealing;  so  small,  in  fact^ 

as  to  have  no  appreciable  eftect  upon  seal  life  upon  the  islands. 

As  one  result  of  my  study  of  seal  life  on  the  islands  I  have  come  to 

the  conclusion  that  if  i)elagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea 

Extermination  from   .^^([  j^orth  Paciflc  should  coutiuue  for  a  period  of  five 

pe  agic  bea  mg.  years  to  tlic  Same  extent  as  now  practiced,  seal  life. 

upon  the  Pribilof  Islands  will  have  become  extinct. 

S.   li.   I^ETTLETON. 

On  this  9th  day  of  July,  1892,  before  me,  A.  T.  Mc(3argar,  a  notary 
public  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington,  personally  appeared  S.  R. 
Nettleton,  to  me  i^ersonally  known  to  be  the  individual  who  signed  and 
sealed  the  above  instrument  as  his  voluntary  act  and  deed. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  the  date  above  mentioned. 
[SEAL.]  A.  T.  McCargar, 

Notary  Pi(hUc  in  and  for  the  IState  of 

Washington,  residing  at  Seattle. 


Deposition  ofGmtave  Mebanm,  formerly  an  employe  of  the  Russian  Amer- 
ican Company^  and  vice-iyresident  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company, 
etc. 

management  on  pribilof  and  russian  islands. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  Connty  of  t^an  Francisco,  ss: 
Gustave  Kiebaum,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  t  am 
50  years  old,  a   resident  of  San  Fran<'isco,  and  a  mer- 
Expeneiice.  chiuit  and  sliip  owucr.      I  was  born  in  Helsingfors, 

Finland,  and  became  an  American  citizen  by  the  transfer  of  Alaska  to 
the  United  States.  I  entered  the  service  of  the  liussiau  American  Com- 
mercial Company  in  1858,  and  was  in  command  of  one  of  their  A^essels 
from  ISGO  until  the  cession  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States.  I  am,  and 
have  been  for  several  years  past,  vice-president  and  a  director  of  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company,  and  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Hutchinsoi}, 
Kohl  &  Co.,  the  former  lessees,  resx)ectively,  of  the  ^Jaska  and  Sibe- 
rian sealeries. 


RELATING    TO    PRTBILOF    ISLANDS.  77 

In  these  various  i^ositioiis  the  care  and  maiiagemt.'ntof  seal  rookeries 
and  system  and  methods  ot  killing-  seals  and  curing-  and  transporting 
their  skins  to  market  has  been  my  .study.  I  visited  the  Pribilof  Isl- 
ands in  18G7  and  had  charge  of  seal  killing  there  in  180S  and  18(19. 
When  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  obtained  the  lease  in  1870,  of 
the  right  to  take  seals  for  their  skins,  I  instructed  the  superintendent 
and  agents  of  the  company  in  regard  to  the  way  in  which  the  work  had 
been  done,  and  outlined  to  them  the  policy  to  be  pursued  in  the  future. 
The  lease  of  the  Alaska  Cojnmercial  Company  had  twenty  years  to  run, 
and  it  was  for  our  interests  that  the  very  best  methods  should  be 
adopted  for  managing  notonly  the  "bachelors,  "then  readyforslaughter, 
but  also  the  breeding-  herds  upon  wluch  the  future  of  our  business  de- 
pended. To  this  end  I  directed  our  superintendent  of 
the  sealeries  to  observe  the  greatest  care  in  driving,  pi^y^ronessees.  ^™' 
handling,  and  killing  the  seals,  cautioning  him  to  allow 
nothing  to  be  done  that  would  in  any  way  tend  to  alarm  or  disturb 
them,  or  in  the  least  degree  interfere  with  their  already  well-known 
orderly,  regular  habits  of  breeding  and  migration. 

The  instructions  were  exi^licit  that  no  females  should  be  killed,  and, 
further,  that  bulls  enough  of  mature  age  should  be  preserved  to  serve 
them.  In  order  to  see  that  these  instructions  were  followed  and  the 
business  put  upon  what  1  confidently  believed  to  be  the  right  basis,  I 
visited  the  islands  in  1871  and  1872  and  again  in  1877,  and  was  more 
than  satisfied  with  the  result  of  my  investigations.  The  work  was 
being  carried  on  at  these  times  in  a  highly  systematic,      .,  ,       ,   . 

1    '^i  ,  .  ,    .  o      ^      J  7        Improved  methods 

orderly  manner,  showing  great  improvements  over  the  under  American  man- 
way  of  doing  it  under  liussian  regime,  and  the  result  agement. 
of  good  management  showed  itself  on  every  hand.  The  breeding 
rookeries  had  largely  expanded  in  1877  over  the  limits  of  1860,  as  I 
personally  observed  and  as  I  was  informed  by  the  Ti-easury  agent  in 
charge,  by  our  superintendent,  and  by  the  native  chiefs.  The  natives 
were  enthusiastic  in  their  praise  of  the  American  way  of  doing  busi- 
ness and  conducting  sealing,  as  compared  with  what  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  in  former  years. 

Yet  it  required  no  very  deep  study  nor  occult  knowledge  to  bring 
about  the  healthy  growth  of  the  seal  rookeries.  It  was 
simply  needed  to  treat  them  asoiu-  ordinary  domestic  How  the  growth  of 
animals  are  treated  to  produce  the  same  result.  The  th^.»^';''-''ii^«^«''P'<- 
seals  are  polygamous,  as  our  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep 
are,  and  the  best  methods  of  breeding  these  is  ecpially  advantageou-"' 
when  applied  to  the  seals.  It  is  an  indisp,utable  fact,  and  known  to  th^' 
most  ordinary  breeder  of  domestic  animals,  that  any  surplus  of  males 
is  a  positive  injury,  and  results  in  a  progeny  inferior  in  size,  quality,  and 
numbers  produced.  The  fierce  struggles  of  the  surplus  male  seals  to 
gain  a  foothold  on  the  breeding  grounds  create  great  disorder  and  com- 
motion, and  often  end  in  crushing  the  pups,  and  sometimes  even  in  kill- 
ing the  mothers.  This  was  so  well  understood  by  the  Eussians  that 
long  before  the  cession  of  Alaska  they  ordered  the  slaughter,  we  are 
told  by  Yeniaminof,  of  the  superannuated  males,  in  order  to  clear  the 
way  for  vigorous  stock.  They  succeeded  by  this  intelligent  course  in 
bringing  up  the  rookeries  from  their  de])leted  condition  of  about  1840, 
consequent  upon  the  bad  management  of  prior  years,  and  the  nnpro- 
pitious  season  of  1835,  when  the  ice  nearly  annihihited  the  seal  life,  to 
the  prodiictiv^eness  in  which  we  found  tiiem  in  1808.  We  continued 
the  same  system,  with  slight  modifications,  and  had  every  reason,  up 
to  1832,  to  expect  to  bo  able  to  return  the  property  to  the  United  States 


78  TESTIMONY 

at  the  expiration  of  our  lease  in  better  condition  than  when  we  received 
it.     But  a  force  was  already  gaining  nioiiieutuni  long  before  we  noticed 
any  serious  disturbance  of  the  herd  on  the  islands  that  was  destined  to 
disappoint  our  expectations,  and,  if  not  checked,  to  utterly  destroy  the 
commercial  value  of  the  sealeries. 
The  practice  of  pelagic  seal  hunting  was  followed  by  the  northwest 
Kesiiits  ot   leia'-ic  ^^^^^  Indians  from  their  earliest  history,  but  amounted 
sealing  by  northwest  to  SO  little  as  to  be  inappreciable  on  the  islands.    Even 
preciawe  oirisiauds!'    ^^^^^'  "^^"^^^^^  huntcrs  engaged  in  it  in  a  limited  way  our 
losses  from  this  source  were  attributed  to  the  marine 
enemies  of  the  seals,  and  was  so  far  overcome  by  the  good  management 
on  the  islands  as  to  permit  the  gro'wi:h  of  the  herd  to  continue  so  long 
as  it  was  limited  to  a  few  vessels  and  confined  to  the  vicinity  of  the 
Oregon,  Washington,  and  British  Columbian  coasts.    But  even  before 
any  considerable  slaughter  had  taken  place  in  the  waters  of  Bering- 
Sea,  as  early  as  1882,  it  was  noticed  that  the  rookeries 
erSa  ceaseTiny82.^"  ^^^  stoppcd  expandhig',  thougli  they  were  treated  in 
every  way  as  they  always  had  been.     An  examinati(m 
of  the  London  Catalogue  of  sealskin  sales  shows  that  the  "Victoria 
catch"  already  aggregated  a  very  considerable  number  of  skins  and 
now  brings  home  the  conviction  that  pelagic  sealing,  when  confined 
almost  wholly  to  the  Pacific,  is  still  a  very  dangerous  enemy  of  seal 
life  on  the  islands. 

After  1886  the  force  of  pelagic  hunters  was  greatly  augmented,  and 
Increase  in  pelagic  bccame  morc  aud  morc  aggressive,  and  their  field  of 
sealing^  after  1886  and  operations  widely  extended,  until  they  appeared  in 
alarming  numbers  in  Bering  Sea  in  1884  and  1885.  In 
1887  we  were  forced  to  commence  taking  smaller  skins  in  order  to  obtain 
our  quota  and  preserve  enough  breeding  bulls.  In  1888  they  were  stiU 
smaller,  while  in  1889  more  than  half  of  them  were  such  as  we  would 
not  have  killed  in  former  years,  and  we  called  the  attention  of  the 
Treasury  Department  to  the  evident  dimin.ution  of  seal  life,  and  recom- 
mended that  fewer  seals  be  killed  in  future.  There  can  be  no  question 
as  to  the  cause  of  the  diminution.  It  is  the  direct  result  of  pelagic 
sealing,  and  the  same  destruction,  if  continued  a  few  years  longer,  will 
entirely  dissipate  any  commercial  value  in  the  rookeries,  if  it  does  not, 
indeed,  annihilate  them. 

I  was  formerly,  as  I  have  stated,  interested  in  the  Commander  seal 

Knssian  and  \i  s    i'^^^'^'ids,  as  wcll  as  thosc  of  Alaska.     The  two  herds  are 

kan  "herds"  disiii'iet  Separate  aud  distinct,  the  fur  being  of  different  quality 

qualities."*  "^lA^""*  and  appearance.     The  two  classes  of  skins  have  always 

been  held  at  different  values  in  the  London  market, 

the  Alaskas  bringing  invariably  a  higher  price  than  the  Siberias  of  the 

same  weight  and  size  of  skins.     I  think  each  herd  keeps  upon  its  own 

feeding  grounds  along  the  respective  coasts  they  inhabit. 

I  am  told  that  the  diminution  of  seal  life  has  been  attributed  to  raids 

j^^jg  by  poachers  upon  the  seal  islands.     Very  few  of  these 

have  occurred,  and  the  number  of  skins  obtained  by 

the  poachers  has  been  comparatively  infinitesimally  small.     I  think 

the  whole  number  obtained  by  them  in  this  way  does  not  exceed  3,000 

or  4,000  skins.     We  were  accustomed  always  to  maintain  a  patrol  and 

guard  upon  the  rookeries  whenever  the  weather  Avas  snch  that  poachers 

could  land  upon  them,  and  upoii  the  least  suspicious  circumstances 

measures  were  taken  to  forestall  any  attempts  to  steal  the  seals.     The 

sea  is  usually  rough  in  the  fall  when  poachers  try  to  get  in  their  work; 

the  shores  are,  at  most  places,  inaccessible  from  boats,  aud  the  natives 


RELATING    TO    PRIBTLOF    ISLANDS.  79 

are  vigilant  and  active.  If  inarine  hunting-  is  stopped,  tliey  can  be 
safely  trusted  to  defend  the  property  upon  which  their  very  existence 
is  dependent,  as  they  have  done  repeatedly,  against  any  singie  schooner's 
crew. 

It  has  been  asserted  in  print  that  the  Ahiska  Commercial  Comijany 
is  engaged  in  the  business  of  pelagic  seal  hunting.  It 
has  been  the  custom  of  the  company  to  vindicate  its  commlTCfai^conipany 
good  name  and  title  to  respect  by  deeds  rather  than  is  e^jgaged  in  pelagic 
words,  but  an  imputation  upon  its  honor  so  absolutely  ^*^^  ™^' 
groundless  and  unwarranted  as  this,  it  can  not  do  less  than  deny.  It 
is  not,  and  never  has  been,  nor  have  any  of  its  officers  or  stockholders 
ever  been  directly  or  indirectly  engaged  in  any  manner  whatever  in 
pelagic  seal  hunting.  It  has  always  purchased  from  the  natives  such 
skins  as  they  offered  for  sale,  but  when  seal  life  grew  scarcer  on  the 
islands  it  discouraged  the  natives  by  every  means  in  its  power  from 
killing  seals  along  the  Alaska  coast.  To  feel  a  juesent  regret  that  this 
course  was  pursued  in  view  of  the  destruction  of  the  seal  herd  which 
the  Government  has  permitted,  would  be  but  natural,  yet  we  try,  as 
honorable  men,  to  ri.'-e  above  even  this  weakness. 

I  have  shown  that  under  good  management  the  seals  increased  on 
the  Pribilof  groui),  and  know  such  to  be  the  fact  also      r  ^  ,, 

in  regard  to  tlie  (*ommander  Islands.     The  methods  mantier  islands  herd 
Avere  the  same  in  the  two  phu  es,  but  the  Asiatic  herd  '^o^ii  to  i89o. 
was  not  seriously  molested  at  sea  until  1890,  and  the  increase  continued 
up  to  that  date.     Xow,  i)elagic  hunting  is  going'  on 
there  the  same  as  in  the  Alaska  waters,  and  already  iu£*jlhf ng thaUifrd^' 
the  herd  is  diminishing  as  did  the  Pribilof  herd  from 
the  same  cause  several  years  earlier.     The  same  good  management, 
ui)on  cessation  of  marine  killing,  will  rapidly  augment  both  herds  again, 
for  no  animals  are  more  susceptible  to  good  treatment  in  breeding  than- 
these.    Their  marine  enemies,  aside  from  man,  are  a  constant  factor  of 
destruction  in  disregard  of  wliich  they  multiply. 

I  have  no  interest  whatever  in  the  sealeries  or  the  sealskin  trade. 

G.   NiEBAUM. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  May,  A.  D.  189li. 

[seal,]  CLE3IENT   BENNETT, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  L.  A.  Noycs,  resi(lc7it  ])hysician  on  the  Frihilof  Islands  from 

1880  to' 1802. 

habits,  manaaelvient,  and  pelagic  sealing. 

St.  George  Island,  Priblof  Group, 

Alaslm,  U.  S.  A.,  ss: 

L.  A.  Noj^es,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native 
American,  and  my  home  is  in  Eandolph,  Vt.  I  am  52  years  of  age, 
and  a  physician  by  profession. 

In  1880  I  entered  the  service  of  the  lessees  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  as 
resident  physician  at   the  seal  islands,  and  I   have        ^  . 
resided  here  continuously  ever  since,  excepting  an  occa-    '^''P''"*'"*'®- 
sioual  visit  to  my  home,  for  a  few  months  in  winter,  once  or  twice  since 
1880. 

From  June,  1880,  to  August,  1883,  I  was  on  St.  George  Island,  and 


80  TESTIMONY 

from  18S3  to  1884 1  was  on  St.  Paul  Island.  [  then  lotnrned  to  St.  George, 
wherc!  I  have  resided  ever  since,  ex<'ei)tiii,^'  the  \a<'ations  aforesaid. 

I  have  given  niueli  time  to  the  stndy  of  the  Ahiskan  fur-seal  and  its 
peculiar  habits,  and  I  have  watched  with  (;are  and  solicitude  the 
increase  and  the  decline  in  imiubers  of  the  animal  on  the  hauling 
grounds  and  rookeries,  and  also  the  methods  ibllowed  by  the  lessees 
in  taking  the  skins — the  driving  au-d  icilling  of  the  young  males  of  from 
two  to  five  years  old,  and  the  salting,  curing,  bundling,  and  shipping 
of  the  skins.  I  have  likewise  carefully  observed  and  noted  the  coming 
of  the  seals  in  the  spring,  the  hanling  out  at  different  times  of  the 
various  ages  and  sexes,  their  disposition  on  the  hauling  grounds  and 
rookeries,  the  formation  of  the  ''harem"  or  family,  the  birth  of  the 
pups,  the  migrations  of  the  mother  seals  to  feed,  the  breaking  up  of  the 
harems,  the  scattering  of  the  cows,  and  the  general  intermingling  of 
the  sexes  in  Sei)tember,  and  finally  the  departure  of  the  herd  from  the 
islands  in  November  or  later. 

I  have  read  most  of  all  that  has  been  written  within  the  past  quarter 
century  on  the  fur-seal  question;  and  1  have  listened  to  and  taken  part 
in  many  of  the  controversies  indulged  in  l)y  my  associates  and  friends 
— men  who  have  spent  many  years  in  the  fur-seal  industry  and  whose 
practical  experience  witl:  all  its  details  gives  weight  and  value  to  their 
assertions.  It  was  I  who,  at  the  reipiest  of  the  United  States  Treasury 
agent  in  charge  of  the  islands,  measured  all  the  rookeries  and  hauling 
grounds  on  St.  George  Island  in  1887,^  and  1  have  kept  the  record  of 
the  climatic  changes  on  St.  George  snice  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment discontinued  the  meteorological  station  at  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

In  addition  to  my  services  as  i)hysician,  I  have  occasionally  taught 
the  school  on  St.  George,  and  I  have  kept  the  books  and  accounts  for 
many  years  for  the  lessees  on  the  same  island.  I  am  thoroughly  con- 
versant with  the  oideis  issued  by  the  general  and  local  agents  of 
the  lessees  to  the  luitiv^e  chiefs  in  regard  to  eveiything  appertaining  to 
the  business  of  taking  the  annual  "catch"  and  the  care  of  the  seals. 
I  have  been  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Treasury  agents  who  have 
had  charge  of  the  islands  since  1880,  and  I  acted  as  assistant  agent 
myself  during  the  temporary  absence  of  the  assistant  special  agent. 
I  am  quite  familiar  witli  the  general  and  special  orders  and  instruc- 
tions issued  from  the  Treasury  Department  from  time  to  time  to  the 
special  agents  for  the  government  of  the  natives  and  the  care  of  the 
rookeries  and  seal  herti.  And  I  know  those  laws,  rules,  and  regula- 
tions have  been  faithfully  adhered  to  and  fully  enforced,  published 
reports  of  transient  visitors  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  seal  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  geographically  known 
as  the  Pribih)f  Islands,  are  situated  in  Bering  Sea  at 
rriiXf  Mauds.  "'"  iil>oiit  170°  west  Irom  Greenwich  and  56°  north  lati- 
tude; and  they  are  nearly  -00  miles  from  the  nearest 
land. 

The  climatic  conditions  in  their  immediate  vicinity  are  so  peculiar 
Climate  ^"^"^  their  formation  and  sitnation  are  so  unique  that  it 

is  not  hard  to  believe  they  were  selected  tor  a  home 
and  resting  place  by  the  Alaskan  fur-seal  because  of  their  adaptabil- 
ity to  that  ])nrpose,  and  to  that  only.  The  thermometer  rarely  goes 
higher  than  00°  or  lower  than  zero;  the  average  for  a  number  of  years 
being  35°. 

In  winter  the  islands  are  sometimes  surrounded  by  broken  ice,  which 

'  The  measurements  were  made  very  imperfectly,  mid  1  never  claimed  auythinj?  but 
an  approximate  ujeasuiement.  It  was  my  opinion  that  the  numbers  were  exagger- 
ated, and  I  so  stated  at  the  time. — L.  A.  N. 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLA^^),S.  81 

comes  from  tlie  north,  and  it  will  come  and  go  with  the  tide  and  currents, 
generally  from  January  to  April,  but  occasionally  remaining  later,  and 
again  not  appearing  at  all. 

In  June,  July,  and  part  of  August,  the  islands  are  enveloped  for  days 
at  a  time  in  dense  fog,  and  a  clear  sunny  day  is  of  rare  occurrence. 
The  atmosi)here  is  damp  and  cool,  and  the  rain  falls  in  a  sort  of  fine 
mist  which  drenches  one  through  before  it  is  felt. 

The  islands  are  of  volcanic  origin,  and  the  shores  are  rough,  uneven 
lava  rock,  and  broken  rock  and  bowlders  of  like  formation.  On  this 
rugged  shore  the  Alaskan  fur-seals  make  their  summer  home;  laere 
they  are  born  and  reared  for  the  tirst  six  months  of  their  existence; 
here  they  come  every  spring  as  regular  as  time,  and  here  they  repro- 
duce their  species.     The  career  of  the  fur-seal  herd  ou      ,,,, 

1  •  j_  Ti         j_i      J.       X'  T  J.-       X     1         ^"»  career  of   tbe 

these  shores  is  not  unlike  that  ot  any  domesticated  seal  is  a,  qnestion  of 
animal — it  is  simply  a  stock-breeding  question.  ^'^'''^'^  breeding. 

Areas  upon  which  it  is  agreeable  for  the  females  to  breed  are  care- 
fully reserved  and  set  aside  for  that  pnrjjose. 

Each  year  a  sufficient  number  of  breeding  bulls  are  reserved  for 
service  on  the  rookeries.  The  utmost  care  is  taken  that  the  future  of 
the  herd  is  not  jeopardized  by  the  injury  or  death  of  a  female. 

So  accustomed  have  the  seals  become  to  the  presence  of  the  natives 
that  the  timidity  and  shyness  man  nested  in  the  ocean  ximenessof  ^eiis 
is  not  shown  ou  the  islands.  In  their  infancy  the  pups  '^'^"''''^ " 
will  approach  a  native  without  fear,  and  later  on  they  are  readily 
handled,  and  the  sexes  separated,  should  it  be  necessary  to  make  a 
killing  of  pups  for  food.  In  the  handling,  management,  and  enlarge- 
ment of  the  seal  herd  there  is  as  much  amenability  to  domestication  as 
there  is  in  a  band  of  range  cattle. 

The  male  breeding  seals,  or  bulls,  begin  to  haul  out  on  the  breeding 
rookeries  early  in  May,  and  they  come  in  more  and  ^^.^.j^.^^  ^j.  ^^^^jj^ 
more  rapidly  as  the  month  advances,  and  selecting 
their  respective  stations  lie  down  and  sleep  almost  continuously  until 
within  a  few  days  of  the  coming  of  the  females,  or  cows,  when  they 
assume  a  sitting  posture  and  set  up  a  bellowing  noise  i^eculiar  to  them- 
selyes,  which  I  suppose  to  be  a  "call"  to  the  approaching  herd  of  cows. 
It  is  at  this  time  the  bull  appears  at  his  best  and  in  his  most  aggressive 
mood,  and  none  but  the  physically  strong  and  successful  arc  allowed 
to  remain  within  striking  distance  of  the  veterans. 

The  cows  begin  to  haul  out  in  June,  and  practically  they  are  all  on 
the  breeding  rookeries   by  Jidy  15.     Iinmediately  on  ^^^^^i  ,f  ,„^3. 
arriving  they  are  taken  possession  oi  by  the  bulls,  the 
strongest  and  most  aggressive  securing  the  greatest  number,  and  giiard- 
ing  with  jealous  care  and  increasing  vigilance. 

As  a  rule  the  pups  are  born  soon  after  the  cows  reach  the  shore, 
though  it  occasionally  happens  that  a  cow  will  be  two  p.irti,  of  pups 
or  three  days  on  the  rookery  before  bringing  forth  her 
young. 

I  think  the  pups  are  all  born  by  July  22,  and  by  the  middle  of 
August  the  cows  have  been  fertilized  for  the  next  year,  after  which 
the  harems  are  abandoned,  and  the  bulls  begin  to  leave  the  islands, 
and  the  females  and  bachelors  (or  young  males)  intermingle  indiscrinii- 
uately  on  the  rookeries.  From  the  time  the  bulls  haul  out  in  May  till 
they  leave  in  Sei)tember  they  neither  eat  nor  drink,  nuiis  fasting  on 
and  their  lean  and  lanky  appearance  in  September  is  i'><''^<?''e'*- 
in  striking  contrast  witlT their  rotund  form  and  sleek  and  glossy  coats 
in  May. 

2716— VOL  II G 


82  TESTIMONY 

When  tlie  pup  is  born  it  is  utterly  lielpless  and  dependent;  it  is  not 

amphibious,   and  would  drown   if  put  into  water.     I 

^  Pups  not  amphibi-  \^.^y^,  often  watched  the  pu^js  near  the  water's  edge 

when  in  stormy  weather  the  surf  carried  them  off,  and 

in  every  instance  they  drowned  as  soon  as  they  went  iuto  deep  water. 

The  pup  is  entirely  dependent  on  its  dam  for  sustenance,  and  wlien 

it  is  a  few  days  old  she  goes  into  the  sea  to  feed, 

_^Mother  cows  feed-  returning  at  intervals  of  a  few   hours  at  first,   and, 

gradually  lengthening  the  time  as  the  pups  grow  older 

and  stronger,  until  she  will  be,  sometimes,  away  for  a  svbole  week. 

During  these  journeys,  in  my  opinion,  she  goes  a  distance  of  from  40 

to  I'OO  miles  from  the  islands  to  feed;  and  it  is  at  this  time  she  falls  a 

prey  to  the  pelagic  hunter. 

Eeturned  to  the  rookery,  the  cow  goes  straight  to  the  spot  where 
she  left  her  pup,  and  it  seems  she  instantly  recognizes  it  by  smelling; 
and  it  is  equally  certain  that  the  puj)  can  not  recognize  its  dam.  I 
have  often  seen  pups  attempt  to  suck  cows  promiscuously,  yet  n<^ 
cow  will  suckle  any  pup  but  her  own.  When  tiv^e  or  six  weeks  old  the 
^y  ^  pups  begin  to  ruu  around  and  form  bunches  or  "i)ods;" 

upspot.  ing.  ^^  seven  to  eight  weeks  old  they  try  the  water  at  the 

edge,  where,  after  paddling  in  the  shallows,  they  gradually  learn  to 
swim.  After  becoming  expert  swimmers  they  continue  to  show  a 
preference  for  land,  where  they  generally  remain  if  not  driven  iuto  tlie 
water  by  heavy  rain  or  warm  sunshine.  They  make  no  effort  to  secure 
sustenance  of  any  sort  beyond  that  furnished  by  their  dams. 

I  have  examined  many  pups  at  the  food  killings  in  Noveniber,  and  I 

never  found  anything  but  milk  in  their  stomachs. 

The  young  males,  or  bachelors,  whose  skins  are  taken  by  the  lessees, 

begin  to  haul  out  in  May,  and  they  continue  to  haul 

lo"^!"^'^^  °^  ^^''^^'  out  until  late  in  July,  the  older  ones  coming  first  and 

the  younger  ones  later;  and  they  herd  by  themselves 

during  May,    June,  and  July,   because  were  they  to   approach    the 

breeding  grounds  the  bulls  would  drive  them  off  or  destroy  them. 

The  "  bachelors"  of  from  2  to  5  years  old  are  the  only  seals  driven  or 

killed  on  the  seal  islands  by  anyone  or  for  any  i)ur- 

pose ;  and  the  sensational  stories  told  of  how  they  are 

"tortured"  on  the  drive  have  no  foundation  in  fact.     When  necessary 

.  .  to  make  a  drive  for  skins  from  any  given  rookery,  the 

"^"^'  local  agent  of  the  lessees  informs  the  Treasury  agent, 

and  obtains  his  permission  to  make  the  "  drive."    I^o  seals  are  driven 

without  the  consent  of  the  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  the  island. 

All  being  ready,  the  native  chief  takes  a  squad  of  men  to  the  hauling 

ground,  where  the  seals  are  quietly  surrounded  Avithout  disturbing  the 

breeding  rookery,  and  they  are  then  driven  slowly  along  to  the  killing 

ground. 

Since  the  improved  methods  of  1879  there  is  no  drives  of  greater 
Len  til  of  drives      length  than  2^  miles,  and  the  majority  of  them  do 
eng  10    rives.      ^^^  excccd  1  mile.     So  carefully  and  so  slowly  are 
the  drives  made,  the  men  driving  are  relieved  every  hour,  because  of 
^.^.^^  the  slow  motion  they  get  chilled  on  the  road.    Arrived 

at  the  killing  grounds,  the  seals  are  driven  out  from 
the  main  body  in  "  pods"  of  twenty  or  thirty  at  a  time,  and  experienced 
men  club  and  kill  the  desirable  ones,  and  allow  all  tliat  remain  to  re- 
turn at  their  leisure  to  the  adjacent  waters.  The  most  experienced  men 
do  the  skinning,  and  after  them  come  the  women  and  children  who 
carry  off  the  carcasses  for  food,  and  the  fat  or  blubber  for  winter  fuel, 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  83 

In  accordance  with  instructions  from  the  Department,  the  Treasury- 
agent  is  always  present  at  the  killings,  and  he  has  full  power  aud  au- 
thority to  interfere  in  all  cases  where  there  is  cruelty  practiced  or 
attempted. 

All  seals  killed  by  the  lessees  for  skins  are  killed  between  June  1 
and  July  30,  and  generally  the  season  closes  on  the     ^^.^^  ^^^^^^ 
20th  of  July.  •  .         "    "    ' 

After  the  regular  season  closes,  in  July,  the  natives  kill,  weekly,  for 
food,  from  oneto  two  hundred  male  seals  whose  skins  scais  killed  forfood. 
are  large  enough  to  be  accepted  as  part  of  the  next  year's  quota;  and 
it  is  during  these  "food"  drives  in  August,  September,  and  October 
that  an  occasional  female  is  accidentally  killed.  Being  mixed  with  the 
"bachelors"  at  this  time,  some  females  are  driven  and  accidentally 
killed.  The  killing  of  a  female  is  the  greatest  crime  Females  kuicd  only 
known  on  the  seal  islands,  and  is  never  done  inten-  ^^  accident. 
tionally.  Of  this  I  am  most  positive,  for  I  know  that  every  possible 
precaution  has  been  taken  to  guard  against  it;  and  I  believe  there  has 
not  been  one  hundred  females  killed  on  St.  Oeorge  Island  since  1S80, 
if  I  may  except  some  killed  by  poachers  who  were  driven  off  before 
they  secured  the  skins  of  the  seals  they  had  killed. 

Xever  since  the  islands  have  been  American  property,  lias  there 
been  indiscriminate  killiug  done  upon  them,  nor  has  there  been  a  de- 
sire on  the  part  of  anyone  connectt-d  with  them  to  injure  or  damage 
or  waste  seal  life;  on  the  contrary,  everything  has  been  done  by  the 
lessees,  past  and  present,  and  by  the  United  States,  to  foster  and  pro- 
tect it,  and  to  improve  the  methods  of  driving  the  seals,  so  that  the 
herds  might  grow  and  thrive  and  increase,  and  perpetuate  themselves 
indefinitely.  Laws,  rules,  and  regulations  were  made  from  time  to 
time,  prompted  by  exi)erience,  with  a  view  to  add  to  the  .  .^ay®.  ^les,  etc.,  on 

,'i„,^  ^'         ^  Tjii-i  ,1-  .1/     islands    tor  preserva- 

value  of  the  proi)erty,  and  to  abolish  everything  that  tiun  of  seal  nte. 
was  not  beneficial  and  in  strict  accord  with  the  most  humane  principles. 
To  this  end  all  long  drives  were  prohibited,  aud  arrangements  made 
by  which  the  killing  grounds  have  been  brought  as  near  the  hauling- 
grounds  as  is  practicable  without  being  injurious  to  the  breeding- 
rookeries. 

Orders  were  issued  by  which  the  driving  is  regulated  in  such  man- 
ner that  no  hauling  grounds  are  molested  or  disturbed  more  than 
another,  and,  being  taken  in  rotation,  the  seals  are  allowed  several 
days  rest  between  drives.  The  rules  for  driving-  are  so  strict,  so  rig- 
idly enforced,  and  so  faithfully  carried  out,  that  I  hardly  know  how 
they  could  be  improved  upon. 

In  my  opinion  the  cows  are  the  only  seals  that  go  into  the  sea  to  feed 
from  the  time  they  haul  out  in  May  till  they  leave  the     ^      ^,      ,       , 

.,,.^.r  ,  -r^  IT---  Cows  the  only  seals 

islands  in  JNovember  or  December;  and  my  opinion  is  tbat  leave  islands  to 
based  on  the  fact  that  the  seals  killed  in  May  have  ^''*''^- 
plenty  of  food  in  their  stomachs,  mostly  codfish,  while  those  killed  in 
July  have  no  signs  of  anything  like  food  in  their  stomaelis. 

Again,  the  males  killed  for  food  as  the  season  advances  are  found  to 
be  poorer  and  poorer,  and  in  all  cases  after  July  their  stomachs  are 
empty.  I  am  convinced,  therefore,  that  none  but  mother  seals  go  into 
the  sea  to  feed  during  the  summer  months,  and  this  accounts  fi>r  the 
sudden  decrease  in  the  herd  after  the  sealing  schooners  became  so  nu- 
merous in  Bering  Sea  about  1884.  The  decrease  in  the  number  of  seals 
coming  to  the  islands  in  the  last  three  or  four  years  decrease  of  seals. 
became  so  manifest  to  everyone  acquainted  with  the 
rookeries  in  earber  days  that  various  theories  have  been  advanced  in 


84  TESTIMONY 

an  attempt  to  account  for  the  cause  of  tliis  sudden  change,  and  the 
tbUowiiig-  are  some  of  them:     1st,  "A  dearth  of  bulls  upon  the  breed- 
ing rookeries;"  2d,  "Impotency  of  bulls,  caused  by  overdriving  while 
they  were  young  bachelors;"  and  3d,  "An  epidemic  among  the  seals." 
The  "dearth  of  bulls  theory"  has  been  thoroughly  and  impartially 
investigated  without  discovering  a  cow  of  3  years  old 
m  dearth  of  bulls.    ^^  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  rookeries  without  a  pup  by  her  side  at 

the  proper  time,  and  I  am  convinced  that  the  virgin  females  coming 
on  to  the  rookeries  for  the  first  time  are  the  only  ones  to  be  found  there 
without  pups. 

The  investigation  established  the  additional  fact  that  hundreds  of 
vigorous  bulls  w^ere  lying  idle  on  the  rookeries  without  cows,  and  many 
others  had  to  content  themselves  with  only  one  or  two. 

The  theory  of  "impotency  of  the  bull  through  overdriving"  while 
young  was  also  found  to  be  untrue,  and  it  was  shown 

No  impotent  bulls.      ^^^.^^  ^^^^^,  ^g-^  .^j^  j^^^^.  ^^^.-^.^^  ^^  ^^^^  islaiuls  had  bCCR 

abolished,  and  instead  of  driving  seals  from  6  to  12  miles,  as  was  done 
in  Russian  times,  n(jne  were  driven  to  exceed  2^  miles. 

It  is  also  a  well-known  fact  that  none  but  the  physically  strong  and 
aggressive  bulls  can  hold  a  position  on  the  rookeries ;  and  that  a  weak 
or  an  impotent  animal  has  no  desire  to  go  there. 

The  epidemic  theory  was  urged  very  strongly  in  1891,  when  the 
rookeries  were  found  covered  with  dead  pups;  but  a 
eeSs  '^'^®'^^^®  '^'^^^  careful  and  technical  examination  was  made  on  several 
of  the  dead  bodies  without  discovering  a  trace  of 
organic  disease;  while  starvation  was  so  apparent  that  those  Avho 
examined  them  decided  that  it  was  the  true  cause  of  their  death.  Had 
sickness  or  disease  attacked  the  seal  herd,  it  is  only  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose a  few  grown  seals  wn)uld  be  found  dead  where  so  many  young  ones 
had  died  so  suddenly;  but  the  most  diligent  search  has  failed  to  iind  a 
grown  seal  dead  ui)on  the  islands  from  unknown  causes. 

From  the  discovery  of  the  islands  until  the  present  time  the  flesh  of 
the  fur-seal  has  been  the  daily  meat  ration  of  the  natives  and  of  tiie 
white  people,  and  yet  it  is  a  iact  that  a  tainted  or  diseased  carcass  lias 
never  been  known. 

In  my  opinion  the  solution  of  the  problem  is  plain.     It  is  the  shot- 

Peiagic  sealing  the  gau   and  rifle  of   the  pelagic  hunter  w'hich   are   so 

oniycauseofdecTCase.  destructive  to  the  COW  seals  as  they  go  backwards  and 

forwards  to  the  fishing  banks  to  supply  the  waste  caused  by  giving 

nourishment  to  their  young. 

At  this  time  they  are  destroyed  by  thousands,  and  their  young  of 
but  a  few  weeks  old  must  necessarily  die  of  starvation,  for  nature  has 
provided  no  other  means  of  subsistence  for  them  at  this  time  of  life. 

Unless  the  pelagic  hunter  is  prevented  from  taking  seals  in  Bering 
Sea  and  in  the  North  Pacific,  the  Alaskan  fur  seal  will 

Protection  neces.sarv.  .in  •    ^  ^ 

soon  cease  to  be  oi  commercial  value. 

L.  A.  KoYES,  M.  D. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  admin- 
ister oaths  under  section  197G,  Kevised  Statutes  of  the  United  States, 
this  11th  day  of  June,  1892,  at  St.  George  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  H.  Williams, 
Treasury  A<jent  in  charge  of  Seal  Islands. 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  85 

Dejposition  of  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  Treasury  agent,  in  charge  of  the  Pribi- 

lof  Islands. 

MANAGEMENT.      PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Los  Angeles,  Cal.,  April  24,  1892. 

Harrison  Gray  Otis,  beingduly  sworn,  says :  I  am  a  resident  of  this  the 
city  of  Los  Angeles,  California;  am  president  of  the 
Times-Mirror  Comi)any,  and  editor  and  manager  of  the  ^^p^"''^'^^. 
Los  Angeles  Daily  Times.  I  was  special  agent  of  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment, in  charge  of  the  far-seal  islands  of  Aiasi^a  during  the  years  1879, 
1880,  and  1881,  and  had  three  assistant  special  agents  stationed  at  the 
islands,  acting  under  my  directions.  During  these  years  I  was  present 
at  the  islands  throughout  each  sealing  season,  having  my  headquarters 
on  the  island  of  St.  Paul,  and  visiting  the  smaller  island  of  St.  George 
each  season,  and  with  my  assistants  personally  superintended  the  catch 
of  seals  and  the  count  and  shipment  of  skins  in  every  instance.  During 
every  sealing  season,  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  I  made  it  my 
special  business  to  personally  visit  and  inspect  the  breeding  rookeries 
and  the  hauling  grounds  from  time  to  time  with  a  view  to  informing 
myself  accurately  as  to  their  real  condition,  especially  as  to  numbers, 
habits,  and  habitat. 

In  all  these  years  seals  of  all  classes  were  present  at  the  islands  in 
vast  numbers,  so  that  the  annual  catch  of  100,000  skins, 
80,000  on  St.  Paul  and  20,000  on  St.  George,  was  j^Abnndanceofseai.s, 
taken  with  great  ease  and  facility,  the  killing  season 
proper  extending  over  a  period  of  only  about  forty-five  days  in  each 
year,  and  the  actual  working  days  being  only  from  thirty-two  to  thirty- 
five  in  each  year. 

During  my  term  of  service  at  the  islands  I  made  careful  and  elabo- 
rate reports  each  year  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  In  one  of  these 
reports,  dated  July  30,  1881,  I  embodied  a  compilation  from  the  official 
records  covering  a  period  from  1871  to  1881,  witli  the  object  of  showing 
the  relative  abundance  of  the  seal  life  during  those  years.  The  tabel 
was  preceded  in  my  report  l)y  the  following  explanatory  ,^,^^^^  ,. 
language:  "The  following  table,  covering  a  period  of 
eleven  years,  shows :  (1)  The  number  of  seal  skins  taken  in  each  sealing 
season  proper  on  St.  Paul's  Island;  (2)  the  number  of  days  expended  in 
the  work;  (3)  the  number  of  sealers  engaged;  (1)  the  average  number 
of  skins  taken  per  day;  and  (5)  the  average  daily  catch  per  man  en- 
gaged; and  it  is  confidently  submitted  as  the  most  solid  ground  we 
have  to  stand  upon  in  attempting  an  answer  to  the  inquiry,  'Are  the 
fur  seals  of  Alaska  increasing  or  diminishing  in  numbers?'" 

Briefly  summarized,  the  table  shows  that  the  working  days  for  seal- 
ing proper  were  reduced  from  55  in  1871  to  35  in  1881;      ^  .  ,„,, 
that  the  average  daily  catch  was  increased  from  1,375            ''^'' "' 
in  1871  to  2,158  in  1881,  and  that  the  daily  average  catch  per  man  em- 
ployed was  increased  from  21  in  1871  to  32  in  1881. 

The  plain  lesson  taught  by  these  figures  and  comparisons  is  that  the 
vast  increase  in  tlie  seal  life  due  to  the  i)roper  and  ade-  „  ,  ,.  .  ,,.  , 
quate  protection  of  the  rookeries  and  of  the  waters  i^-t-'t-'J-t't^'^'i- 
adjacent  thereto  made  it  possible  for  the  lessees  to  take  the  full  quota 
of  100,000  skins  in  the  very  short  pericid  of  from  thirty-three  to  thirty- 
five  working  days.  In  truth,  so  abundant  were  the  seals  during  these 
years  that  after  the  close  of  the  sealing  season,  about  July  20,  when  the 
entire  number  of  100,000  skins  had  been  taken,  the  rookeries  and  haul- 


86  TESTIMONY 

h\g  grounds  still  held  a  vast  population   of  these  animals  and  it  re- 
qui)  ed  an  expert  to  i)erceive  the  fact  that  they  had  been  depleted  at  all. 
During  those  years  the  sealing  season  commenced  about  June  1st  to 
,  4th  and  closed  invariably  before  the  20th  of  July,  so 

6ea  ing  season.        %]^^i  the  disturbance  to  the  herd  was  confined  to  the 
shortest  possible  period  of  time  and  reduced  to  the  minimum.     The 
eflect  of  this  was  of  course  most  excellent.    In  addition  to  which  fact 
the  skins  were  always  in  prime  condition  during  that 
agey  season.         period;  whcrcas,  later  on,  the  "stagey"  season  com- 
mences, when  the  skins  are  inferior  and  not  marketable. 
The  conspicuous  fact  most  apparent  to  me  during  all  those  years  was 
^  ,   ,.    .    ,.^  J    that  by  the  enforcement  of  the  wise  laws  enacted  by 

Protection  justified.     „  •'  ,  /■i.         xi  •    -j.-  x-     a  i      i  xi  • 

Congress  early  after  the  acquisition  oi  Alaska,  this 
precious  animal  life  could  be  and  was  i^rotected  and  preserved  in  tlie 
fullest  measure,  and  that  being  so  protected  the  natural  increase  of  the 
herds  more  than  offset  the  annual  killing,  great  as  it  was. 

The  most  scrupulous  care  was  ahvays  taken  by  all  persons  at  the 
^     ,        ^  ^  ,     islands,   including   Government  agents,    the    Alaska 

Temales  protected.      ^.  -in  i  j.  i    j.i  x-  i  •    j.- 

Commercial  Company's  agents,  and  the  native  chieis 
and  people,  to  spare  and  protect  the  mother  seals,  whether  ujion  the 
rookeries  or  elsewhere  on  the  islands;  so  careful  were  we  in  that  re- 
gard that  whenever  a  female  seal  happened  to  be  driven  up  along  Avith 
II  herd  of  killable  seals,  or  "bachelors,"  she  was  promptly  distinguished 
from  the  males,  never  killed,  but  separated  from  the  mass  and  allowed 
to  make  her  way  again  to  the  sea.  In  all  respects  great  care  was  taken 
to  prevent  the  unnecessary  harassment  of  any  class  of  seals,  whether 
old  or  young,  male  or  female. 

The  breeding  rookeries  themselves  were  never  under  any  circum- 
stances disturbed.     There  was  indeed  no  occasion  to 
turbel^"*"^  """^  ^^'  disturb  them,  because  the  killable  seals,  or  "  bachelors," 
from  3  to  5  years  old,  were  so  numerous  that  the  whole 
catch  could  be  taken  from  this  class  with  the  ease  and  facility  which 
I  have  already  described. 

Besides,  under  the  operation  of  the  natui"al  laws  governing  the  species 
in  their  habitat,  the  classes  are  distinctly  separated  on 
land,  the  bulls,  cows,  and  pups  occupying  the  breeding- 
rookeries  proi)er,  while  what  are  known  as  the  "  bachelors,"  to  wit, 
those  young  males  which  have  not  arrived  at  the  dignity  of  being  the 
heads  of  harems,  haul  out  of  the  sea  and  gather  upon  the  shores  sep- 
arate and  apart  from  the  breeding  rookeries,  so  that  the  driving  for 
killing  purposes  could  then  be  readily  done  without  interfering  with 
the  breeding  rookeries.     Thus  a  wise  deference  on  the  part  of  man  to 
the  habits  of  this  systematic  race  of  aiumals  can  be  turned  to  valuable 
account  and  nature  be  made  to  reinforce  commerce  in  her  work. 
During  those  years  the  lawless  occupation  of  seal  poaching  Avas  in 
.  its  infancy.     Marauding  vessels,  it  is  true,  appeared 

from  time  to  time  in  these  waters,  but  the  islands  were 
so  well  guarded  that  during  my  term  of  oftice  there  never  was  a  suc- 
cessful raid  or  landing  upon  either  of  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  or  St. 
George.  The  only  landing  upon  any  island  of  the  group  was  u)ade  in 
June,  1881,  upon  the  unoccupied  island  of  Otter  (not  included  in  the 
lease),  as  described  in  my  special  rei){)rt  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury, dated  July  4,  1881.  On  that  occasion  a  predatory  schooner  suc- 
ceeded in  landing  a  boat's  crew,  who  killed  forty  or  fifty  seals,  when 
they  were  driven  off  by  a  boat  sent  by  me  for  that  purpose  from  St, 
Paul,  about  6  miles  distant. 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  87 

Another  piiictical  proof  of  the  fu(?t  that  the  seals  were  generally 
increasing  durino- those  years  on  St.  Paul's  Island  was      ^   ,    .         .      . 

n  -,   ■      fi        /•      i  j_i      j_        1  T        -c  T  j-\      ■  '^P'^1**  increasing  in 

found  in  the  fact  that  a  large  overplus  found  their  way  issi. 
to  the  Island  of  Otter,  a  small  island  about  six  miles      q^^^^.  i^ia^d. 
away,  and  not  included  in  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company's  lease.     Otter  was  not  a  breeding  island,  but  a  loafing  and 
resting  place  for  the  "bachelor"  seals,  which  congregated  there  to  the 
number  of  several  thousands  during  the  season.     I  noted  the  move- 
ment with  care,  and  believed  then  that  with  due  protection  the  island 
would  in  time  have  become  a  breeding  island  like  the  others,  only  to  a 
lesser  extent.    My  views  and  oljservations  in  regard  to  Otter  Island 
were  set  out  in  a  special  report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  dated 
April  1,  1882. 

My  observation  in  regard  to  the  pup  seal  life  during  those  years  was 
that  the  loss  from  natural  causes   was   exceedingly  y^^,  ,|e_^,j  p^p^ 
small.     I  made  frequent  visits  to  the  breeding  rook- 
eries during  and  after  the  close  of  the  breeding  season,  and  found  only 
a  very  small  number  of  dead  bodies ;  it  was  a  rare  thing  to  find  a  dead  pup 
seal.    In  one  of  my  official  rej)orts  I  made  an  estimate  of  the  loss  from 
natural  causes,  which  I  fixed,  I  believe,  at  only  1  or  2  per  cent  of  all 
classes.     Some  of  these  losses  were  due  to  their  perhaps  too  early 
attempts  to  swim.    When  the  pup  is  a  few  months  old 
the  mother  seal  conducts  it  to  the  water  and  teaches  it  g^^'Jf''  ^'"'^^'"'"^^^.^ 
to  swim  near  the  shore.     If  a  heavy  sea  is  encountered 
the  weak  little  pup  is  liable  to  be  thrown  by  the  surf  against  the  rocks 
and  killed,  but  under  natural  conditions  and  with  the  protection  to  the 
rookeries  formerly  enforced  at  the  islands,  the  losses  from  this  cause 
and  all  others  combined  (save  alone  the  authorized  killing)  amounted 
to  an  infinitesimal  percentage  of  the  whole  numbers  in  the  herds. 

The  practice  formerly  prevailed  of  permitting  the  native  people  to 
kill  a  very  considerable  number  of  four-months'  old  ^      .■■,,  ^^■   ,-   -, 

o        ,.       1        mi  •  1  1         j_ -\-r  1  •  1      Pups  killed  for  tood. 

pups  lor  food.  This  was  done  about  November  m  each 
year,  the  numbers  so  killed  being  5,000  on  St.  Paul  I.sland  and  1,500 
on  St.  George  Island.  After  observation  and  study,  I  satisfied  myself 
that  the  number  of  pup  seals  so  killed  might  properly  be  diminished 
somewhat,  although  it  could  only  be  done  against  strong  opposition  on 
the  part  of  the  native  people,  who  are  specially  partial  to  the  meat  of 
pup  seals,  claiming  that  for  juirposes  of  salting  and  preservation  for 
winter  food  the  meat  of  the  older  seals  is  unfit.  I,  however,  restricted 
the  killing  of  pups  to  3,000  on  St.  Paul  Island  and 
1,000  on  St.  George  Island,  upon  the  condition  and  stri^tld.^  ""^  ^"^'  ""*" 
agreement  on  the  part  of  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company,  which  also  favored  the  restriction,  that  it  would  supply  to  the 
native  people,  in  lieu  of  the  pup  seal  meat  taken  away,  a  suflicient 
quantity  of  corned  beef  and  canned  milk  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  the 
inhabitants.  Deference  was  always  i^aid  to  the  Avants  and  the  fixed 
tastes  of  the  native  people  and  their  families  in  this  matter  of  supply- 
ing young  seal  meat  for  their  subsistence,  for  the  reason  that  the  entire 
seal  industry  at  these  islands  has  always  depended  in  so  large  a  meas- 
ure upon  the  skill  and  labor  of  these  people,  who  have  invariably  been 
employed  to  take  the  skins,  and  have  no  other  occupation  whatever.  In 
the  plethoric  condition  of  the  rookeries  during  the  j)eriod  of  my  service 
at  the  islands,  and  with  the  vast  numbers  of  seals  of  all  kinds,  there 
was  not  any  difficulty  about  the  matter  of  either  food  seals  or  the  taking 
of  seal  skins  for  commercial  puri30ses.  Stringency  could  only  arise  by 
the  general  destruction  of  the  seal  life  which  has  taken  place  in  recent 
years. 


Protection   u  e  u  o  s  - 
aary. 


88  TESTIMONY 

In  regard  to  the  broad  question  of  the  protection  of  tlie  seal  life  at 
our  possessions  in  the  Bering"  Sea,  I  have  clear  and  decided  views.    I 
think  there  has  been  a  criminal  waste  of  this  most 
^.Criminal  waste  of  p^g^^io^^g  aiiiuial  life,  and  that  the  whole  recent  era  of 
destruction  should  have  been  averted  by  the  prompt 
and  forcible  interference  of  the  Government.     It  is  a  great  industry, 
that  deserves  the  fullest  protection,  whether  the  Gov- 
ernment and  people  of  the  United  States,  or  those  of 
Great  Britain,  or  Canada,  or  Russia,  are  concerned. 
All  have  interests  more  or  less  in  common  in  the  per])etuation  of  the 
seal  life  and  the  preservation  of  this  industry.     The  destruction  of  the 
seals  results  only  in  loss  to  all.     When  they  are  gone,  there  are  no 
longer  any  seals  to  qnarrel  over  and  no  need  of  the  modus  vivendi.     I 
believe  that  our  Government  should  have  sought  the  cooperation  of  that 
of  Russia,  and  that  they  should  jointly  have  thrown  a  powerful  fleet  into 
those  waters  and  protected  the  common  interest.     There  is  no  question 
in  my  mind  but  that  a  vast  deal  of  the  destruction  which  has  been  going 
^^         on  in  recent  years  is  directly  due  to  the  lawless  killing 
e  agicse.  m„.        ^^^  ^^^^  opcu  sea  ou  the  annual  migrations  of  the  female 
seals  northward  to  the  seal  islands  for  the  i>urpose  of  bearing  their 
young,  and  later,  on  their  voyages  from  the  rookeries  to  the  adjacent 
fishing  banks  in  search  of  food.     You  can  no  more  preserve  the  seal 
life  at  these  islands  with  these  destructive  methods  in 
tira.^^^'^^'^^^  <iestruc-  yQg^jp  ^3]^^^,^^  y^^  could  prcscrvc  a  band  of  sheep  or  any 
race  of  domestic  animals  by  tnrning  loose  a  pack  of 
w^olves  to  raid  them  between  their  pasture  grounds  and  their  corrals. 
A  fur-seal  is  an  animal  of  high  and  flue  organism,  with  wonderful  deli- 
cacy and  sensitiveness,  and  however  much  attached  to  their  natural 
land  habitat  they  may  be,  are  easily  driven  therefrom  by  violent  meth- 
ods, whether  upon  land  or  in  the  water.     The  whole 
saf™*'''^*'""  neces-  ggg^.gj-,^  j^^  my  judgment,  of  the  preservation  of  the  seal 
-     life  at  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  in  the  Bering  Sea  lies 
in  a  prompt  return  to  those  early  methods  of  preservation  which  pro- 
duced such  marvelous  results  for  good  dnring  the  earlier  years  of  our 
l)ossessiou  of  the  islands.     The  suppression  of  unlawful 
tiol'SnOTtia?'^"'''^*    '-^^^  miscellaneous  seal  killing,  whether  in  the  open  sea 
or  along  our  northern  coasts,  is  the  essential  thing,  in 
my  judgment,  to  resuscitate  this  great  industry  and  prevent  the  utter 
extermination  of  the  seal  life. 

To  one  like  myself,  having  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  subject,  de- 
rived from  close  personal  observation  and  study  on  the  ground,  it  is 
amazing  that  there  should  have  been  so  mu(;h  delay  on  the  part  of  the 
countries  most  concerned,  in  arriving  at  a  full  agreement  for  the  ade- 
quate protection  of  this  unique  and  valna})le  industry.  Indiscriminate 
poaching  has  only  resulted  in  injury  to  the  common  interest,  benefiting 
only  the  few  lawless  poachers  who  have  been  suffered  to  invade  what 
should  be  treated  as  sacred  marine  territory. 

I  desire  to  add  that  I  have  not  now,  and  never  have  had,  any  pecun- 
iary or  j)ropertv  interest  whatever,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  the  scaling 
industry,  and  that  I  look  upon  this  question  simply  as  an  American 
citizen  desirous  of  seeing  that  which  belongs  to  our  Government  and 
people  defended  and  protected  to  the  uttermost. 

Harrison  Gray  Otis. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  25th  day  of  April,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Frederick  Harkness, 

i^otary  Public. 


RELATING    TO    PRIlilLOP    ISLANDS.  89 

Deposition   of  Benjamin  F.  Scrihner,  assistant  Treasury  agent  on  the 

Fribilof  Islands. 

management.    iiaeits.    pelagic  sealina. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Benjamin  F.  Scribuer,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saj'S:  I  am  GG 
years  of  ace,  and  a  i)liarmacist  by  i)rofession.     Mv  res-   ,, 
idence  is  New  Albany,  Ind.     In  July,  1878,  I  was  ap- 
pointed assistant  Treasury  agent  for  the  seal  islands,  and  arrived  on 
said  islands  in  May,  1879.     I  landed  at  St.  George  Island  and  remained 
there  continuously  until  August,  1880,  except  a  part  of  tlie  season  of 
1880  I  spent  on  St.  Paul  Island.     During  this  time  I  made  a  careful 
study  of  seal  life  in  connection  with  my  official  duties,  and  also  for  my 
own  satisfaction.     1  noticed  during  this  period  no  perceptible  increase 
in  the  breeding  rookeries  on  St.  George.     There  was 
always  in  both  seasons   a  great   sufficiency  of  adult  ^,^^g™*^  "^  aduit 
males  to  serve  all  the  females  coming  to  the  island,  and 
I  noticed  each  year  a  great  number  of  idle,  vigorous  bulls  behind  the 
breeding  grounds  who  could  not  obtain  consorts,  and  one  of  these  extra 
bulls  always   took  the  place  of  an  old  male  unable 
longer  to  be  of  use  for  breeding  purposes.     It  is  my  ij^^f!'*"^''"'  '^^^^^  "^ 
opinion  that  a  bull  is  able  to  fertilize  a  hundred  or 
more  cows,  and  this  fact  I  base  upon  my  observations  of  the  habits  and 
conditions  of  the  males  while  located  on  the  rookeries.     It  is  utterly 
useless  to  endeavor  to  estimate  the  number  of  seals  on  the  islands.  One 
might  as  well  try  to  estimate  a  swarm  of  locusts,  for  they  are  constantly 
in  motion,  never  for  an  instant  seeming  to  be  at  rest.     The  breeding- 
rookeries  can,  of  course,  be  measured  from  year  to  year,  and  these 
measurements  would  show  an  increase  or  decrease  of  seal  life,  for  the 
harems  on  the  rookery  are  in  close  proximity,  whether  there  are  few  or 
a  great  many  of  them. 

The  areas  covered  by  these  rookeries  are  very  broken  and  uneven,  on 
account  of  the  huge  masses  of  rock  which  are  distributed  in  unequal 
quantities  over  the  surface  of  every  rookery.     Therefore,  to  count  the 
seals  on  a  given  area  and  use  that  to  estimate  the  whole  number  on  the 
rookery  would  be  absurd.    The  estimates  of  the  number  of  seals  Avhicli 
have  been  made  heretofore  are  entirely  unreliable  in  my  opinion,  and 
no  dei)eudence  or  calculations  should  be  based  on  such  guesses.   Never 
while  I  was  on  St.  George  Island  did  I  see  a  dead  pup 
on  the  rookeries,  and  I  certainly  should  have  noticed  ^^°  f^*^*'^  p"ps  in 
if  there  had  been  any  number  on  the  island.     In  my 
judgment,  and  from  my  knowledge  of  the  habits  and  conditions  of  seal 
life,  I  would  state  that  a  pup  born  in  the  water  would  certainly  i^erish, 
and  I  never  saw  during  my  experience  a  pup  land  on  the  island  with 
the  females  when  they  arrived  in  the  early  summer,  and  I  never  heard 
of  such  a  case.     I  am  confident  that  if  a  mother  seal 
was  killed  while  absent  from  the  island  her  pup  would    ^'''"*'  "'^  ^'"^''"• 
die  of  starvation  in  a  few  days,  for  the  female  seal  will  not  suckle  any 
pup  but  her  own.    While  on  St.  George  Island  I  attended  nearly  every 
killing  of  the  bachelor  seals  (which  are  the  ones  taken  for  their  skins) 
and  also  many  drives.    I  very  frequently  went  over      .  . 
the  ground  where  a  drive  had  been  made,  after  such     "^"'-• 
had  taken  j^lace.     I  became  famihir  with  the  manner  of  dri^•i^g.  hand- 
ling, and  killing  the  seals  by  the  natives,  and  I  con-   ^^^^^^     .eitect 
sider  the  methods  employed  by  them  to  be  practically  '  ''   "'  ^"'  '^'' " 


90  TESTIMONY 

perfect,  and  no  inii)roveineut  can  be  made  on  siicli  nietliods.  The  great- 
est <3are  is  always  taken  not  to  heat  the  seals  in  driving-  them,  and  in 
case  the  snii  caine  out  during  a  drive  the  seals  were  allowed  to  return 
to  the  sea. 

Only  two  females  were  ever  killed,  to  my  knowledge,  by  the  natives 
in  driving.     I  then  made  every  effort  to  discover  who 
isSnda"'^^^^'''^"^''  °"   ^^^^^  killed  tliem,  ray  object  being  to  thoroughly- impress 
on  the  minds  of  the  natives  and  the  agents  of  the 
lessees  that  the  accident  nuist  not  occur  again.     It  Avas  a  very  rare  oc- 
1- ••  <,       currence  for  a  seal  to  be  killed  by  overdriving.     I  never 
o  oven  living.       ^^^^^  ^^  heard  of  a  seal  being  injured  by  driving  or  re- 
driving,  and  I  am  certain  that  the  reproductive  organs  of  a  seal  were 
never  injured  by  any  such  means.     The  idea  that  the  virility  of  a  male 
seal  was  impaired  by  driving  or  redriving  is  preposterous,  for  a  male 
seal  which  can  survive  fasting  for  three  months,  and  the  serious  wounds 
and  violent  exertions  of  conflicts  on  the  rookeries,  besides  serving  so 
many  females,  could  stand  almost  any  amount  of  driving  while  a  bach- 
elor.    While  I  Avas  on  the  islands  there  were  no  raids  on  the  rookeries, 
and  seal  life  was  never  depleted  at  that  time  by  such  means.    The  seal 
herd  which  frequents  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  can  be 
saTv"'^'^*^''''"  "*^*^^^    only  preserved,  in  my  oi»iuion,  by  preventing  all  kill- 
ing of  seals  except  on  the  islands,  where  judicious 
regulations  can  be  enforced  as  to  the  number,  sex,  age,  and  conditions 
of  the  seals  to  be  taken ;  otherwise  extermination  will  result  in  a  very 
short  time.     If  the  seal  herd  is  protected,  and  the  regulations  now  in 
force  are  maintained,  a  hundred  thousand  seals  can  be  taken  annually 
from  these  islands  for  an  indefinite  time,  provided  the  seal  life  is  allowed 
to  regain  its  normal  condition  from  the  drain  lately  made  upon  it  by 
the  indiscriminate  slaughter  occasioned  by  open- sea  sealing. 

B.   F.   SCEIBNER. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  U.  S.  A.,  this  23d  day  of  April,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Sevellon  a.  Brown. 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


Deposit  io.n  of  Leon  SJoss,mcmJ)er  of  the  Jinn  of  Louis  Sloss  t&  Co.,  furriers 
and  superintendent  for  the  former  lessees  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

management.    pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  Sa7i  Francisco,  ss: 

Leon  Sloss,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  33  years 
of  age,  a  native  of  California,  and  a  resident  of  San 
Experience.  Francisco,   California.     I    was   for    several    years    a 

director  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  and  am  a  member  of 
the  partnership  of  Louis  Sk)ss  &  Co.,  and  have  been  engaged  for  the 
past  fifteen  years  in  dealing  in  wools,  hides,  and  fur  skins,  but  have 
now  no  interest  in  seals  or  sealeries. 

I  was  superintendent  j^ro  tempore  of  the  sealeries  of  Alaska  in  the 
interim  from  1882  to  1885,  inclusive,  during  the  illness  of  H.  H.  Mcln- 
tyre,  the  regular  superintendent,  and  spent  the  sealing  season  of  those 
three  yearson  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  the  personal  management  of  the 
business.  I  am,  therefore,  by  reason  of  this  service  and  of  my  active 
employment  at  all  other  times  in  the  office  of  the  Alaska  Commercial 


RELATING    TO    PEIBILOF    ISLANDS.  91 

Com})aiiy  fioi»i  1S77  to  this  date,  aeqiiaiiited  with  every  aspect  of  the 
business.  All  advices  from  our  I>ondon  agents,  and  information  in  re- 
gard to  the  sealskin  market  tiom  all  s(»urces,  passed  through  my  hands, 
and  instructions  to  the  agents  of  the  company  in  regard  to  the  class  of 
skins  desired  emanated  from  time  to  time  from  me.  I  had  no  difiiculty 
in  getting  the  size  and  weight  of  skins  as  ordered,  nor  had  my  prede- 
cessors in  theofhce,  up  to  and  including  1884.  The  casks 
in  which  we  packed  them  for  shipment  were  made  by  casks!"*  packing 
the  same  man  for  many  years,  and  were  always  of  uni- 
form size.  In  1885  these  casks  averaged  about  47^  skins  each,  and  in 
1886  they  averaged  about  504  skins  each,  as  shown  by  the  records  in 
our  office.  After  tliis  date  the  number  increased,  and  in  1888  they 
averaged  about  55y  skins  per  cask,  and  in  1889  aNcraged  about  (50  skins 
per  cask.  These  latter  were  not  such  skins  as  we  wanted,  but  the 
superintendent  on  the  islands  reported  that  they  were  the  best  he  could 
get. 

The  work  of  taking  the  annual  "catch"  was  done  in  1883, 1884,  and 
1885  under  my  management  in  the  same  way  in  every  particular  as 
under  my  predecessor.    The  seals  were  carefully  driven,      ^  .  . 
handled,  and  killed  in  an  orderly  manner,  the  whole        '"'ds- 
work  being  carried  on  as  systematically  and  quietly  as  in  the  well  con- 
ducted slaughterhouses  in  our  cities.    The  talk  about  lasting  injury 
resulting  from  overexertion  to  such  seals  as  are  turned  back  to  the 
water  after  having  been  driven  to  the  killing   grounds  is  nonsense. 
The  management  of   the    rookeries    the  first    fifteen    years  of   the 
Alaska  Commercial    Company's  lease    resulted   in   a  large  increase 
of  seals.     The  same  business  management  continued,  and  the  same 
system  was  pursued  to  the  end  of  the  term,  yet  in  the  last  five  years 
the  rookeries  fell  off.     Clearly  it  was  through  no  fault     ^^^^ 
of  the  company,  and  resulted  from  some  cause  beyond 
their  control.    1  do  not  think  the  Alaska  Commercial  Comxjany  made 
any  mistakes  in  managing  the  seal  herd.     They  handled 
them  in  every  respect  as  I  would  have  done  if  they  had    .pare  exercised  i.y 

-  1  ,  IT  iTT-r-    Alaska      Coiimiertial 

been  my  own  personal  ])roperty,  and  as  i  would  do  it  company. 
they  were  now  to  come  into  my  hands.     If  they  erred 
in  any  parti(?ular  iu  their  management,  it  was  in  their  futile  attemi^t  in 
1888  and  1889  to  stop  the  waste  of  seal  life  at  the  island  spigot  while  it 
was  running  out  at  the  bunghole  of  pelagic  sealing. 

The  record  shows  that  we  did  not  finish  the  catch  as  early  in  1885  as 
had  been  done  in  former  years.     I  do  not  think  this  was  from  any  lack 
of  seals,  but  was  caused  by  greater  care  in  making  our  selection  of  ani- 
mals to  be  killed.     I  saw  no  diminution  of  seal  life  dur- 
ing my  three  years  on  the  island.     The  outlines  of  the   iy^°  decrease  up  to 
rookeries  remained  just  about  the  same  from  year  to 
year.    I  was  told  at  the  time  that  there  had  formerly  been  a  large  in- 
crease, and  did  not  then  understand  why  it  did  not  continue,  as  every 
condition  seemed  favorable  for  it.     There  were,  apparently,  an  abun- 
dance of  bulls  for  service;  every  cow  seemed  to  have 
a  pup  and  all  were  healthy  and  in  good  condition.      ^•''^^^'^''^   'y- 
No  females  were  killed,  and  in  the  natural  order  of  „jj^j°ja„;i"'*''"''  ^''"*^'' 
growth  there  ought  to  have  been  at  this  time  a  con- 
stantly increasing  area  covered  with  breeding  rookeries.    Yet  such 
was  not  the  case.     The  explanation  of  the  matter  came  later  when  we 
fairly  awoke  to  the  fact  that  our  animals  were  being  slaughtered  by 
tens  of  thousands  in  the  iSTorth  Pacific,     I  knew  in  a 
commercial  way  from  our  sales  catalogue  that  a  very  seaung.'^    °    ^  ^°^° 
large  number  of  "  Victoria  skins,"  as  they  were  called. 


92  TESTIMONY 

were  being  sent  to  market,  and  that  this  number  grew  constantly  larger; 

AVasteof  life  ^^^^  ^  '^^*^  ^^^^  *^^^^  know,  as  I  now  do,  that  each  skin 

sold  representated  a  waste  of  two  or  three  and  ijerhaps 
even  four  or  five  seals  to  obtain  it.  Xor  was  any  attention  given  to  the 
now  well  known  fact  that  these  animals  were  a  part  of  our  herd,  as 
wrongfully  stolen  from  us,  I  believe,  as  my  cattle  would  be  if  driven  in 
and  appropriated  from  the  highway  when  lawfully  feeding. 

Prof.  H.  W.  Elliott  says  in  his  report  of  1874  that:  "With  regard  to 
the  increase  of  seal  life,  I  do  not  think  it  within  the  power  of  human 
management  to  promote  this  end  to  the  slightest  appreciable  degree 
beyond  its  present  extent  and  condition  in  a  state  of  nature." 

if  he  means  by  the  words  "in  a  state  of  nature,"  a  condition  in  which 

no  slaughter  is  allowed,  I  quite  agree  with  him;  but  I 
Breeding  of  seals,  ^^j^  not 'agree  that  the  increase  can  not  be  aided  by 
killing  suri)lus  bulls.  When  herded  in  common  pasture,  the  greatest 
number  of  progeny  from  our  domestic  animals  will  unquestionably  be 
brought  forth  and  live  to  adult  age  if  a  large  portion  of  the  males  have 
been  killed  or  castrated.  The  same  no  doubt  holds  good  with  respect 
to  the  seals.  It  is  only  when,  as  in  the  case  of  the  seals,  that  the  mothers 
and  young  offspring  are  slaughtered  that  the  increase  is  checked,     I 

am  informed  bv  our  London  sales  agent,  and  believe, 
Mostly  females  taken.  ^^^^^  nearly  or  quite  nine-tenths  of  the  Victoria  catch 
is  comprised  of  females. 
I  am  asked  if  a  zone  of  prohibition  about  the  islands,  a  territorial 

limitation,  or  a  close  season  for  pelagic  sealing,  one  or 
^t^tion^*^^*^*^    ^*"^  ^^^  ^^  these  restrictions  Avill  not,  in  my  opinion,  ])rove  a 
pro  ec  ion.  sufficient  restraint  upon  marine  hunters  to  allow  the 

rookeries  to  grow  again.  I  answer  emphatically  no.  I  do  not  believe 
they  will  suffice,  and  my  answer  is  without  personal  bias,  for  I  am  not 
now  engaged  in  the  sealskin  trade  and  have  no  interest  in  the  industry 
other  than  that  of  the  average  American  citizen.  The  scarcity  of  seals 
and  consequent  high  price  of  skins  stimulates  the  ingenuity  of  every 
man  in  the  business  either  to  evade  restriction  or  invent  more  certain 

methods  for  capturing  the  animals.  The  rookeries  are 
ne^t**™^^'""  ™™'    doomed  to  certain  destruction  unless  brought  within 

the  sole  management  of  those  on  the  islands,  whose 
interest  it  is  to  care  for  them.  Marine  sealing  should  be  absolutely 
prohibited  and  the  prohibition  enforced. 

I  have  handled  many  sealskins  coming  from  both  north  and  south 
of  this  port,  and  can  readily  distinguish  the  difference  between  them. 
Those  from  the  southern  islands  are  from  a  different  species  from  the 
Alaskans,  and  both  differ  from  the  Asiatic  skins.  The  skins  from  the 
warmer  latitudes  are  greatly  inferior.  The  fur  is  short  and  thin,  and 
of  a  reddish  brown  color.  They  can  be  detected  at  once.  It  is  not  as 
easy  to  distinguish  the  Alaska  from  the  Asiatic  skins,  but  experts  iu 
handling  them,  nevertheless,  do  it  with  unerring  accuracy. 

Leon  Sloss. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.j  Clement  Bejvnett, 

Xotary  Fuhlic. 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS.  93 

Deposition  of  William  H.    Williams,  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  the 

Prihilof  Islands. 

MANAGEMENT.      PELAGIC   SEALING. 

William  H.  Williams,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at 
Wellington,  Oliio,  and  am  55  years  of  age ;  tliat  I  am  the 
United  vStates  Treasury  Agent  in  charge  of  the  Seal     ^^p«"^°'=''- 
Islands  in  Bering  Sea;  that  in  pursuance  of  Department  instructions  to 
me  of  May  27, 1891,  I  made  a  careful  exaniLnation  during  the  sealing 
season  of  the  habits,  numbers,  and  conditions  of  the  seals  and  seal  rook- 
eries with  a  view  of  reporting  to  tlie  Department  from  observation  and 
such  knowledge  on  the  subject  as  I  might  obtain  whether  or  not  in  my 
opinion  the  seals  are  diminishing  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and,  if  so,  the 
causes  therefor;  that  as  a  result  of  such  investigation  I  found,  fi-omthe 
statements  made  to  me  by  the  natives  on  said  islands.  Government 
Agents,  Emi^loyes  of  the  lessees,  some  of  whom  had  been  on  said  islands 
for  many  years,  that  a  decrease  in  number  of  seals  had 
been  gradually  going  on  since  1885,  and  that  in  the  si^oisk. '''"''^^'*^'°° 
last  three  years  the  decrease  had  been  verj^  rapid. 

A  careful  and  frequent  examination  of  the  hauling  grounds  and 
breeding  rookeries  by  myself  and  assistant  agents  during  the  months 
of  June,  July,  and  August  showed  that  the  seals  had  greatly  dimin- 
ished in  number,  and  we  found  large  vacant  sx^aces  on  all  the  rook- 
eries which  in  former  years  during  these  months  had  been  covered  by 
thousands  of  seals;  that  prior  to  1888  the  lessees  had  been  able  to  take 
100,000  skins  from  male  seals,  but  I  am  clearly  of  the  q„i^,  one-third  of 
opinion  that  not  more  than  one-third  of  that  number  q""^a"  of  skins  conid 
of  merchantable  skins  conld  have  been  taken  during  ^«  taken  m  isoi. 
the  year  1891.  Furthermore,  I  made  careful  inquiry  of  the  people  on  the 
islands,  both  native  and  Avhite,  and  of  those  who  were  or  had  been 
employed  as  masters  or  mates  on  sealing  vessels,  and  others  interested 
one  way  or  another  in  the  capture  of  fur  seals  for  food  or  for  profit,  and 
failed  to  find  auy'of  them  but  who  admitted  that  the  number  of  seals 
in  the  Bering  Sea  was  much  less  now  than  a  few  years  since,  and  nearly 
all  of  them  gave  it  as  tlieir  opinion  that  the  decrease 
in  number  was  due  to  pelagic  hunting,  or,  as  they  more  peiig'irseaiin" 
frequently  expressed  it,  the  killing  of  females  in  the 
water.  It  was  freely  admitted  by  the  pelagic  hunters  with  whom  I 
conversed  that  but  a  very  small  per  cent  of  their  catcli  was  males,  and 
I  found  their  statements  in  this  respect  verified  by  the  dealers  who 
bought  or  handled  the  skins  and  ])laced  them  on  the  market.  They 
are  known  to  the  trade  as  the  "  North  West  coast  catch,"  and  I  am 
credibly  informed  that  a  portion  of  the  skin  on  the  belly  of  the  female 
heavy  with  pup  or  giving  suck  to  her  young  is  worthless,  and  that  this 
is  one  of  the  chief  causes  why  they  are  sold  so  much  less  than  prime 
skins  in  the  London  Market.  They  also  further  stated  i-],^  ^^ost  profitable 
that  the  two  most  profitable  i^eriotls  for  them  to  catch  period  tor  pelagic 
seal  was  in  the  sprin  g  of  the  year,  when  the  females  were  ''^'^'"'^'■ 
heavy  with  pup  and  frequently  found  asleep  on  the  A\ater,  and  in  the 
summer,  after  the  motlier  sealliad  given  birth  to  her  young  and  gone 
out  into  the  sea  to  feed,  at  which  time  she  was  easily  ai)proached. 

The  investigation  further  disclosed  the  fact  that  of  the  large  num- 
ber  of  seals   killed  by  pelagic  hunters   only  a   por-      ^v.»steofiifo 
tion  of  them  are  secured,  and  Vhile  all  admitted  that 
some  were  lost  they   differed  very  considerably  as   to  the  number. 


94  TESTIMONY    RELATING   TO    PRIBILOF    ISLANDS. 

In  one  instance  a  hunter  claimed  that  he  secured  nearly  all  that  he 
killed,  and  in  another  instance  it  was  said  that  only  oue  out  of  fifteen 
was  secured.  A  great  luajonty  of  the  hunters  when  closely  questioned 
admitted  the  losing  of  a  large  pro])ortion  shot  at,  and  I  am  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  wide  difference  in  tlieir  statement  was  due  to  two  facts: 
First,  some  hunters  are  more  skillful  than  others,  and,  Second,  some 
base  their  estimate  on  what  they  know  to  have  been  actually  killed, 
while  others  estimate  from  the  number  shot  at;  that  the  mother  seals, 
while  rearing  their  young  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  during-  the  months  of 
July,  August,  September,  and  October  of  each  year,  leave  the  islands 

Females  feedin.-.  ^^^  S^  o^if  to  sea  to  fccd,  returning  at  intervals  to  give 
nourishment  to  their  young.  That  they  traveled  long 
distances  in  pursuit  of  food  at  these  times  is  a  well-known  fact  and 
substantiated  by  the  statements  of  rejiutable  persons  who  have  been 
on  sealing  vessels  and  seen  them  killed  two  hundred  mdes  or  more  from 
the  islands,  and  who  say  they  have  seen  the  decks  of  vessels  slippery 
with  milk  flowing  from  the  carcasses  of  the  dead  females. 

That  thousands  of  the  female  seals  were  captured  by  the  pelagic 
hunters  in  Bering  Sea  during  the  season  of  1891,  the  most  of  which 
had  to  be  secured  quite  a  distance  from  the  rookeries,  owing  to  the 
presence  of  armed  vessels  patrolling  the  sea  for  miles  around  the 
islands,  and  that  the  slaughter  of  the  seals  was  mostly  of  females,  was 
Dead  pups.  confirmed  by  the  thousands  of  dead  pups  lying  on  the 

rookeries  starved  to  death  by  the  destruction  "of  their 
mothers. 

.  It  is  a  fact  that  none  but  male  seals  are  ever  driven  and  killed  on  the 
islands,  and  great  care  is  taken  to  preserve  a  sufficient 
killed  on  islands*^  ^^  nuuibcr  cach  year  to  supply  the  breeding  rookeries. 

During   the  season    of    1891  nearly  every  mature 

female  coming  upon  the  rookeries  gave  birth  to  a  young  seal,  and  there 

was  great  abundance  of  males  of  sufficient  age  to  again  go  upon  the 

c  ^  .        ,,  ,,     breeding  grounds  that  year,  as  was  shown  by  the  ina- 

SutEciencv of  bulls,     i   -i-j.         x'  i  i  />  j_i  j 

Dility  ot  huge  numbers  of  them  to  secure  more  than 
one  to  five  cows  each,  while  quite  a  number  could  secure  none  at  all. 
My  investigation  confirms  what  has  been  so  often  said  by  others  Avho 
have  reported  upon  this  subject,  and  tliat  is  that  the  Pribilof  Islands 
are  the  great  breeding  grounds  of  the  fur-seals,  and 
crltl  ^^Hh  "^propw  ^^^^  ^^^-Y  *^^^^  ^^^  reared  lu  great  numbers  on  said  islands, 
nianaKenient  and  pro-  aud  at  tlic  sauic  time,  uudcr  wise  and  judicious  re- 
seai'ing"^  ''^    peiagic  j^j^i-i^.^JQ^g^  ^  Certain  number  of  male  seals  can  be  killed 
from  year  to  year  without  injury  to  the  breeding  herds, 
and  their  skins  disposed  of  for  commercial  purposes,  thereby  building 
up  and  perpetuating  this  great  industry  indefinitely,  and  thus  adding 
to  the  wealth,  happiness,  and  comfort  of  the  civilized  world,  while,  on 
Extemiiuation  if  *^^*^  othcr  hand,  if  the  pelagic  hunting  of  this  animal 
pelagic  sealing  is  not  is  to  coutiuue,  aud  the  barbarous  practice  of  killing  the 
prohibited.  mother  seal  with  her  unborn  young,  or  when  she  is 

rearing  it,  is  to  go  on,  it  will  be  but  a  very  short  time  before  the  fur- 
seal  will  practically  become  extinct  and  this  valuable  industry  will 
pass  out  of  existence. 

Wm.  H.  Williams. 
District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington: 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  19th  day  of  March,  1892. 
[seal.]  Chas.  L.  Hughes, 

Notary  Public, 


TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO  ST.  PAUL  ISLAND. 


Deposition  of  J.  C.  S.  AJcerly,  surgeon  TJ.  S.  Revenue  Marine  and  resident 
fiurfjeon  on  St.  Paul  Island. 


dead  pups. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss  : 

J.  G.  S.  Akerl3^  ph.  B.,  m.  d.,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and 
says:  I  am  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  California,        ^^  erienee 
1882,  and  a  graduate  of  the  Cooper  Medical  College,         's;peiienee. 
1885.     From  June  to  August  18th,  1891, 1  was  Surgeon  on  the  Eevenue- 
Marine  steamer  Coricin.    From  August  18th  to  i^ovem- 
ber  24th,  1891,  I  was  resident  Physician  on  St.  Paul  igfaS'ilg"'  ^*'  ^^"' 
Island,  one  of  the  Pribilof  or  seal  islands.     I  am  at 
present  a  practicing  physician  at  Oakland,  California.     During  my  stay 
on  the  islands  I  made  frequent  visits  to  the  different  seal  rookeries.    One 
thing  which  attracted  my  attention  was  the  immense 
number  of  dead  young  seals;  another  was  the  presence  be?of!^  ^'^^^'  ""'^ 
of  quite  a  number  of  young  seals  on  all  the  rookeries 
in  an  emaciated  and  apparently  very  weak  condition.     I  was  requested 
by  the  Government  Agent  to  examine  some  of  the  carcasses  for  the 
purpose  of  determining  the  cause  or  causes  of  their  death.     I  visited 
and  walked  over-  all  the  rookeries.     On  all  dead  seals  were  to  be  foun^ 
in  immense  numbers.    Their  number  was  more  apparent  on  those  rook- 
eries such  as  Tolstoii  and  Halfway  Point,  the  water  sides  of  which 
were  on  smooth  ground,  and  the  eye  could  glance  over  patches  of  ground 
hundreds  of  feet  in  extent  which  were  thickly  strewn  with  carcasses. 

Where  the  water  side  of  the  rookeries,  as  at  "ISTortheast  Point"  and 
the  reef  (south  of  the  village),  were  on  rocky  ground,  the  immense  number 
of  dead  was  not  so  apparent,  but  a  closer  examination  showed  that  the 
dead  were  there  in  equally  great  number  scattered  among  the  rocks. 
In  some  localities  the  ground  was  so  thickly  strewn  with  the  dead  that 
one  had  to  pick  his  way  carefully  in  order  to  avoid  stepping  on  the  car- 
casses. The  great  mass  of  dead  in  all  cases  was  within  a  short  distance 
of  the  water's  edge.  The  patches  of  dead  would  commence  at  the 
water's  edge,  and  stretch  in  a  wide  swath  up  into  the  rookery.  Amongst 
the  immense  masses  of  dead  were  seldom  to  be  found  the  carcasses  of 
full-grown  seals,  but  the  carcasses  were  those  of  pups,  or  young  seals 
born  that  year.  I  can  give  no  idea  of  the  exact  number  of  dead,  but  I 
believe  that  they  could  only  be  numbered  by  the  thousands  on  each 
rookery.  Along  the  water's  edge,  and  scattered  amongst  the  dead,  were 
quite  a  number  of  live  pups,  which  were  in  an  emaciated  condition. 
Many  had  hardly  the  strength  to  drag  themselves  out  of  one's  way; 
thus  contrasting  strongly,  both  in  api3earance  and  actions,  with  the 

95 


96  TESTIMONY 

plump  condition  and  active  aggresive  condnctof  the  liealthy  appearing 
pups. 

The  majority  of  the  pups,  like  all  healthy  nursing-  animals,  were  plump 
and  fairly  rolling  in  fat.  I  have  watched  the  female  seals  draw  up  out  of 
the  water,  each  pick  out  its  pup  from  the  hundreds  of  young  seals  sport- 
ing near  the  water's  edge,  and  with  them  scramble  to  a  clear  spot  on  the 
rookery,  and  lying  down  give  them  suck.  Although  I  saw  pups  nurs- 
ing in  a  great  many  cases,  yet  I  never  saw  one  of  the  sickly  looking 
pups  receiving  any  attention  from  the  female.  They  seemed  to  be 
deserted. 
The  cause  of  the  great  mortality  amongst  the  seal  ])ups  seemed  to 

me  to  have  ceased  to  act,  in  great  part,  before  my  first 
of'death^"^^'  "^^^"^  visits  to  the  rookeries;  for  subsequent  visits  did  not 

show  as  great  an  increase  in  the  masses  of  dead  as 
I  would  have  expected,  had  the  causes  still  been  in  active  operation. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  there  were  fewer  sickly  looking  pups  at  each  sub- 
sequent visit.  This  grew  to  be  more  and  more  the  case  as  the  season 
advanced.  When  I  visited  the  rookeries  for  the  purpose  of  examining 
the  dead  bodies,  it  was  with  extreme  difiicnlty  that  carcasses  could  be 
found  fresh  enough  to  permit  of  a  satisfactory  examination.  I  exam- 
ined a  large  number  of  carcasses.     All   showed  an  entire  absence  of 

fattv  tissue  between  the  skin  and  muscular  tissue, 
nauon'^or^'"'  '''''''°''"   ^he  omeutuui  in  all  cases  was  destitute  of  fat.     These 

are  the  i^ositions  vdiere  fat  is  usually  present  in  all  ani- 
mals. Well  nourished  young  animals  always  have  a  large  amount  ot 
fat  in  these  localities.  The  few  carcasses  Avhich  were  found  in  a  fair 
state  of  preservation  were  examined  more  thoroughly.  The  stomachs 
were  found  empty  and  contracted,  but  presented  no  evidence  of  dis- 
ease. The  intestines  were  empty,  save  in  a  few  cases,  where  small 
amounts  of  fecal  matter  were  found  in  the  large  intestines.  A  careful 
examination  of  the  intestines  failed  to  discover  any  evidence  of  disease. 
The  heart,  lungs,  liver,  and  kidneys  were  in  a  healthy  condition. 

Such  is  the  evidence  on  which  I  have  founded  my  opinion  that  the 
cause  of  the  great  mortality  during  1891,  amongst  the  young  seals  on 
St.  Paul  Island,  Bering  Sea,  was  caused  by  the  deprivation  of  mother's 

milk.     The  result  of  my  investigation  is,  that  there  was 

great  mortality  exclusively  amongst  nursing  seals. 
Secondly,  the  cause  of  this  mortality  seemed  to  have  been  abated  jmH 
passu  with  the  abatement  of  sea  sealing.  Thirdly,  the  presence  of 
emaciated  sickly  looking  pups  which  were  apparently  deserted  by  their 
mothers.  Fourthly,  the  plump  healthy  appearance  of  all  the  pups  I 
saw  nursing.  Fifthly,  the  emaciated  condition  of  the  dead.  Sixthly, 
the  absence  of  food  in  the  stomachs,  and  their  contracted  condition. 
Seventhly,  tlie  absence  of  digested  food  in  the  small  intestines. 
Eighthly,  the  absence  of  even  fecal  matter,  save  in  small  amounts  in  a 
fcAv  cases.  Ninthly,  the  absence  of  structural  changes  in  the  viscera 
or  other  parts  of  the  bodies  to  account  for  the  death. 

J.  0.  S.  Akerly,  Ph.  B.,  M.  D. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  t>iifore  me  this  IGth  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal,.]  Clement  Bennett, 

2fotury  FuhliCs 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  97 

Bejaositionof  Watso7i  G.  Allis,  assistant  agent  of  lessees  on  St.  Paul  Island. 

management;  habit;  pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 
Watson  C.  Allis,  liaviiig  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  36 
years  old,  an  American  citizen  residing  in  San  Francisco,  Califorria, 
and  by  occnpation  an  Agent  of  the  Fairbanks  Scale        ^_^  ,erience 
Company,  engaged  in   selling  and  setting  np  scales.  ^penence. 

In  the  summer  of  1882,  and  again  from  the  spring  of  1887  to  the  fall 
of  1889,  I  was  Assistant  Agent  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company 
upon  St.  Paul  Island,  and  worked  four  sealing  seasons  in  charge  of 
a  gang  of  natives  engaged  in  seal  killing.     The  work      ..  , 

o     ,^  -,         ,,  ^  T      T  ,•  fT.T         o(  •  Management. 

was  done  under  the  general  direction  of  the  Superin- 
tendent of  the  Sealeries,  who  placed  a  "  boss,"  or  leader,  at  the  head  of 
each  gang  of  men.     It  was  the  business  of  the  ^'boss  " 
to  divide  his  gang  in  proper  proportions— into  '-kill-  and^'lkikners"^^^"' 
ers,"  "  rippers,"  and  "skinners."    The  "  killers  "  were 
generally  the  same  men  day  after  day  through  the  season.    They  became 
very  expert  in  the  management  of  the  drove  and  the  use  of  the  seal 
club,  and  very  rarely  made  the  mistake  of  hittting  a  seal  that  was  not 
wanted. 

The  "boss"  told  his  men  in  a  general  way  what  class  of  seals  to  kill, 
and  worked  with  them.  If  they  had  any  doubt  whether  a  certain  ani- 
mal should  be  knocked  down  they  appealed  to  him  for  explicit  direc- 
tions. The  work  thus  went  forward  in  a  very  systematic,  orderly  way. 
The  same  care  was  exercised  in  cutting  out  the  drove  j^rj^i,,,, 
of  "bachelor"  or  killable  seals  from  the  borders  of  a  '■mug. 
rookery  and  in  bringing  them  up  to  the  killing  ground.  Active  young 
men  were  selected  for  this  service,  and  j)laced  in  charge  of  a  Chief, 
whose  orders  they  implicitly  obeyed. 

The  driving  was  done  mostly  in  the  night,  and  in  dry  or  warm 
weather  was  a  slow  and  tedious  process ;  yet  the  men  were  very  patient 
with  their  charge,  moving  them  only  at  such  rate  as  they  could  go 
without  becoming  over-heated,  and  taking  advantage  of  every  stretch 
of  moist  ground  or  pool  of  water  to  cool  them  off,  and  sometimes  going 
themselves  in  the  water  up  to  their  necks  in  order  to  give  the  animals 
a  cold  bath  and  take  them  out  of  the  water  and  continue  the  journey. 
Any  representation  that  the  seals  were  over-diiven  or  ^_  ... 
over-heated,  to  their  subsequent  injury,  is  drawn  from 
the  imagination.  Sometimes  a  drove  would  be  caught  upon  a  dry 
stretch  of  ground  in  unusually  warm  weather,  and  a  few  of  them  perish, 
but  this  did  not  often  happen. 

In  1882  there  was  no  scarcity  of  killable  seals.     The  men  drove  up 
as  many  every  day  as  they  could  handle,  and  those 
selected  for  killing  comprised  only  the  choicest  ones.       abie'seairin^is*^.^' 

There  seemed   to  be  also  a  large  surplus  of  full 
grown  bulls  for  rookery  service,  and  enough  escaped  from  the  slaughter 
ground  to  keep  the  number  good  as  the  old  ones  passed     sufficient  buUs. 
the  age  of  usefulness.     I  do  not  believe  the  condition 
of  the  rookeries  nor  the  manner  of  driving  and  killing  the  seals  at  this 
time  could  have  been  improved.     It  was  perfect  in  every  respect,  and 
the  lessees,  employes,  and  natives,  as  well  as  the  seals,  all  appeared  to 
be  and  Avere,  I  believe,  contented  and  happy. 
2716— VOL  n 7 


98  TESTIMONY 

In  1886  the  conditions  had  somewhat  changed.  The  natives  com- 
plained that  big  seals  were  growing  scarcer,  that  there 
^^Decreaaeofseaisin  y^Q^.Q  many  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries,  and  the  Super- 
intendent intimated  to  me  that  he  did  not  like  the  out- 
look as  compared  with  a  few  yeais  previous,  and  said  he  thought  either 
the  number  killed  or  the  size  of  the  animals  taken  lor  their  skins  would 
have  to  be  reduced  if  things  did  not  improve.  Still  w^e  had  no  particu- 
lar scarcity  of  killable  seals,  and  the  work  went  on  as  during  my  first 
year  (1882)  in  the  service. 

But  the  trouble  of  which  they  complained  grew  more  serious  in  the 

following  years,  and  I  thiuk  it  was  in  1888  the  Super- 

kmeTinfsss  ^^^^^  intendent  told  the -'bosses"  they  must  kill  less  large 

seals  and  more  "  yellow  bellies,"  or  two-year  olds.    In 

1889  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  catch  was  made  up  of  this  class. 

It  was  then  perfectly  apparent  to  everybody,  myself  included,  that 
the  rookeries  Avere  "  going  to  the  bad,"  and  that  a  smaller  number  must 
inevitably  be  killed  the  following  year. 

The  work  of  herding  and  managing  seals  does  not  differ  materially 

gg^j^g  from  that  pursued  with  the  stock-farm  animals  with 

Kesembiancetofai-m  which  wc  are  most  familiar.    The  herdsman  has  cbiefly 
*""^''^^-  to  learn  their  quick  motions  and  propensity  to  bite  in 

order  to  handle  them  at  will. 

I  tried  to  thoroughly  train  the  young  seals,  hoping  to  make  valuable 
.    .  pets  of  them,  and  succeeded  as  far  as  the  taming  went, 

Domestication.  but  could  uot  get  them  to  thrive  on  cows  milk  or  the 
condensed  milk  of  commerce  administered  from  a  nursing  bottle.  They 
became,  however,  very  tame,  stopped  trying  to  bite  unless  they  were 
made  angry  by  rough  usage,  and  followed  me  about  like  pups  of  the 
canine  species.  When  they  are  older  and  before  they  leave  the  island 
in  the  fall  they  may  still  be  handled  with  impunity,  and  their  habits 
are  such  of  massing  and  herding  by  themselves  apart 
_jos8ibiiityofmark-  f^,^^^^  ^^iQ  oldcr  scals,  that  all  could  be  easily  "rounded 
up  "  from  the  beaches  in  favorable  weather  and  "  cor- 
ralled "  and  marked.  It  would  be  perfectly  feasible  to  drive  them  into 
and  keep  them  in  such  a  corrall  or  inclosure  as  would  be  constructed 
for  calves  or  lambs,  surrounded  by  a  fence  3  or  4  feet  high,  and  while 
there  to  catch  each  one  and  brand  him.  This  has  akeady  been  success- 
fully done  on  a  small  scale  by  naturalists  Avho  wanted  to  identify  cer- 
tain ones  for  a  future  j)uri)ose. 

This  is  not  mere  theory  with  me,  for  I  was  bred  to  the  management 
and  handling  of  young  domestic  animals,  and  have  handled  the  young 
seals,  and  have  seen  them  handled  by  the  natives  in  the  same  way. 

There  were  a  great  many  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  during  my  last 
Dead    us  three  ycarsou  St.  Taul  Island.     Many  of  them  wandered 

pups.  helplessly  about,  away  from  the  groups  or  "  pods"  where 

they  were  accustomed  to  lie,  and  linally  starved  to  death.  We  knew 
at  the  time  what  killed  them,  for  the  vessels  and  boats  were  several 
times  plainly  in  siuht  from  the  Island  shooting  seals  in 
cZtl"".^'"  ''''^^"  **""  the  water,  and  the  Kevenue  Cutters  and  Company's  ves- 
sels arriving  at  the  island  frequently  reported  the  pres- 
ence in  Bering  Sea  and  sometimes  the  capture  of  these  marauding 
crews.  If  all  had  been  captured  and  the  business  broken  up  the  seal 
rookeries  would  be  healthy  and  pros])erous  to-day,  instead  of  being 
depleted  and  broken  up.  I  speak  positively  about  it,  because  no  other 
cause  can  be  assigned  for  their  dei)lction  u])ob.  any  reasonable  hypoth- 
esis. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  99 

Good  management  upon  the  island  increased  the  seal  life  for  many 
successive  years,  and  the  same  management  continued, 
as  I  believe,  to  the  present  time.     If'^the  destruction  of  maSment?'^*'''^"''*^ 
seals  at  sea  is  wholly  suppressed  it  will  result  in  restor- 
ing the  rookeries  to  their  former  productiveness.     But  no  partial  meas- 
ure of  protection  should  be  undertaken,  because  it  can  not  be  enforced. 

During  the  summer  months  fogs  envelope  the  Seal  Islands  or  cover 
the  sea  a  short  distance  from  them  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  time.     Sealing  vessels  are  enabled  thereby  i^^^^^  surround  la- 
to  carry  on  their  work  without  detection  at  almost  any 
point,  and  could  and  would,  I  believe,  cross  any  boun- 
dary line  that  might  be  draAvn  about  the  islands,  and  no^rotecti^^  ^^'^^^ 
catch  seals  at  will  inside  of  it.     I  do  not  think  sealing 
can  be,  with  safety  to  the  rookeries,  permitted  in  any 

or  the  sea.    If  the  sealers  are  given  an  inch  they  tion  in   Bering  sea 
will  take  an  ell  and  destroy  all.  necessary. 

Watson  C.  Allis. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  5th  day  of  July,  1892. 

[SEAJ..]  E.  H.  Tharp, 

Notary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  said  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco, 


Deposition  ofKerriclc  Artomanoff,  native  chief  resident  of  tSt.  Paul  Island. 

PELACrIG  SEALING.     MANAGEMENT. 

Alaska,  U.  S.  A., 

tSt.  Paul  Island,  Prihilof  Group,  ss : 

Kerrick  Artomanoff,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a 
native  Aleut,  and  reside  on  St.  Paul  Island,  Pribilof  Group,  Alaska;  I 
was  born  at  Northeast  Point,  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  am  67  years  of 
age.  I  have  worked  on  the  sealing  grounds  for  the  last 
fifty  years,  and  am  well  acquainted  with  the  methods  ^penence. 
adopted  by  the  Eussian  and  American  Governments  in  taking  of  fur- 
seal  skins  and  in  protecting  and  preserving  the  herds  on  the  island. 
In  1870,  when  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  obtained  the  lease  of 
the  Islands,  I  was  made  Chief,  and  held  the  position  for  seventeen  years. 

It  was  my  duty  as  Chief  to  take  charge  of  and  conduct  the  drives 
with  my  people  from  the  hauling  to  the  killing  grounds,     j^^.^.^ 
The  methods  used  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company        "'^'"^" 
and  the  American  Government  for  the  care  and  preservation  of  the 
seals  were  much  better  than  those  used  by  the  Eussian 
Government.     In  old  Eussian  times  we  used  to  drive  KuSmSs'*^^'" 
seals  from  ifortheiist  Point  to  the  village,  a  distance 
of  nearly  13  miles,  and  we  used  to  drive  5  or  6  miles  from  other  haul- 
ing grounds;  but  when  the  Americans  got  the  Islands 
they  soon  alter  shortend  aU  the  drives  to  less  than     D-^i^es  shortened. 
3  miles. 

From  1870  to  1884  the  seals  were  swarming  on  the  hauling  grounds 
and  the  rookeries,  and  for  many  years  thev  spread  out 
more  and  more.     All  of  a  sudden,  in  1884,  we  noticed  seaifformeriy^^   ** 
there  was  not  so  manv  seals,  and  thev  have  been  de-     ^  ,00. 

creasing   very  rapidly  ever    since.     My  people  won- 


100  TESTIMONY 

Pelagic  sealing  the  deied  whv  tMs  was  SO,  aiitl  IK)  0116  coulcl  tell  why  until 

we  learned  that  Imuters  in  scliooners  Avere  sliootiug 

Destruction  of  and  destroying  tliein  in  the  sea.     Then  we  knew  what 

females.  the  trouble  was,  for  we  knew  the  seals  they  killed  and 

destroyed  must  be  cows,  for  most  all  the  males  remain 

thfi^\ands'!*'°'''*°  °°  oil  or  near  the  islands  until  they  go  away  in  the  fall 

or  fore  part  of   the  winter.    We  also  noticed  dead 

pups   on    the   rookeries,   that   had   been  starved  to 

eadpups.  death.     These  dead  pups  have  increased  from  year 

to  year  since    1887,  and   in   1891  the  rookeries  W(!re   covered  with 

dead  pups.    In  my  sixty-seven  years,  residence  on  the  Island  I  never 

^.    .  ,  before  saw  ain'thing  like  it..    None  of  our  people  have 

ever  known  of  any  sickness  among  the  pups  or  seals 

and  have  never  seen  any  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  except  a  few 

killed  by  the  old  bulls  when  fighting  or  by  diowuing  when  the  surf 

washed  them  off.     If  they  had  not  killed  the  seals  in 

Decrease  of  three-  the  sca  there  would  bc  as  many  on  the  rookeries  as 

'^"^  ^^^'  there  was  ten  years  ago.    There  was  not  more  than 

one-fourth  as  many  seals  in  1891  as  there  was  in  1880. 

The  fur  seal  goes  away  from  the  island  in  the  fall  or  winter  and  he 

returns  in  May  or  June,  and  I  believe  he  will  haul  up 

turn  of^seais.  ^°    ^^'  in  the  Same  place  each  year,  for  1  particularly  noticed 

xfce^^  *°  ^*™^  some  that  I  could  teU  that  hauled  up  in  the  same  place 

^^'^'^^'  for  a  number  of  years;  and  when  we  make  drives, 

those  we  do  not  kill,  but  let  go  into  the  water,  are  all  back  where  we 

took  them  from  in  a  few  hours.     The  pups  are  born  be- 

Birth  of  pups.  ^^^^^^  ^^^  middle  of  June  and  the  middle  of  July,  and 

^^Swim when 6 weeks  can  uot  swim  uutil  they  are  0  or  7  weeks  old;  and  if 

born  in  the  water  they  would  die.    I  have  seen  the 

surf  wash  some  of  the  young  pups  into  the  sea,  and  they  drowned  in  a 

very  short  time.     In  four  or  five  days  after  it  is  born,  the  mother  seal 

leaves  her  puj)  and  goes  away  in  the  sea  to  feed,  and 

in  water"  '^^^  ^°°'^  ^^eu  the  pup  is  2  or  3  weeks  old  the  mother  often 

stays  away  for  five  or  six  days  at  a  time.     The  mother 

seals  know  their  own  pups  by  smelling  them,  and  no  seal  will  allow 

any  but  her  own  pup  to  suck  her.    When  the  pups 

th^°*(?^'pups.' ''"^^  S^^^  ^^  ^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^y  ^^^'°^  ^^  "pods"  and 

work  down  to  the  shore,  and  they  try  the  water  at  the 

edge  until  they  learn  to  swim.    They  wiU  remain  on  the  Island  until 

November,  and,  if  not  too  cold,  will  stay  till  December. 

epartureo  pups,    j  j^ave  sccn  them  swimming  around  the  island  late  in 

January.    All  the  seals,  when  they  leave  the  Island, 

siigration.  ^^  ^^.  g^^th,  but  I  thiuk  they  would  stay  around  here 

all  winter  if  the  weather  was  not  so  cold. 

When  they  come  back  to  the  Islands  they  come  from  the  south,  and 
I  think  they  come  from  the  Nortli  Pacific  Ocean,  over 
track."™     ^   ^^^^  the  same  track  that  they  went.   Tne  females  go  upon  the 
^   .  rookeries  as  soon  as  they  arrive  here,  but  the  yearlings 

oonroo  enes.       ^^  ^^^^^  comc  On  land  till  the  last  of  July,  and  yearling- 
Habits  of  young  males  and  females  herd  together.     1  think  they  stay 
*®'*^*"  in  the  water  most  of  the  time  the  first  year,  but  after 

that  they  come  regularly  to  the  hauling  grounds  and  rookeries,  but  do 
not  come  as  early  in  the  season  as  they  do  after  they  are  2  years  old. 
Male  seals  from  2  to  G  years  old  do  not  go  on  the  breeding  rookeries,  but 
haul  out  by  themselves.  The  female  seal  gives  birth  to 
one  p'ap  every  ytl^."^  ^^^  oiic  x)iip  cvcry  vcar,  and  she  has  her  first  pup  when 
she  is  3  years  old.    The  male  seal  establishes  himself  on 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  101 

the  breeding  rookery  in  May  or  June,  when  lie  is  7  or     Males  in  rookeries. 
8  years  old,  and  he  fights  for  his  cows,  and  does  not 
leave  the  place  he  has  selected  until  August  or  Sep-       «a  s  as 
tember.    Our  people  like  the  meat  of  the  seal,  and  we  eat  no  other 
meat  so  long  as  we  can  get  it. 

The  pup  seals  are  our  chic^ken  meat,  and  we  used  to  be  allowed  to  kill 
3,000  or  4,000  male  pups  every  year  in  November,  but 
the  Government  agent  forbade  us  to  kill  any  in  1891,        "^^^^ 
and  said  we  should  not  be  allowed  to  kill  any  more,    ^^^j'^^^*?  "ed^'^^'*  ^""^ 
and  he  gave  us  other  meat  in  place  of  "pup"  meat;  but    **'"  **  "^^^  ' 
we  do  not  like  any  other  meat  as  well  as  pup-seal  meat.     We  under- 
stand the  danger  there  is  in  the  seals  being  all  killed  oft"  and  that  we  will 
have  no  way  of  earning  our  living.     There  is  not  one     peiagic  sealing 
of  us  but  what  believes  if  they  had  not  killed  them  cause  of  decrease. 
off  by  shooting  them  in  the  water  there  would  be  as     otherwi.'^e    100,000 
many  seals  on  the  island  now  as  there  was  in  1880,  and  Hm it  could  be  main- 
we  coidd  go  on  forever  taking  100,000  seals  on  the  two  ^*"*®  ' 
Islands ;  but  if  they  get  less  as  fast  as  they  have  in  the  last  five  or  six 
years  there  will  be  none  left  in  a  little  while. 

Kerrick  Artomanoff. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  emjiowered  to  admin- 
ister  oatiis,  under  section  1976,  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States, 
this  8th  day  of  June,  1892,  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  H.  Williams, 
Treasury  Agent  in  Charge  of  Seal  Islands. 


Deposition  of  Milton  Barnes,  special  employe  of  JJ.  8.  Treasury  on  St.  Paul 

Island. 

PELAGIC-SEALING. 

Territory  of  Alaska,  U.  S.  A., 

St.  Paul  Island,  ss: 

I,  Milton  Barnes,  being  dulj^  sworn  according  to  law,  depose  and  say 
as  follows:  I  am  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  when  at  home  re- 
side near  Columbus,  Ohio.     Have  been  temi)orarily  stationed  during 
the  last  year  on  the  Island  of  St.  Paul,  one  of  the  fur- 
seal  or  Pribilof  Group  in  Bering  Sea,  as  a  special  em-        ^penence. 
ploy6  of  the  United  States  Treasury  Department  on  said  island. 

One  day,  during  the  latter  iiart  of  August  or  fore  part  of  September  last 
(exact  date  forgotten).  Col.  Joseph  Murray,  one  of  the  Treasury  agents, 
and  myself,  in  company  with  the  British  Commissioners,  Sir  George 
Baden-Powell  and  Dr.  Dawson,  by  boat  \dsited  one  of  the  seal  rooker- 
ies of  that  Island,  known  as  Tolstoi  or  EngUsh  Bay.  On  arriving  there 
our  attention  was  at  once  attracted  by  the  excessive 
number  of  dead  seal  pups  whose  carcasses  lay  scattered  ^^  ^"^^* 
profusely  over  the  breeding  ground  or  sand  beach  bordering  the  rook- 
ery proper,  and  extending  into  the  border  of  the  rookery  itself.  Tlie 
strange  sight  occasioned  much  surmise  at  the  time  as  to  the  iirobable 
cause  of  it.  Some  of  the  carcasses  were  in  an  advanced  stage  of  decay, 
whUe  others  were  of  recent  death,  and  their  general  appearance  was 
that  of  having  died  of  starvation.    There  were  a  few  that  still  showed 


102  TESTIMONY 

signs  of  life,  bleating  '^eak  and  piteously,  and  gave  every  evidence  o 
being  in  a  starved  condition,  witli  no  mother  seals  near  to  or  showing 
them  any  attention. 

Dr.  Dawson,  wliile  on  the  ground,  took  some  views  of  the  rookery  with 
his  kodak;  but  whether  the  views  he  took  included  the  dead  pups  I 
could  not  say.     Some  days  after  this — can  not  state  exact  date — I  drove 
with  Mr.  Fowler,  an  employe  of  the  lessees,  to  what  is  known  as  Half- 
Way  Point,  or  Polovinia  rookery.     Here  the  scene  was  repeated,  but 
on  a  more  extensive  scale  in  point  of  numbers.     The 
dead  pups*!^^'^*'*^  ''^^"'  little  carcasses  were  strewn  so  thickly  over  the  sand 
as  to  make  it  difficult  to  walk  over  the  ground  without 
stepping  on  them.     This  condition  of  the  rookeries  in  this  regard  was 
for  some  time  a  common  topic  of  conversation  in  the  village  by  all  par- 
ties, including  the  more  intelligent  ones  among  the  natives,  some  of 
whom  were  with  Mr.  J.  Stanley  Brown  in  his  work  of  surveying  the  island 
and  brought  in  reports  from  time  to  time  of  similar 
othe™rookerL!^*  ^^^  couditious  at  Substantially  all  the  rookeries   around 
the  Island.     It  could  not,  of  course,  be  well  estimated 
as  to  the  number  thus  found  dead,  but  the  most  intelligent  of  the  na- 
tives— chief  of  the  village — told  me  that  in  his  judg- 
20,000  dead  pups.     ^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  j^^^^  ^^^^^^  20,000  dead  pups  on  the 

various  rookeries  of  the  Island  and  others  still  dying.     Dr.  Ackerly, 
the  lessees'  physician  at  the  time,  made  an  autopsy  of  some  of  the 

carcasses,  and  reported  that  he  could  find  no  traces  of 
sencVof*'nourishmel!t".  ^"^  discascd   couditiou  whatever,  but  there  was   an 

entire  absence  of  food  or  any  signs  of  nourishment  in 
the  stomach.  Before  Dr.  Dawson  left  I  called  his  attention  to  what 
Dr.  Ackerly  had  done,  but  whether  he  saw  him  on  the  subject  I  can 
not  tell.     And  further  dei)onent  sayetli  not. 

Milton  Barnes. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  ad- 
minister oaths  under  section  1976,  Eevised  Statutes  of  the  United 
States,  this  23d  day  of  June,  1892. 

Wm.  H.  Williams, 
Treasury  Agent  in  Charge  of  Seal  Islands. 


Deposition  of  Karp  Biiterin,  head  chief  on  St.  Paul  Island,  in  charge  of 

driving . 

MANAGEMENT   AND   HABITS. 

Alaska,  U.  S.  A., 

St.  Paul  Island,  Prihilof  Group,  ss  : 

Karp  Buterin,  being  dnly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  39 years  of 

age  and  I  was  born  on  St.  Paul  Isand,  Alaska,  and  I  have  always  lived 

here.    I  have  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  fur-seal  industry  as  it  is 

done  on  St.  Paul  Island,  tor  I  have  been  working  at  it 

Experience.  all  of  my  life  siucc  I  was  able  to  work.     I  have  driven 

seals  and  clubbed  and  skinned  them ;  I  have  had  charge 

of  the  drives  and  I  have  been  second  chief  for  four  years,  and  I  am 

head  chief  now,  being  elected  in  1891.     As  chief  it  is  my  duty  to  see 

that  the  rookeries  are  not  troubled  by  anyone,  to  teach  my  people  to 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  103 

obey  the  law  and  my  young-  men  how  to  drive  seals  to  the  killing 
grounds  without  ii>juring  them.     I  know,  and  all  my      j^^^j.^  t^^ 
people  know,  that  the  Government  told  us  we  must  not  kuuows! 
kill  cows,  and  we  never  kill  them. 

The  Company  Agent  says  to  me :  "  Karp,  be  careful  that  no  cows  are 
killed."  I  know,  and  we  all  know,  if  we  kill  cows  the  seals  soon  die 
out  and  we  would  not  have  meat  to  eat;  and  if  anyone  told  me  to  kill 
cows  I  would  say  "  ]N"o."  If  I  or  any  of  my  people  knew  of  anyone 
killing  a  cow  we  would  go  and  tell  the  Government  officer.  The  Gov- 
ernment officer  told  as  that  the  Government  did  not  like  to  have  cows 
killed,  and  that  we  should  not  kill  any  more  i)Ui)S  be- 
cause it  was  wasting  seals,  and  that  the  Government  '"p^p^- 
would  give  us  plenty  of  other  meat  instead  of  pup  meat,  and  we  all 
agree  to  that,  and  we  have  not  killed  any  pups  since.  And  all  my  i)eo- 
pie  will  do  everything  the  Government  wants  them  to  do.  If  any  of 
our  men  get  bad  and  kill  cows  or  pups  or  do  anything  bad  I  punish 
them  and  I  bring  them  before  the  Government  officer. 

Our  priest  tells  us  to  obey  the  law  and  to  do  everything  the  Govern- 
ment asks  us  to  do,  and  we  are  all  pleased  to  do  it.  We  all  know  that 
the  food  and  clothes  we  are  getting  has  been  given  us  by  the  Govern- 
ment, because  we  are  not  killing  any  seals  to  earn  money  to  buy  things 
for  ourselves,  and  we  know  it  is  the  Government  sends  us  plenty  coal 
when  we  have  no  money  to  buy  it. 

When  we  first  noticed  that  the  seals  on  the  rookeries  were  not  so  many 
as  they  used  to  be  we  did  not  know  what  was  wrong,    ^ 

■,      I   T  Ti  r.  ij.ij.ij.^1  Decrease,  cause  of. 

but  by  and  by  we  found  that  plenty  oi  schooners  came 

into  the  sea  and  shot  seals,  and  we  often  found  bullets  and  shot  in  seals 

when  we  were  skinning  them. 

And  then  we  found  plenty  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries,  more  and  more 
every  year,  until  last  year  (1891)  when  there  were  so     ^^^^^ 
many  the  rookeries  were  covered  with  them,  and  when        ^'^^  ^^^^' 
the  doctor  (Akerly)  opened  some  of  them  there  was  no  milk  or  food  in 
their  stomachs.    Then  we  all  knew  the  cows  had  been  i  ,  f   r 

shot  when  they  went  into  the  sea  to  feed,  and  the  pups       ^^^  '^^  '^^'  '°^' 
died  because  they  had  nothing  to  eat.    Plenty  schooners  came  first  about 
eight  or  nine  years  ago,  and  more  and  more  every  year  since;  and  the 
seals  get  less  and  less  ever  since  Schooners  came;  and  my  peoide  kept 
saying  "no  cows,"  "no  cows." 

First  the  cows  get  less,  and  then  the  "bachelors"  get  less,  and  the 
company  agent  he  says  "  kill  smaller  seals,"  and  we 
kill  some  whose  skins  weigh  only  4J  pounds,  instead  of  geSskmedo'n  isiandaf 
7  pounds,  same  as  they  always  got.     Then  we  could  not 
get  enough  of  seals,  and  at  last  we  could  hardly  get  enough  for  meat. 

Schooners  kill  cows,  pups  die,  and  seals  are  gone.    Some  men  tell  me 
last  year  "  Karp,  seals  are  sick."    I  know  seals  are  not 
sick;  I  never  seen  a  sick  seal,  and  I  eat  seal  meat  every  geSs.*''^*'*^^^  among 
day  of  my  life;  all  our  people  eat  seal  meat,  white  men 
eat  seal  meat,  no  one  ever  seen  bad  seal  meat  or  sick  seal.    No  big  seals 
die  unless  we  club  them,  only  pups  die  when  starved,  after  the  cows 
are  shot  at  sea.     When  we  used  to  kill  pups  for  food  in  November  they 
were  always  full  of  milk;  the  pups  that  die  on  the     Females  feeding 
rookeries  have  no  milk.     The  cows  go  into  the  sea  to 
feed  after  the  pups  are  born,  and  the  schooner  men  shoot  them  all  the 
time. 

The  "  HoUuschickie  "  (bachelors)  do  not  go  out  to  feed.    When  they 


104  TESTIMONY 

come  in  May  there  is  plenty  of  fish  in  their  stomachs, 

fe?d.'''^^""  ^^  "°*  but  after  June  there  is  nothing-.  Plenty  of  buUs  all  the 

time  on  the  rookeries,  and  plenty  bulls  have  no  cows. 

Abundance  of  buUs.  J  never  sccu  a  3-year- old  cow  without  a  pup  in  July; 

only  2-year-olds  have  no  pups. 
All  the  drives  are  under  the  care  of  the  Chief  and  my  men  never  drive 
.  .  too  fiist.    No  drive  on  St.  Paul  Island  longer  than  2 

"vmg.  miles.    We  never  make  more  than  two  drives  from  the 

same  rookery  in  one  week. 

When  I  was  a  boy,  before  Americans  came  here,  we  used  to  drive 
from  the  rookeries  at  Northeast  Point  to  the  village  killing  grounds, 
a  distance  of  12  miles,  and  from  Halfway  Point  a  distance  of  6 
miles,  and  from  Zapadnie  a  distance  of  5  miles.  After  the  Ameri- 
cans came  the  drive  from  Northeast  Point  was  stopped  at  once  and  a 
salt  house  was  built  at  Northeast  Point  and  the  seals  have  been  killed 
there  ever  since  within  about  2  miles  of  the  hauling  grounds. 

In  1874  or  1875  the  seals  were  killed  within  a  mile  of  the  hauling 
grounds  at  Zapadnie,  and  the  skins  have  been  taken  ever  since  in  boats 
across  the  bay  to  the  village  salt  house.  In  1879  a  salt  house  was  built 
at  Half-way  Point,  and  since  then  no  seals  have  ever  been  driven  on 
St.  Paul  Island  more  than  2  miles. 

No  seals  are  injured  by  driving,  for  we  drive  very  slow  and  only  when 
the  weather  is  cool.  Once  in  a  while  one  may  be  smothered  and  we 
skin  it  and  count  the  skin  along  with  the  others.  After  the  cows  scat- 
ter in  August  they  mix  Avith  the  bachelors  and  a  few  will  be  driven 
"when  we  drive  seals  for  food,  and  sometimes  one  is  killed  by  accident 
before  the  clubber  knows  it  is  a  cow.  If  I  knew  that  he  killed  it  on 
purpose  I  would  punish  him;  and  if  he  did  it  again  I  would  have  him 
put  off  the  island. 

The  liups  are  born  in  June  and  July  and  they  learn  to  swim  in  Sep- 

wim    Member.    They  can  not  swim  when  they  are  born  and 

upscanno  swim,  ^^^y  ^^^  ^^^  j^^jp  themsclves,  and  they  do  not  eat  or 

Cow  suckles  only  driuk  ouly  as  they  suck  the  cows.    No  cow  will  let 

her  own  pup.  , ,  ^  -,    "i  j?       n      i 

another  pup  suck  her;  every  cow  feeds  her  own  pup. 
The  pups  leave  in  November  and  all  seals  are  gone  about  the  middle 
,^.     ^.      ^  of  December,  except  when  the  weather  is  very  fine. 

Migration  of  pups.  ,    , ,  xii_        i  mi  i      •       t  ' 

and  then  we  often  kill  seals  in  January. 

Karp  Buterin. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  admin- 
ister oaths  under  section  1976  of  the  Eevised  Statutes  of  the  United 
States,  this  9th  day  of  June,  1892,  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  H.  Williams, 
Treasury  Agent  in  Charge  of  Seal  Islands. 


Deposition  of  Carlos  G.  CalJcms,  Lieutenant,  U.  S.  N'avy. 

PRIBILOF   ROOKERIES. 

Carlos  G.  Calkins,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  am  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  U.  S.  Navy,  and  have  made  three  cruises 

•  xpenence.  ^^^^^  Alaskaii  watcrs,  as  follows,  viz,  in  the  year  1890, 

about  the  Bristol  Bay  region  and  the  Aleutian  Islands  as  far  west  as 
Umnak;  in  the  year  1891,  to  the  Pribilof  Islands,  in  Bering  Sea;  and 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  105 

in  the  year  1892,  from  Kadiak  Island  to  Prince  William  Sound,  going 
as  far  into  Cook's  Inlet  as  Coal  Bay. 

I  never  saw  nor  heard  of  any  fur-seal  rookeries  in  these  regions,  ex- 
cept those  on  the  seal  ivslands  of  Bering  Sea.     Neither 
have  1  ever  seen  any  fm-- seals  in  abundance  save  on  or  Pr^bUorisiaiX^f  °" 
near  said  seal  islands. 

Carlos  G.  Calkins. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  27th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Herbert  V.  Fletcher,  chief  mechanic  on  St.  Fanl  Island. 

MANAGEiyrENT   AND   HABITS. 

State,  of  Vermont, 
County  of  Orange,  ss  : 

Herbert  Y.  Fletcher,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a 
citizen  of  Randolph,  Vt.,  where  I  have  had  my  home  nearly  all  my  life. 
I  am  by  trade  a  machinist  and  blacksmith,  and  by  occupation  a  farmer. 

In  1882  I  went  to  St.  Paul  Island  in  the  service  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company,  as  their  chief  mechanic,  and  remained 
there  two  years  and  four  mouths,  including  the  sealing 
seasons  of  1882,  1883,  and  1884.  During  such  season  of  each  of  these 
years,  I  was  employed  a  considerable  portion  of  the  time  in  the  annual 
seal  killing,  and  at  other  times  my  work  took  me  frequently  to  the 
various  parts  of  the  island,  so  that  in  the  course  of  my  stay  there  I 
became,  as  all  do  who  live  there  a  year  or  more,  very  familiar  with 
everything  pertaining  to  the  seals. 

At  the  time  of  my  employment  at  the  island,  everything  about  the 
seal  rookeries  and  sealing  industry  appeared  to  be  in  a  prosperous  coDdi- 
highly  prosperous  condition.  There  was  no  lack  of  tion  of  rookeries  and 
seals.  The  rookeries  were  said  by  all  the  natives  and  sealing  industry. 
residents  to  be  as  large  and  full  as  they  had  ever  been,  and  the  lessees 
got  their  full  number  of  skins  allowed  by  law  within  the  usual  time,  all 
of  good  marketable  sizes,  from  such  sized  animals  as  the  employes  were 
told  to  kill,  and  had  a  large  surplus  left  each  year  for  breeders.  The 
numner  in  which  the  seals  were  driven  and  killed  incr  and  kiiiin 
seemed  to  me  to  be  as  good  as  could  be  adopted,  and  "^^°'  ^^  '  '^^' 
just  such  as  any  one  would  adopt  who  was  accustomed  to  the  manage- 
ment of  farm  animals.  I  was  surprised  to  see  how  closely  in  nearly 
every  respect  the  seal  herds  resemble  droves  of  om^  pa-sembiauce  iie- 
domestic  animals.  Almost  anvthing  is  done  with  them  twe<n  soais  and  do- 
that  we  habitually  do  with  our  flocks  and  herds  in  farm  ™^'*"'  """""'"• 
life,  except  to  feed  them.  They  are  started  up  from  the  beaches,  col- 
lected in  convenient  sized  droves,  and  driven  by  a  very  few  men  to  the 
]>roper  killing  grounds,  exactly  as  I  would  handle  a  flock  of  sheep ;  and, 
unless  the  weather  was  very  hot  and  dry,  seemed  to  me  to  sufler  no 
more  nor  stand  any  greater  risk  of  injury  from  driving  than  sheep 
would  and  do  under  similar  circumstances.  When  they  arrive  at  the 
killing  grounds  they  can  be  kept  in  a  yard  or  corral  surrounded  by  an 
ordinary  cattle  fence;  but,  without  the  trouble  even  of  building  a  fence, 
with  a  single  keeper  to  watch  them  and  a  few  pieces  of  board  set  up 


106  TESTIMONY 

around  them  on  Trliicli  some  strips  of  sacking  or  old  garments  arehnng, 
several  thousand  are  herded  and  kept  for  hours,  until  the  time,  perhaps 
on  the  following  day,  for  their  slaughter.  They  grow  very  tame  and 
tractable  by  repeated  driving,  and  even  the  old  bulls  lose  their  fierce- 
ness and  seldom  turn  upon  their  herders,  particularly  when  brought 
in  from  the  rookeries  near  the  villages,  where  they  become  most  familiar 
with  man. 
They  seem  never  to  be  afflicted  with  any  disease.  The  pups  are 
Health  of  seals         always  healthy,  fat,  and  happy;  the  males  too  young 

for  slaughter  play  about  on  the  rookeries  during  the 
killing  season  and  between  the  intervals  of  driving  to  the  killing 
ground,  galloping  up  and  down  the  slopes  or  wrestling  in  good-natured 
contest,  as  the  young  of  other  animals  do  when  undisturbed,  showing 
no  signs  of  fear  or  timidity.  The  still  younger  seals,  during  their  first 
few  weeks,  have  so  little  fear  of  man  that  they  may  be  picked  up  at 
any  time  more  readily  than  young  lambs;  and  when  a  little  older,  after 
they  have  learned  to  swim,  they  come  by  thousands  upon  the  beaches 
close  to  the  village  and  may  be  driven  up  en  masse  and  taken  to  a 
corral  and  impounded,  or  simply  herded  by  a  watchman  and  kept  to- 
gether for  an  indefinite  length  of  time.  When  so  herded 
ingor^Sirkmg.^'^^'"^'  ^^^^  ^^^^  ^^  readily  taken  up  one  by  one  and  marked 

by  some  mutilation,  such  as  the  cutting  oft"  an  ear,  as 
has  been  practiced  on  one  or  two  occasions,  I  am  told,  for  the  purpose 
of  identifying  them  afterwards,  or  by  branding  them.  From  my  expe- 
rience, with  both  seals  and  cattle,  I  should  as  soon  undertake  to  brand 
a  lot  of  young  seals  as  so  many  calves ;  and  I  believe  by  attempting  i:; 
at  the  proper  season,  after  the  old  seals  have  mostly  left  the  island, 
and  the  young  are  "podding"  by  themselves,  there  would  be  no  difli- 
culty  in  "rounding  up"  simultaneously  nearly  all  the  young  born  in  a 
single  season  and  marking  them  for  comj^lete  future  identification. 
Their  habits  of  breeding  are  so  nearly  like  those  of  domestic  animals 

that  one  having  them  in  control  needs  only  to  follow 
ree  ing.  ^^^  experience  as  a  shepherd  or  "cattleman"  to  cause 

them  to  become  most  prolific.  He  must  keep  all  the  females  and  kill 
off,  as  far  as  possible,  all  the  surplus  males  above  the  number  abso- 
lutely required  for  breeding  purposes.  1  think  these  requirements 
were  very  exactly  fulfilled  by  the  late  lessees  of  tlie  seal  fisheries  during 
the  time  of  my  employment  by  them ;  and  they  are  certainly  able  to 
point  to  the  fact,  unless  I  am  grossly  misinformed,  that  from  1870, 

when  they  first  took  hold  of  the  business,  up  to  the 
he^cUrom  1870  toT884^  ^^^  of  my  scrvicc  for  them  in  1884,  the  system  pursued 

by  them  was  as  perfect  as  it  could  be,  and  resulted  in  a 
steady  increase  of  the  seals.  They  failed  only  in  omitting  to  take  proper 
measures  by  branding  or  mutilation,  as  I  have  pointed  out,  to  identify 

their  property  while  j)asturing  in  the  ocean.     The  owner 
idcTitiflcation  of  of  a  Seal  skin  with  an  ineffaceable  brand  on  it  would, 

proporty  by  brandmg  .  „         .  j.  t  •  •  i  i.      i 

or  other  marking.        evcu  lu  a  loreigii  couutry,  1  imagine,  have  some  sort  ot 
property  riglit  which  international  law  would  recog- 
nize; and  of  his  ability  to  mark  nearly  every  skin  with  such  a  brand 
upon  the  live  young  animal  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt. 

Herbert  V.  Fletcher. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  this  18th  day  of  June,  A.  D.  1892,  at  Ran- 
dolph, Vt ,  before  me. 
[L.  s.j  Wm.  H.  Du  Bois, 

Notary  Fublic. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  107 

Deposition  of  John  Fratis,  resident  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  employe  0/ 

lessees. 

MANAGEIVEENT   AND   HABITS. 

Alaska,  U.  S.  A., 

St.  Paul  Island,  Prihilof  Group,  ss  : 

JolinFratis,  being  duly  s\roru,  deposes  and  snys:  I  am  47  years  of 
age  and  was  born   on  the  Ladrone  Islands.     1   can     Experience 
speak  the  English,  Russian,  and  Spanish  languages,  and 
1  understand  the  "Aleut"  as  it  is  spoken  by  the  natives  of  St.  Paul 
Island,  Alaska. 

I  came  to  St.  Paul  Island  in  18G9,  and  married  a  native  woman  and 
became  one  of  the  people;  was  made  a  native  sealer  and  have  resided 
here  ever  since. 

From  1859  to  1869  I  was  employed  on  whaling  vessels  working  in 
Bering  and  Okhotsk  seas  and  the  Arctic  Ocean.  I  have  been  along 
the  coast  of  Bering  and  Okhotsk  seas,  and  along  the  coast  of  Alaska 
in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  from  Sitka  to  Unalaska,  and  I  never  saw 
or  heard  tell  of  any  place  in  American  waters  in  that  whole  region, 
where  the  Alaskan  fur  seals  haul  out  on  land  or  breed,  ^aui  up  or  breed 
excepting  on  the  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea  known  as  only  on  Pribiiot  ib- 
the  Pribilof  Islands.  ^  "^ 

From  the  time  I  settled  here  in  1869  until  1882  or  1883,  there  was  no 
trouble  at  all  in  taking  85,000  seals  on  St.  Paul  Island  ^o  trouble  in  taking 
between  June  1  and  July  30,  and  we  often  got  that  num-  85,ooo  seals  a  year  for 
berbyJuly20.  iseg  to  18.2  or  isss. 

In  those  days  we  used  to  get  plenty  of  seals  on  the  Zoltoi  sands  near 
the  Reef  rookery,  and  now  there  are  none  there.  I  have  worked  on  the 
sealing  grounds  at  everything  there  is  to  do,  from  driving  to  clubbing, 
and  preparing  the  skins  for  shipment. 

When  Mr.  Webster  had  charge  of  the  killing  at  Northeast  Point, 
where  he  used  to  kill  from  25,000  to  35,000  seals  in  a  season,  I  generally 
did  the  cooking  there,  and  I  cooked  seal  meat  every 
day,  and  we  all  ate  it,  and  our  people  live  on  seal  meat,   ,iiSledmi.''  ''"'^'"^ 
yet  I  never  saw  a  sick  or  a  diseased  seal  or  a  carcass 
that  was  unfit  for  food. 

I  have  driven  seals  from  all  the  rookeries  and  under  the  directions  of 
several  chiefs,  and  I  know  the  orders  were  always  very  .  . 
strict  about  the  care  we  must  take  of  the  seals  on  the  "^"s- 
road.  No  drives  were  made  in  warm  weather;  the  seals  were  not  hur- 
ried, but  every  once  in  awhile  they  were  allowed  to  stop  and  rest.  The 
men  who  did  the  driving  were  relieved  from  time  to  time,  so  that  no 
man  should  get  too  cold  on  the  drive,  and  when  the  sun  came  out  warm 
the  drive  was  always  abandoned  and  the  seals  allowed  to  go  into  the 
sea.  I  never  saw  the  seals  overdriven  or  overheated,  nor  have  I  ever 
seen  a  seal  die  on  the  drive  except  one  or  two  occasionally  smothered. 

The  drivers  carry  their  knives  along,  and  when  a  seal  dies  they  skin 
him  and  the  skin  is  brought  to  the  salt  house  and  counted  in  with  the 
others. 

An  overheated  seal  would  not  be  worth  skinning,  and  for  that  reason 
the  company  agent  is  particular  that  the  seals  are  not  overheated.  I 
have  clubbed  seals,  too,  and  at  present  I  am  a  regular  clubber. 

We  know  a  cow  seal  on  sight,  and  when  we  find  one  on  the  killing 
grounds  we  take  care  she  is  not  injured.  Very  few  cows  get  into  the 
drives  before  the  middle  of  August,  and  then  we  are  only  (Iriving  and 
killing  a  few  hundred  a  week  for  food. 


108  TESTIMONY 

All  COWS  killed  on  the  seal  islands  are  killed  accidentally,  and  it  oc- 
curs so  seldom  that  I  do  not  think  there  has  been  to 
No  cows  killed  ex-  exceed  100  since  I  came  to  tlie  island  in  1869.     So  care- 

cept  by  accident.  ^   ,,      -,  ,,.,  Tiiij_i  tj.i 

fully  has  this  been  guarded  that  when  we  used  to  be 
allowed  to  kill  pup  seals  in  l^ovember  we  had  to  examine  and  separate 
the  sexes  and  kill  none  but  males. 

The  seals  came  to  the  islands  in  spring  and  they  came 

Arrival  of  seals.  ,.  ,  i  ,-,  -i 

iromthe  southward. 

The  first  bulls  arrive  late  in  April  or  very  early  in  May,  and  they  are 

coming  along  till  June.     The  bachelors  come  in  May, 

^"^^'  the  older  ones  first,  and  they  continue  coming  till  July, 

Bachelors.  whcu  the  youiigcr  oues  arrive.     The  cows  appear  about 

^^^''^-  the  10th  of  June,  and  they  are  all  on  the  rookeries  about 

the  middle  of  July. 

The  pups  are  born  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  cows,  and  they  are 

helpless  and  can  not  swim,  and  they  w^ould  drown  if 

ups,  lit  o  .         ^^^^  .^^^^  water.     The  pups  have  no  sustenance  except 

Can  not  swim.  ^;y\l^i  the  COWS  fumish  and  no  cow  suckles  any  pup  but 

her  OAvn.     The  pups  would  suck  any  cow  if  the  cow  would  let  them. 

After  the  pup  is  a  few  days  old  the  cow  goes  into  the  sea  to  feed  and 

at  first  she  will  only  stay  away  for  a  few  hours,  but  as 

Females  feeding.       ^^^^  ^^^^^^  gpows  Stronger  she  will  stay  away  more  and 

more  until  she  will  sometimes  be  away  for  a  week. 

I  do  not  think  the  bachelors  go  to  feed  from  the  time  they  haul  out 

until  they  leave  the  islands  in  November,  for  I  have 

Bachelors   (Jo   not  oi^gerved  the  males  killed  in  May  are   tat  and  their 

leave  islands  to  feed.    '^"'^  -,„-,,„,,■,  ,i  i  iV  i  i  -i      xi  i 

stomachs  full  of  fish,  mostly  codfish,  whde  the  males 
killed  in  July  and  afterwards  are  poorer  and  poorer  and  their  stomachs 
are  empty.  I  know  the  bulls  do  not  eat  during  their  four  months'  stay 
on  the  islands. 

In  August  the  families,  or  harems,  break  up  and  the  cows  scatter  all 

over  the  rookeries,  and  the  bulls  begin  to  go  away  late 

Migration.  .^  August  and  all  through  September,  so  that  very  few 

are  left  in  October.     The  cows  and  bachelors  begin  to  leave  in  October 

and  November,  but  their  going  is  regulated  somewhat  by  the  weather. 

Cold  stormy  w^eather,  with  sudden  heavy  frost,  will  drive  them  off 

sooner,  so  that  the  islands  will  be  deserted  by  December  15,  Avhile  warm 

weatlier  will  keep  plenty  of  bachelors  here  until  late  in  January,  when  I 

have  known  them  to  be  driven  and  killed  for  food.    When  the  seals 

leave  the  isUmd  they  go  southward  and  through  the  passes  of  the 

Aleutian  Islands  into  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

It  was  in  1884  that  I  first  noticed  a  decrease  in  the  seals,  and  it  has 
been  a  steady  and  a  very  rapid  decrease  ever  since  188G, 
Decrease.  ^^  ^j^^^^  ^^  prcscut  there  is  not  one  quarter  as  many  seals 

on  the  island  as  there  was  every  year  from  1869  to  1883. 

I  have  known  of  one  or  two  schooners  operating  in  Bering  Sea  as 

early  as  1877  or  1878,  and  they  were  on  the  rookeries 

^^"^^'  occasionally  during  the  past  ten  years 5  but  they  can 

not  damage  the  seal  herd  much  by  raiding  the  rookeries,  because  they 

can  not  take  many,  even  were  they  permitted  to  land,  which  they  are 

not  by  any  means. 

The  schooners  increased  every  year  from  the  time  I  first  noticed 

them  until  in  1884  there  was  a  fleet  of  20  or  30,  and 

crfaseVscaiiiriieet'  ^^^^^  ^  bcgaii  to  scc  luorc  aud  iiiorc  dead  pups  on  the 

crease o   sea  ing    ce  .    ^,^^^^.^^1^^^^  ^^,,^ij    j,j    j^gy^    ^^^q   ficct  of  Sealing   SChoOlierS 

numbered  more  than  a  hundred  and  the  rookeries  were  covered  with 
dead  pups. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  109 

It  is  mv  opinion  that  the  cows  are  killed  by  the  hunt-      _       ,      ,  .,,  ^ 

,-1  J     •      J.1  J.     J?       1  1    J.T.  Females  killed 

ers  when  they  go  out  m  the  sea  to  feed,  and  the  pups  whUe feeding. 
are  left  to  die  and  do  die  on  the  island. 

I  neyer  knew  of  a  time  when  there  were  not  plenty  of  bulls  for  all  the 
cows,  and  I  never  saw  a  cow  seal — except  a  two-year     ^,    ^    ,  ^  ,^ 

-,  -r     ^     ■   ,         .  11  •1--1  Plenty  of  buUs. 

old — Without  a  pup  by  her  side  in  the  proper  season. 
I  never  heard  tell  of  an  impotent  bull  seal,  nor  do  I  believe  there  is 
such  a  thing,  excepting  the  very  old  and  feeble,  or  badly  wounded  ones. 
I  have  seen  hundreds  of  idle  vigorous  bulls  upon  the  rookeries,  and 
there  were  no  cows  for  them.    I  saw  many  such  bulls  last  year. 

The  pups  do  not  learn  to  swim  until  they  are  6  to  8  weeks  old,  and 
after  learning  they  seem  to  prefer  to  be  on  the  land; 
and  I  think  they  would  not  leave  the  islands  only  for  ,^^p^  ^''^^"s  to 
the  cold  weather,  or  it  may  be  they  foUow  the  cows  to 
sea  after  being  weaned. 

If  the  seal  were  let  alone  in  the  water  we  could  manage  them  so  as  to 
again  build  up  the  rookeries.  We  are  so  familiar  with 
their  habits  and  they  are  so  accustomed  to  us  that  there  s.Jy!'**"'"''''  °^''®''' 
is  no  difficulty  in  managing  them  so  as  to  make  them 
increase.  They  are  easy  to  handle,  the  little  pups  are  not  shy  of  us,  and 
even  when  they  are  older  in  the  fall  they  can  be  handled  much  easier 
than  sheep.  I  can  manage  seals  better  than  I  can  some  of  the  sheep 
brought  on  the  islands  and  which  I  have  been  sent  to  catch. 

John  Featis. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  adminis- 
ter oaths  under  section  1976,  Eevised  Statutes  of  the  United  States, 
this  10th  of  June,  1892,  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  H.  Williams, 
Treasury  Agent  in  charge  of  Seal  Islands. 


Deposition  of  Henry  A.  Glidden,  Treasury  agent  on  St.  Paul  Island. 

habits.    management.    pelagic  sealing. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 
Henry  A.  Grlidden,  being  dnly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at 
Albion,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  am' 61  years  of  age, 
a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  am  not  in  the  employ  of 
the  United  States  Government.     I  was  appointed   special   Treasury 
agent  in  charge  of  the  seal  islands  under  Secretary  Folger.     On  May 
31, 1882,  I  arrived  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  remained  there  until  June 
8,  1885,  only  returning  once  to  the  States  to  pass  the  winter  of  1883-'84. 
I  was  located  the  entire  time  on  St.  Paul  Island.     During  my  expe- 
rience there  I  examined  carefully  the  rookeries  on  the  island,  as  was 
necessary  in  connection  with  my  duties  as  special  Treasury  agent, 
and  incidentally  studied  seal  life  on  the  islands.     I  am  unable  to 
state  whether  the  seals  increased  or  not  during  my 
residence  on  St.  Paul,  but  they  certainly  did  not  de-  ceKeHwi^^Cissl^" 
crease,  except  perhaps  there  was  a  slight  decrease  in 
1884.     In  all  my  conversations  with  the  natives,  which  were,  of  course, 
a  great  many,  they  never  spoke  of  the  seals  being  on  the  decrease,  as 
they  certainly  would  have  done  if  such  had  been  the  .       ofhvin» 

case.    During  these  years  there  was  always  a  sufficiency      *"  ciencyo 


110  '    TESTIMONY 

of  vigorous  male  life  to  serve  all  tlie  female  seals  which  came  to  the 
islands,  and  certainly  during'  this  period  seal  life  was  not  affected  by 
any  deficiency  of  males.  I  do  not  think  that  the  number  of  seals  on 
the  rookeries  can  be  even  aj)proximately  estimated .    No  satisfactory 

Not  possible  to  measurement  of  the  breeding  gTouuds  ou  which  to  base 
estimate  number  of  au  api)roximation  of  the  number  of  seals  has  ever  been 
seals  on  islands.  ^j,  ^,^^^  ^^  jnadc.  And,  cvcu  if  such  measurement  could 
be  made,  the  broken  nature  of  the  ground,  the  inequality  of  distribu- 
tion of  the  seals  while  on  land,  and  the  fact  that  the  females  are  con- 
stantly coming  and  going,  preclude  the  possibility  of  any  sort  of  calcu- 
lation which  could  be  of  any  value  at  all. 

During  the  time  I  was  on  the  islands  I  only  saw  a  very  few  dead 
pups  on  the  rookeries,  but  the  number  in  1884  was 

Dead  paps.  slightly  uiorc  than  in  former  years.     I  never  noticed  or 

examined  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  before  1884,  the  number  being  so 
small,  but  that  year  I  examined  them,  and  found  them  very  much 
emaciated.     In  my  judgment  they  were  starved  to  death  because  their 
mothers  had  been  killed  while  away  from  the  islands  in  search  of  food. 
This,  perhaps,  would  not  be  so  if  a  cow  would  suckle 
he^owu'pup^''"  ""^^  any  pup  that  comes  to  her,  but  she  will  not,  and  on 
the  contrary  will  beat  off  any  young  seal  which  en- 
deavors to  nurse  from  her  except  her  own.     I  know  a  cow  recognizes 
her  pup,  but  a  pup  never  seems  to  distinguish  its  mother  from  other 
cows  which  it  comes  in  contact  with.    During  the  entire  sealing  season 
males  of  all  classes  remain  on  the  islands,  except  that  the  bacheh)rs 
once  in  a  while  go  into  the  water,  but  remain  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
islands.     The  females,  on  the  contrary,  are  going  and 

Females  feeding.      coming  to  and  from  the  water  for  the  purpose  of  feed- 
ing.    I  believe  it  is  while  the  females  are  thus  going  to  and  from  the 
feeding  grounds  and  through  the  Aleutian  passes  that  they  are  inter- 
cepted and  shot  by  open-sea  sealers.    A  pup  seal  until 

Pup  unable  to  {^  j;^  gij;  wccks  or  two  moutlis  old  uevcr  goes  into  the 
^^™'  water,  being  evidently  afraid  to  do  so,  and  it  is  only 

after  this  ago  that  it  begins  by  degrees  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
sea.  I  am  of  the  opinion  if  a  puj)  got  into  the  water  that  it  would  be 
drowned  and  therefore  would  perish  if  born  in  the  water.  For  the  lii'st 
six  or  eight  weeks  of  its  life  a  pup  is  a  land  animal  and  in  no  way 
amjihibious. 

I  became  very  familiar  with  the  methods  emi^loyed  by  the  natives  in 
taking  the  bachelor  seals,  which  are  the  only  ones 

Dr1vm|™^°*'  killed  on  the  islands,  and  I  do  not  believe  any  improve- 

ment could  be  made  in  tlie  methods.  The  driving  from 
the  hauling  grounds  to  the  killing  grounds  was  always  conducted 
with  the  greatest  care;  was  done  at  night  or  very  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, slowly   and   with  frequent  rests,  so  that  the   seals  might  not 

^  become   overheated.     During    the   killing  the    mer- 

^°^'  chantable   seals  were  always  carefully  selected.    No 

females  Avere  killed,  except  perhaps  one  or  two  a  season  by  accident, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  herd  were  allowed  to  return  to  the  water  or 
hauling  grounds.  Very  few  seals  were  killed  in  a  "drive,"  and  the 
skins  of  these  were,  in  nearly  every  case,  retained  and  counted  in  the 
quota  allowed  to  bo  taken  by  the  lessees.  The  number  of  seals  killed 
in  this  way  could  not  possibly  have  affected  seal  life  on  the  island.  I 
never  saw  or  heard  of  a  case  where  a  male  seal  was  seriously  injured 
by  driving  or  redriving.  And  I  do  not  believe  that  the  virility  of 
males  driven  was  destroyed  by  climbing  over  the  rocks  or  affected  in 


EELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  Ill 

any  way  by  driving.     Certainly  the  reproductive  powers  of  male  life 
on  the  islands  were  never  decreased  or  im])aired  by  these  methods. 

Another  fact  in  this  connnection  is  that  the  lessees  located  the 
killing  grounds  as  near  the  hauling  grounds  as  seemed  to  be  prudent 
without  disturbing  the  breeding  of  the  roolceries.    That  boats  and  teams 
were  provided  for  transporting  the  skins  to  the  salt  houses  from  the 
killing  grounds,  thus  avoiding  long  '"■  drives."    Eaids 
on  the  rookeries  by  marauders  did  not,  wbile  I  was  on     EailS?^*^^^^^" 
the  islands,  amount  to  anything,  and  certainly  seal 
life  there  was  not  affected  to  any  extent  by  such  incursions.     I  only 
knew  of  one  raid  upon  St.  Paul  Island  while  I  was  there.     It  was  by 
a  Japanese  vessel,  and  they  killed  about  one  hundred  seals,  the  car- 
casses of  which  we  found  on  board  when  we  captured  the  vessel.     The 
Pribilof  seal  herd  should  be  protected  both  in  Bering 
Sea  and  the  i^orth  Pacilic  Ocean,  because  the  injury  to  sary™'"'''"*"'  ''^''^" 
seal  life,  bringing  about  a  decrease  in  the  size  of  the 
herd,  is  caused  by  the  slaughter  of  females  in  the  open  sea.     If  the 
seals  are  thus  protected   and   the  existing  methods  and  regulations 
are  carried  out  on  the  islands  the  seal  herd  will  not  decrease,  but  on 
the  contrary,  in  my  opinion,  will  increase.     If  the  seals  are  not  pro- 
tected in  these  waters,  the  herd  will  be  exterminated  in  a  very  short 
time.     It  is  only,  therefore,  by  protecting  the  seals  everywhere  in  the 
sea  and  ocean  that  seal  life  can  be  preserved. 

Henry  A.  Glidden. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  U.  S.  A.,  this  15th  day  of  April,  1892. 
[l.  s]  Chas.  L.  Hughes, 

J^fotary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  Charles  J.  Goff,  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  Pribilof  Islarids. 
pribulop  rooei^ries. 

District  op  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Charles  J.  Goft",  of  Clarksburg,  W.  Va.,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes 
and  says:  I  am  45  years  of  age.  During  the  years 
1889  and  1890  I  occupied  the  position  of  special  Treas-  ^penence. 
uiy  agent  in  charge  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.  I  was  located  on 
St.  Paul  Island,  only  visiting  St.  George  Island  occasionally.  About 
the  1st  of  June,  1889,  I  arrived  on  St.  Paul  Island  and  remained 
there  until  October  12,  1889,  when  I  returned  to  San  Francisco  for  the 
winter.  Again  went  to  the  ishmds  in  1890,  arriving  there  about  the 
last  week  in  May  and  remaining  until  August  12,  1890.  Since  that 
time  I  have  never  been  on  the  islands.  My  principal  observations  as 
to  seal  life  upon  the  islands  were  confined  to  St.  Paul  Island,  as  I  only 
visited  St.  George  Island  occasionally. 

During  my  first  year  on  the  islands  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company 
was  the  lessee  thereof,  and  during  my  second  year  the  ISTortli  American 
Commercial  Company.  In  1889  I  made  careful  observations  of  the 
rookeries  on  St.  Paul  Island  and  marked  out  the  areas 
covered  by  the  breeding  grounds ;  in  1890  I  examined  iuj'lrea"!"^ '''  '''®^" 
these  lines  made  by  me  the  former  year  and  found  a 
very  great  shrinkage  in  the  spaces  covered  by  breeding  seals. 


112  TESTIMONY 

In  1889  it  was  quite  difficult  for  the  lessees  to  obtain 


Difficult    for    com- 


panv  to  obtain  quota  tlieir  fuU  quota  of  100,000  skins;  so  difficult  was  it  in 
of  skins.  fact,  that  in  order  to  turn  ofi"  a  sufficient  number  of 

four  and  five  years-old  males  from  the  hauling^  grounds  for  breeding^ 
purposes  in  the  future,  the  lessees  were  compelled  to  take  about  50,000 
skins  of  seals  of  one  or  two  years  of  age.  I  at  once  reported  this  fact 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  advised  the  taking  of  a  less  num- 
ber of  skins  the  following  year.  Pursuant  to  such  report  the  Govern- 
ment fixed  upon  the  number  to  be  taken  as  00,000,  aud 
loweftoVetekonfn  further  Ordered  that  all  killing  of  seals  upon  the  is- 
1890.  lands  should  stop  after  the  20th  day  of  July.     I  was 

further  ordered  that  I  should  notify  the  natives  upon  the  Aleutian  Is- 
lands that  all  killing  of  seals  while  coming  from  or  going  to  the  seal 
islands  was  prohibited.  These  rules  and  regulations  went  into  effect 
in  1890,  and  pursuant  thereto  I  posted  notices  for  the  natives  at  various 
points  along  the  Aleutian  chain,  and  saw  that  the  orders  in  relation  to 
the  time  of  killing  and  number  allowed  to  be  killed  were  executed  upon 
the  islands.  As  a  result  of  the  enforcement  of  these  regulations,  the 
lessees  were  unable  to  take  more  than  21,238  seals  of  the  killable  age  of 
from  one  to  five  years  during  the  season  of  1890,  so 
^?''^^'''ifiQ*?   '^^^^  great  had  been  the  decrease  of  seal  life  in  one  year,  and 

quota  in  1»90.  »  ,-,,  ,  .  -,i,  li-  rtr\    i\r\r^        1    • 

it  would  have  been  impossible  to  obtain  60,000  skins 

even  if  the  time  had  been  unrestricted. 

The  Table  A  appended  to  this  affidavit  shows  how  great  had  been 

the  decrease  on  St.  Paul  Islands  hauling  grounds,  bear- 

cJa^e^^  showing  de-  j^g  j^  j^^^j-^^  ^^le  fact  that  the  driving  and  killing  was 

done  by  the  same  persons  as  in  former  years,  and  was 

as  diligently  carried  on,  the  weather  being  as  favorable  as  in  1889  for 

seal-driving.     I  believe  that  the  sole  cause  of  the  de- 

Cause,  pelagic  seal-  creasc  is  pclagic  Sealing,  which  from  reliable  informa- 

^^'  tion  I  understand  to  have  increased  greatly  since  1884 

or  1885.     Another  fact  I  have  gained  from  reliable  sources  is  that  the 

,,  .   .^    ^ ,  great  maiority  of  the  seals  taken  in  the  open  sea  are 

Maiontv   taken  in    °  ,    n  i  j?  i        •  -n  Ti.  • 

water arepregnant or  pregnant  fcmalcs  or  fcmales  in  milk.  It  is  an  unques- 
T^i^^^^g-  tionable  fact  that  the  killing  of  these  females  destroys 

the  x>ups  they  are  carrying  or  nursing.     The  result  is  that  this  de- 
struction of  pups  takes  about  equally  from  the  male  and  female  increase 
of  the  herd,  and  when  so  many  male  pups  are  killed  in  this  manner, 
besides  the  100,000  taken  on  the  islands,  it  necessarily 
Effects  of.  affects  the  number  of  killable  seals.     In  1889  this  drain 

upon  male  seal  life  showed  itself  on  the  islands,  and  this,  in  my  opinion, 
accounts  for  the  necessity  of  the  lessees  taking  so  many  young  seals 
that  year  to  fill  out  their  quota. 

As  soon  as  the  effects  of  pelagic  sealing  were  noticed  by  me  upon  the 
islands  I  reported  the  same,  and  the  Grovernment  at  once  took  steps  to 
limit  the  kiUing  upon  the  islands,  so  that  the  rookeries  might  have  an 
opportunity  to  increase  their  numbers  to  their  former  condition;  but 
it  \\ill  be  impossible  to  repair  the  depletion  if  pelagic  sealing  continues. 
I  have  no  doubt,  as  I  reported,  that  the  taking  of  100,000  skins  in  1889 
affected  the  male  life  on  the  islands,  and  cut  into  the  reserve  of  male 
seals  necessary  to  preserve  annually  for  breeding  purposes  in  the 
future,  but  this  fact  did  not  become  evident  until  it  was  too  late  to  re- 
pair the  fault  that  year.  Except  for  the  numbers  destroyed  by  ]ielagic 
sealing  in  the  years  previous  to  1889  the  hauling  grounds  would  not 
have  been  so  depleted,  and  the  taking  of  100,000  male  seals  would  not 
have  impaired  the  reserve  for  breeding  purposi  s  or  diminished  to  any 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  113 

extent  tlie  seal  life  on  the  I'libilot  Islands.  Kwm  in  tliis  diniinlslied 
state  of  the  rookeries  iji  J88*,)  I  carefully  observed  that  in  the  majority 
of  cases  the  four  and  live  year  old  males  were  allowed  to  drop  out  of  a 
"drive"  before  the  bacLelors  had  been  driven  any  distance  from  the 
hauling  grounds.  Tbese  seals  were  let  go  for  the  sole  puri)Ose  of  sup- 
plying sufficient  future  breeders. 

A  few  seals  are  injured  by  redriving  (often  coiitlicted  with  overdriving 
and  sometimes  so  called),  but  the  number  so  injured  is 
incon  siderable  an  d  could  h  ave  no  appreciabl  e  effect  upon  ,,,.{'^S''',^  "'s  "i"^er- 
ssal  life  through  desti'oying  the  virility  of  the  male. 
The  decrease,  caused  by  pelagic  sealing,  compelled  whatever  injurious 
redriving  has  taken  place  on  the  islaiids,  as  it  was  often  necessary  to 
drive  every  two  or  three  days  from  the  same  hauliiig  grounds,  which 
caused  many  seals  let  go  in  a  former  "drive"  to  be  driven  over  again 
before  thoroughly  rested.     If  a  "drive"  was  made  only  once  a  week 
fi'om  a  certain  hauling  ground,  as  had  been  the  case  before  pelagic  sealing 
grew  to  such  enormous  proportions  aud  depleted  the  rookeries,  there 
would  be  no  damage  at  all  resulting  from  redriving. 

In  mj^  opinion,  pelagic  sealing  is  the  cause  of  redriving  on  the  islands, 
the  depletion  of  the  rookeries,  and  promises  to  soon  make  the  Alaska 
fur-seal  herd  a  thing  of  the  pavSt.     If  continued  as  it  is  to-day,  even 
if  killing  on  the  islands  w^as  absolutely  forbidden,  the  herd  will  in  a 
few  years  be  exterminated.     I  am,  therefore,  of  the 
oiiini(ui  that  pelagic  sealing  should  be  absolutely  pro-   ^  I'loiiii.itiouueccs- 
hibited  both  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  Ocean. 
If  this  is  done  and  a  few  years  are  allowed  the  seal  herd  to  recover 
from  the  enormous  slaughter  of  the  past  seven  years,  the  Pribilof  Islands 
will  produce  their  1(K>,000  skins  as  heretofore  for  an  indefinite  period. 

I  hereby  api^end  to  and  }nake  a  i:»art  of  this  affidavit  a  table,  marked 
A,  giving  the  number  or  seals  killed  each  day  on  the 
Islandof  St.  Paul  during  the  years  1889   and  1890  up      ™^}r^,  "^'"    "»" 
to  the  20th  day  of  July.  '"" 

I  also  append  to  and  make  a  part  of  this  affidavit  a  table,  marked  B, 
showing  the  killing  of  seals  on  the  island  of  St.  Paul  up  to  July  20,  for 
for  the  years  1870  to  1890,  inclusive,  compiled  from  the  records  kept  at 
the  Government  House  on  St.  Paul  Island. 

I  also  append  to  and  make  a  part  of  this  affidavit  a  table,  nnirkcd  C, 
showing  the  daily  temperature  and  state  of  the  weather  for  the  months 
of  June  and  July  during  the  years  1889  and  1890,  compiled  from  obser- 
vations taken  by  Dr.  0.  A.  Lutz,  on  St.  Paul  Island. 

Charles  A.  Goff. 

Subscribed  aud  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Sevellon  a.  Brown, 

Notary  Fublic. 
2716 VOL  II 8 


114 


TESTIMONY 


A. — I'ablv  ahowhiy  the  killinff  of  fur-seals  on  St.  Pdul  Island  vp  to  July  20,  ISDO,  by  the 
2\'orlli,  Americun  Coiiitiicrcial  L'ompainj. 

VILLAGE  KILLING  GKJUA'D. 


Date. 


Nnmher 
killed. 


Date. 


Number 
killed. 


1889. 

luBe    5 

10 

12 

14 

15 

17 

18 

19 

20 

22 

24 

25 

20 

27 

28 

29 

Total 

July    I 

i.'.'.'.'.'. 

4 

5 

6 

8 

9 

10 

12 

13 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

2J 

Total 


201 

120 

947 

702 

340 

895 

1,161 

1,  561 

253 

1,353 

2,578 

979 

1,314 

311 

1,  349 

1,038 


15, 162 


1,  023 
834 
1,841 
1,716 
1,255 
1,302 
814 

1,  314 
654 

2,  004 
1,006 
3,085 
1,911 
1,931  I 
2,046  i 
2,017  ■ 
1,  913 


20,  066 


1890. 

Juue    6 

n 

13 

]6 

17 

18 

20 

21 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

30 

Total 

July     1 

3 

4 

5 

7 

8 

9 

10 

12 

13 

14 

15 

17 

18 

19 

20 

Total 


116 
574 
132 
317 
167 
274 
339 
292 
521 
426 
206 
117 
396 
206 
209 


4,402 


246 
242 
183 
494 
526 
411 
201 
163 
378 
633 
211 
104 
315 
372 
236 
556 
780 


NORTHEAST  POINT  KILLING  GROUND. 


Date. 

Number 
killed. 

Date. 

Number 
killed. 

1889. 

1,054 

1,270 
494 

1,  205 
754 

1,  407 
441 
844 
479 
335 

1,200 

968 

1,  559 

1,  .524 

376 

914 

641 

800 

793 

1,8.38 

1, 156 

948 

1,282 

834 

243 

1890. 

16 

18 

18 

78 

19 

20 

438 

21                       .                         

21 

96 

24     

23 

179 

25      

24            

205 

26 

25 

106 

27 

230 

28 

28 

79 

29       

30                

98 

July     1 

■July     1 

131 

•> 

9 

96 

4 

3          

180 

4 

321 

6 

5 

74 

8 

7                                .           

.336 

9 

8           

379 

10 

9  

271 

13 

10                                               ... 

112 

15 

13                     .                  

058 

16 

15     

245 

17 

16 

312 

IS 

17 

48') 

19 

18  

4(i5 

20 

19       .                                      

446 

20 

550 

Tot.il 

15,076 

1 

Total 

5,007 

RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND. 


115 


EECAPITULATIOX. 

Total  numher  of  fur  seal  liUcd  hij  lessees  on  Si.  Paul  Island  from  June  1  to  July  20. 

1889 05,  I  SO 

1890 ]7,1U5 

B. — Table  showing  the  heffinning  of  each  sealing  season  on  the  ishnuls  of  St.  I'anl  and  St. 
George  from  ISW  to  1890,  inclusive,  and  the  numher  of  fur-seals  accepted  by  the  lessees 
up  io  July  20  of  each  year. 


Year. 


1870 

1871  . 

1872, 

1873  , 

1874. 

1875. 

1S76 

1877. 

1878. 

1879. 

1880. 

1881  . 

1882  . 

1883  . 
1884. 

1885  . 

1886  . 
1887. 


St.  Paul. 


Season 
beican — 


Skins  ac- 
cepted. 


St.  George. 


Season 
began — 


Skins  ac- 
cepted. 


Total 
skins  ac- 
cepted. 


June 


18S9 
1890. 


29,  788 
65, 499 

68,  035 
88, 058 
83,  890 

69,  367 
58,  732 
78,  570 
80,  572 
80, 000 
80,  000 
80,  000 
60, 101 
83,  092 

70,  451 
72, 120 
77,  389 
73,  808 
68,  485 
16,  833 


June  4 
3 
4 
1 
1 
1 
1 
10 
3 
3 
9 
6 
4 
4 
1 
8 
9 
6 
4 


12,  604 
21, 563 
17, 362 

8,  554 
10,  000 
10,000 
15,000 
16,709 
20,  569 
20,  000 
20,  000 
20,  000 
11, 123 
11, 152 
15,000 

13,  335 
13,  381 
13. 187 
10, 13S 

4,112 


42,  392 
87,  062 
85, 397 
96,  612 
93, 890 
79, 367 
73, 732 
95,  279 
lOl,  141 
loo,  000 
100,  000 
100,  000 
71,  224 
94,244 

85,  451 
85, 455 
90,  770 

86,  995 
78.  623 
20,  94.5 


C — Table  showing  weather  and  temperature  on  St.  Paul  Island  for  June  and  July,  ISSO 

and  IS'JO. 


Day  of 
mouLh. 


Max, 
42 
40 
44 
48 
47 
50 
44 
47 


1889. 


June. 


Tempera-    ^^^^^^_ 


Mill. 
33 
35 
38 
40 
39 
34 
43 
36 


No  record! 


Foggy 

Cloudy  . . . 

...do.:.... 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

Eain 

...do 

...do 

...do 

...do 

Thick  fog. 

Ruin 

Cloudy  . . . 

Kain 

Clear  

Cloudy  . . . 

'.'.'.f\o  ...... 

Rain 

Thick  fog. 
...do 

Cloudy  . . . 

Clear  

...do 

Cloud V  ... 
...do  .■ 


July. 


^Ture."^'     Weather. 


Max. 
45 
48 
48 
48 
49 
42 
49 
50 
45 
49 
51 
50 
50 
49 
52 
50 
47 
48 
52 
49 
49 
50 
48 
46 
50 
44 
49 
48 
48 
50 
49 


Min.\ 
40 
40  ! 
42  |. 
41 
40 

40  . 
42 
40  I 
42  i 
42  I 
41 
42 
40 
40 
42 
42 
43 
42 
42 
41 
43 
44 
42 
42 
42 
44 
43 
43 

43 
42 


Clear 

Hazy 

Clear  

Hazy 

..do 

Thick  fog. 

Rain ^. 

Hazy 

Thick  fog. 

Fog ^. 

Clear 

..do 

..do 

..do 

..do 

Hazy 

..do'^ 

Fog 

Clear 

Thick  fog. 
Rain —  .. 
Hazy 

Fogr^ 

Hazy 

Thick  fog. 

Hazy 

Rain 

Fog 

Hazy 

Fog: 


June. 


''Tu?r     W-ther. 


Max. 
37 
34 
41 
42 
42 
43 
44 
48 
43 
44 
43 
42 
43 
43 
48 
43 
45 
44 
40 
43 
45 
49 
49 
42 
45 
42 
44 
44 
43 
42 


Min 
33 
32 
33 
31 
32 
31 
38 
39 
39 
34 
37 
37 
37 
38 
39 
36 
37 
37 
37 
39 
40 
40 
39 
38 
40 
38 
39 
38 
40 
39 


Snow 

Hazv 

Clear  

Fine 

Clear 

Fog 

Hazy 

Rain 

Thick  fog. 
...do....". 

...do 

Fog 

...do 

...do 

Raining  .. 

Fog 

Rain 

Clear  

F\)g 

Fine 

Rain 

Clear 

Hazy 

i^°s 

. . . do 

..do 

...do 

Hazy 

. .  .do 

...do 


July. 


Tempera- 

ture. 

Max 

Min. 

40 

40 

48 

40 

46 

40 

47 

39 

50 

40 

51 

40 

51 

41 

44 

40 

46 

41 

47 

42 

48 

43 

51 

41 

48 

43 

44 

43 

45 

43 

44 

41 

47 

42 

47 

42 

50 

40 

49 

40 

54 

44 

56 

43 

53 

45 

52 

46 

52 

45 

53 

43 

53 

46 

49 

45 

48 

44 

48 

40 

51 

45 

Clear. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 
Hazy. 

Do. 
Fog. 

Do. 

Do. 
Rain. 
Fo-. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 


116  TESTIMONY 

I>eposition  of  Alexander  Hansson,  employe  of  lessees  on  St.  Paul  Island. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  Comity  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Alexander  IJansson,  liavi]i.i»-  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
-,  34  years  of  aare,  a  native  ol'  Sitka,  Alaska,  and  was 

educated  in  the  public  schools  of  California,  and  after- 
wards attended  school  six  years  in  Lovisa,  I'inland,  returning  to  the 
United  States  in  1875,  when  18  years  old.     I  immediately  took  service 
as  second  mate  on  the  schooner  Matthew  Tnrner,  and  later  on  the 
steamer  Bora,  vessels  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  sailing  to 
Alaska,  and  was  emploj-ed  a  greater  part  of  the  time,  for  two  years  and 
a  half,  in  the  Unalaska  district.    lu  1886  I  went  to  St.  Paul  Island  of 
the  Pribilof  group,  and  have  since  remained  there  constantly  from  that 
time  until  August,  1891.     I  was  employed  there  in  various  occupations 
in  connection  with  sealing,  but  chiefly  in  handling  sealskins  and  as  one 
of  the  "  killing  gang,"  and  am  familiar  with  every  phase  of  the  business. 
In  188G  and  1887  there  appeared  to  be  enough  seals,  and  the  men 
were  kei)t  pretty  steadily  at  work  after  the  first  few 
i886*'i887"*^ '""^^"^^ '°   days  of  the  season  until  the  catch  was  completed. 
Good  sized  skins  were  taken  in  these  years  and  there 
was  no  trouble  in  getting  them,  but  large  seals  grew  very  Scarce  on 
the  island  in  1888,  and  still  more  soin  the  tliree follow- 
ing years.     The  orders  of  the  "boss"  of  the  gang,  in 
which  I  worked  in  1888  and  1889,  under  the  manageiricnt  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  Company,  were  not  to  kill  the  5-year  eld  bulls,  because 
they  were,  he  said,  needed  on  the  rookeries. 

There  were  a  good  manj-  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  every  year  I 
was  on  the  island,  and   they  seemed  to  grow  more 
ea  pnps.  numcrous  from  year  to  year.     There  may  not,  in  fact, 

have  been  more  of  them,  because  the  rookeries  were  all  the  time  grow- 
ing smaller,  and  the  dead  pups  in  the  latter  years  were  more  numerous 
in  ])roportion  of  the  live  ones.  They  were  thin  and  i)Oor,and  appeared 
to  have  starved  to  death. 

I  am  sure  the  size  of  the  rookeries  on  St.  Paul  Island 
voo  enes  8ma  er.  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  number  of  scals  ou  them  ill  1891  were  less  than 

one  half  of  their  size  and  number  in  1886. 

The  natives  for  whom  I  am  entitled  to  speak,  as  being  one  of  them, 

and  receiving  a  share  from  the  proceeds  of  the  sealeries,  i)rotest  that 

.  the  United  States  (xovernment  ought  to  have  protected 

t  agic  sea  in„.     ^^^^  rookcrics  agaiust  deei)-sea  seal  fishing,  because  we 

believe  the  seals  rightly  belong  to  us  and  should  not  be  killed  when 

Protection  necos-  they  are  away  from  their  island  home.     We  earnestly 

s^o-  pray  for  the  protection  to  which  we  are  justly  entitled. 

Alex.  Hansson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  30th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic, 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND. 


117 


Deposition  of  Max  Heilbronner,  secretary  o/Alaslca  Commercial  Company. 

SEALSKIN  RECOED  OF  ST.  PAUL  ISLAND,  ALASKA,  1871  TO  1889. 

Showing  the  dates,  the  rookeries  from  which  the  seals  ivere  driven,  and  the  nitmher  killed 
from  each  drove,  except  that  the  catch  at  Northeast  Poirnt,  is  entered  ireekh/,  without 
designating  the  particular  part  of  that  rookerij  from  which  the  animals  were  driven. 

1871. 


Oct. 


May    15.  Eeef  and  Tolstoy 175      Aug.  24. 

21.  Reef 248                29. 

Juno    1.  Tolstoy 57.S      Sept.    4. 

2.  Reef 220                11. 

5.  Reef 904 

6.  Englisli  Bay 1,  680 

9.  Son  th west  Bay 9G9 

10.  Southwest  Bay 1,  730 

13.  Reef 861 

15.  Englisli   Bay  and  Tol- 
stoy    1,130 

18.  Reef 1.387 

20.  Soutliwest  Bav 1.  069 

20.  Southwest  Bay 901 

22.  Lukauan 1.  283 

23.  Tolstoy 405 

24.  Reef 791 

24.  Northeast  Poi  nt 2,  653 

27.  English  Bay 2^9 

28.  English   Bay  and   Tol- 

stoy    2,128 

29.  Reef 1,006 

30.  Tolstoy 274 

July     I.Tolstoy 914 

3.  Northeast  Poiut 2,  038 

5.  Reef  and  Lukanau 808 

6.  Reef  and  Lukauan 2,  815 

7.  Reef 1,187 

8.  Reef 751 

17.  Zoltoy 1,029 

21.  Lukauan  aud  Tolstoy  -  -  1,  922 

22.  Northeast  Point \..  3,  352 

22.  Ketovy 778 

24.  Zoltoy.. 1,172 

26.  Lukauan 1,  788 

28 .  Northeast  Point 3,  836 

28.  Tolstoy 1,  388 

31.  Lukanan 650 

Aug.  11.  Zoltoy 205 

18.  Zoltoy 150 

1872. 

May    14.  Reef 227 

24.  Reef 455 

June     1.  Reef 759 

3.  Tolstoy 278 

5.  Reef 293 

10.  Tolstoy 209 

11.  Southwest  Bay 1,  607 

12.  Reef ". 002 

13.  English  Bay 1,  730 

14.  Tolstoy  and  Lukauan.  1,018 

14.  Northeast  Poiut I,  003 

15.  Reef 702 

17.  Zoltov 3,S8 

19.  English  Bay 2,  820 

20.  Reef  aud  Zoltoy 1,  160 

21.  Lukauan 1,702 


13. 

18. 

26. 

2. 

9. 
10. 
11. 

13. 

14. 
16. 
17. 
19. 

12. 

17. 

18. 
19. 
21. 

25. 


27. 

27. 

28. 

28. 

28. 
Nov.     6. 

16. 
Dec.    19. 

30. 


Zoltoy 122 

Zoltov 53 

Ketovy 189 

Zoltoy 1.58 

Northeast  Point 52 

Zoltoy 105 

Zoltov 77 

Lukanan   133 

Halfway  Point 1, 117 

Ketovy^ 1,300 

English    Bav   and   Tol- 
stoy   '. 1,  300 

English   Bav  aud   Tol- 
stoy    1,326 

Reef 825 

Lukanan 631 

Reef 683 

English   Bav   and   Tol- 
stoy   " 1, 157 

English   Bay  anjl   Tol- 
stoy    2, 454 

Northeast  Point 1, 490 

Northeast  Poiut 732 

Northeast  Point 1,  43<3 

English   Bay  aud   'i'ol- 

stoy 3,  412 

English   Bav   and   Tol- 
stoy .....' 2, 181 

Reef 712 

Ketovy 1,  420 

Reef 676 

Northeast  Point 3,032 

English  Bay 2,  987 

Reef 718 

English  Bay 501 

Reef 644 

English  Bay 486 


77, 620 


Juno  21.  Northeast  Point 5,014 

22.  Lukanan 524 

24.  Reef  aud  Zoltov 910 

27.  English  Bay 4,  615 

28.  Tolstoy 1,  315 

28.  Lukauan 318 

28.  Northeast  Point 5, 109 

29.  Lukanan 798 

July     2.  Zoltov 1,839 

5.  English  Bay 3,  259 

5.  Northeast  Point 5, 117 

6.  Zoltoy 1.640 

9.  English  Bay 3.  135 

12.  Lukanan  andZ(dtov  ..  2,060 

13.  Englisli  Bay 2,  319 

15.  Zoltoy 1,133 


118 


TESTIMONY 


187f2— noiitinnod. 


July 


25. 

29. 
Aug.     «. 

14. 

16. 

19. 

29. 
Sept.    6. 


ILilfwivy  Point .. 

Englisli  I'lay 

Northeast  Point. 

Jjukanan 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

I^nglisli  ]iay 

Zolrov 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Nortliea.st  Point. 

Zoltoy 

Lnkaiian 

l^vikanan 


1.  6-,() 

2,  3 IS 
4,  204 

,s:56 
(128 

2,  070 

JO 

119 

87 

20 

112 

151 


Sept, 
Oct. 


Nov, 
Dec. 


13.  Lnkanan 

20.  Lnkanan 

10.  Lukanan 

22.  Lukauau 

28.  Eniilish  Bay 

29.  English  Bay  and  Pcef. 
31.  English  Bay  and  Reef. 

31.  Northea.st  Point 

29.  Tolstoy 

5.  Reef 

6.  Tolstoy 


29 
11 
10 
17 
1,255 

664 

11 

1,680 

395 
66 

391 


75,  352 


xsrs. 


Aug. 


Sept, 

Oct. 
Dec. 


May  23.  Southwest  Bay 96     July 

23.  Reef 188 

June    3.  Reef  and  Tolstoy 796 

4.  Sout liwest  Bay 700 

6.  Reef  and  Tolstoy 916 

11.  English  and  Southwest 

l?ay& 2, 445 

12.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 1,  656 

14.  Eno-lish  Bay 2,016 

14.  Northeast  Point 3,  242 

17.  T(dstov 1,758 

17.  Reef  aiid  Zoltoy '155 

17.  Lukanan 663 

20.  Southwest  Bay 3,910 

21.  Z<iltoy .' 6.50 

23.  Tolstoy 1,787 

23.  Northeast  Point 3,  410 

25.  English  Bay 3, 137 

27.  Keefand  Lukanan 2,191 

28.  Zoltoy 1, 142 

28.  Nortlieast  Point 5,  020 

July     I.Tolstoy 1,838 

2.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan. ..  2,  322 

3.  Eniilish  Bay 1,927 

4.  Zoitoy ' 2, 194 

5.  Zoltoy 693 

5.  Northeast  Point 4,  662 

April  27.  Norlheast  Point 14 

May     6.  Southeast  Bay 407 

19.  Reef 336 

25.  Reef 303 

30.  Reef 217 

June    3.  English  and  Southwest 

Bays 2,  391 

3.  Reef 538 

4.  English    Bay  and   Tol- 

stoy  ' 556 

6.  North(>ast  Point 4,  062 

8.  Uovi'  and  Zoltoy 638 

9.  English  and  Southwest 

Bays 1,897 

10.  Tolstoy 63 1 

11.  Reef  .'. .540 

13.  English  and  Southwest 

Bays L982 

13.  Tolstoy (;20 

13.  Northeast  Point 4,724 


7.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan...  1.  .502 

9.  Eui-'li'sh  Bay 2,  485 

9.  Northeast  Point 1,  614 

14.  Tolstoy 917 

15.  Zoltoy 1,  228 

16.  Lukanan 1,  540 

17.  English  Bay 1,  553 

18.  Zoltoy 925 

19.  Lnkaiaau  and  Zoltoy..  1,045 
19.  Northeast  Point. . ..'...  .5,  696 

21.  English  Bay 7.52 

22.  Lukanan  ami  Zoltoy.  . .  1,  926 

23.  Lukanan  and  Zoltoy. ..  446 
23.  Northeast  Point 2,  725 

4.  Zoltoy 173 

13.  Zoltoy 144 

19.  Zoltoy 65 

25.  Lukanan ■. 72 

1.  Tolstoy 47 

9.  Tolstoy 25 

25.  Tolstoy 11 

9.  TolstoV 135 

20.  Tolstoy 355 

30.  Tolstoy 242 

75,  437 


June  15.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 889 

17.  English    Bay   and    Tol- 
stoy   2,  689 

17.  Zoltoy 474 

18.  Soutliwest  B;iy 1,  665 

19.  Southwest  BaV 1,  750 

20.  Tolstoy  and  Lukanan . .  2,  563 

20.  Zoltoy 470 

20.  Northeast  I'oiut 7,  212 

23.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  ..  3,977 

25.  English  Bay 2,  688 

25.  English  Bay 580 

26.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 1,913 

27.  Lukanan 1,321 

27.  Northeast  Point 8, 129 

30.  Tolstoy  and  Zoltoy ....  1,  212 

July     1 .  English  Hay 2,  208 

3.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  ..  2,615 

3.  Tolstoy 1,537 

4.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  . .  536 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND. 


119 


187'4— Continued. 


July     4.  Northeast  Point 3,  OU 

6.  Tolstov 1,  364 

8.  English  Bay 2,  702 

9.  Zoltoy 1,987 

9.  Lukanan  and  Tolstoy  .  1,  580 

10.  Zoltoy 432 

10.  Northeast  Point 3,  367 

13.  Tolstoy  ami  Lukanan  .  1.  664 

14.  English  Bay 2, 169 

15.  Zoltoy 468 

16.  Lukanan 1,  094 

16.  Zoltoy 668 

17.  Lukanan 527 

17.  Northeast  Point 4,  004 

23.  Zoltoy 127 

isrs 

Northeast  Point 25 

Northeast  Point 9 

Northeast  Point 6 

Northeast  Point 16 

Southwest  Bay 178 

Southwest  Bay 311 

Northeast  Point 9 

Northeast  Point 20 

Reef.. 143 

Reef 656 

Reef 492 

Tolstoy 204 

Southwest  Bay 1, 198 

Zoltoy  and  Tolstoy  ....  692 
Zoltoy,    Tolstoy,  a  n  d 

Reef 710 

8.  Southwest  and  English 

Bay 1,560 

10.  Southwest  and  English 

Bay -^ 1,456 

12.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 631 

12.  Northeast  Point 4,  052 

14.  Tolstoy 739 

1.5.  Half  Way  Point 2, 115 

16.  Reef  and  Tolstoy 707 

16.  Lukanan 452 

18.  Southwest  and  English 
Bays ^..-.  3,.300 

19.  Zoltoy 1,  3()3 

19.  Northeast  Point 5.  252 

21.  Tolstoy 1,  830 

22.  Zoltoy 1,  149 

23.  English  Bay 3,  007 

24.  Lukanan 262 


July  28.  Zoltoy 165 

Aug.     5.  Zoltoy 110 

10.  Zoltoy 104 

17.  Zoltov 124 

24.  Zoltoy 116 

Sept.    7.  Zoltoy 91 

16.  Zoltoy 108 

25.  Zolt.iy 117 

Oct.      1.  Zoltoy 44 

19.  Reef 113 

29.  Reef 196 

Dec.   17.  Reef 1,474 


Jan. 

3. 

Feb. 

10. 

10. 

Mar. 

6. 

May 

6. 

6. 

10. 

14. 

18. 

24. 

31. 

June 

1. 

2. 

5. 

7. 

92,  221 


June  26.  Southwest  Bay 4.036 

26.  Northeast  Point 7.  323 

28.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 1,  526 

30.  English  Bay 3,  925 

July     1.  Lukanan  and  Zoltoy  ..  2,534 

3.  Northeast  Point 5,  020 

6.  Zoltoy 1.248 

8.  Engl i"sh  Bay 3,  365 

9.  Toistoy 2,097 

10.  Ketoyy 1, 125 

10.  Northeast  Point 5,  935 

13.  Zoltoy 1,  .565 

14.  Tolstoy 1,  810 

14.  Ketoyy 746 

15.  English  Bay 2.  700 

16.  Zoltoy 1,205 

17.  Northeast  Point 7.  439 

17.  Northeast  Point 27 

17.  Zoltoy 637 

28.  Zoltoy 1.59 

Aug.     4.  Zoltoy 235 

14.  Ketoyy 191 

22.  Zoltoy 1.59 

2.  Zoltoy 101 

11.  Zoltoy 78 

22.  Zoltoy 41 

30.  Zoltoy 63 

Oct.    12.  Zoltoy 55 

Noy.     5.  Reef 155 

18.  Tolstoy 1,  985 

27.  Southwest  Bay 9 


90,  036 


1S70. 


Jan.    12.  Tolstoy  and  Southwest 

Bay 709 

May   23.  Southwest  Bay 897 

30.  Reef 223 

June    3.  Southwest  Bay 1 88 

0.  Reef \ 836 

6.  Reef 673 

7.  Tolstoy 468 

8.  Southwest  Bay 566 

10.  Zoltoy 173 

10.  Northeast  Point 1 ,  5S5 

12.  Zoltoy 8(;s 

13.  Halfway  Point 811 


June  14.  Tolstoy 885 

15.  Zoltov  an<l  IJ.cf 624 

16.  Southwest  Bay 2,  611 

17.  Northeast  Point 3. 120 

19.  Zoltoy 2,942 

21.  Tolstoy  Hill  3,  161 

22.  Zoltov 480 

24.  Northeast  Point 6,  193 

24.  Southwest  Bay 4,  .mS 

26.  Zoltoy 862 

28.  English  Bay 3,  017 

29.  Zoltoy 1,1^2 

July     1.  Northeast  Point 7, 000 


120 


TESTIMONY 


1R76 — Coiitiuucd. 


July 


Aug. 


Miiy 
Juue 


1.  Tolstoy  ami  Middle  Hill  4,  495 

4.  Zoltov  and  Kctovy 2,  G14 

O.Tolstoy 2,.S46 

7.  English  Hay 2,  267 

8.  Northeast  I'oint 8,116 

8.  Lnkanaa 2,126 

10.  Zoltoy 2,  03'J 

10.  Tolstoy 1,  974  I 

21.  Zoltoy 53  I 

29.  Zoltoy 1,040 

2.  Tolstoy 2,  139 

2.  Lukau'au 1,  538  | 


Aug    10.  Zoltoy 

17.  Ketovy 

23.  Keto-\'y 

Sept.    1 .  Zoltoy 

9.  Ketovy 

16.  Zoltoy 

Nov.  24.  Southwest  Bay. 

25.  Southwest  Bay. 
Dec.    14.  Tolstoy 


1877. 


22.  Eecf 

4.  Reef 

5.  Southwest  and  English 

Bay 

8.  Southwest  and  English 
Bay 

12.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 

13.  Halfway  Point 

14.  Sou  til  west  and  English 

Bay 

15.  Tolstoy  and  Lukanan  . 

16.  Zoltov 

18.  Zoltov 

19.  Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill 

20.  Southwest  Bay 

21.  Zoltov  and  Lukanan... 

22.  Halfway  Point 

23.  Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill 
23.  Northeast  Point 

25.  Zoltoy 

26.  Halfway  Point 

27.  Tolstoy'and  Middle  Hill 

28.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  .. 

29.  English  Bay 

30.  Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill 


May  20.  Seal  Lion  Rock 

30.  Southwest  Bay  and  Tol- 
stoy   

Jujie   8.  Reef 

11.  Southwest  Bay  and  Tol- 

stoy   

12.  Reef 

13.  Southwest  and  English 

Bays 

14.  Tolstoy 

15.  Ketovy  and  Zoltoy 

17.  T.dsto'y  and  Middl'e  Hill 

18.  Southwest  and  Engli.^^ 

Bays 

19.  Ketovy,   Lukanan    and 

Zoltoy 

20.  Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill 

21.  Southwest  Bay 

22.  Zoltoy  and  I^ukanan  .. 
22.  Northeast  I'oint 

24.  Halfway  Point 

25.  Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill 


332 
546 

796 

1,696 

446 

1,092 

1.  647 

1,506 
1,  092 


Oil 

458 

631 

172 

224 

1,  050 

5,  965 

1,  2.50 

430 

2.020 

1,  396 

2,166 

1,915 


June  30. 
July     2. 

3. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

7. 

9. 

10. 

10. 

14. 

27. 

Aug.     6. 

11. 

20. 

30. 

Sept.  12. 

Nov.  18. 

27. 

29. 

Dec.  22. 


Northeast  Point 

Zoltoy 

Tolstoy  and  Lukanan  . 
English  Bav  and  Middle 

Hill \ 

Ketovy  and  Lukanan.. 

Northeast  Point 

Zoltoy^ 

Zoltoy 

Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill 

Northeast  Point 

Zoltov 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Southwest  Bay 

Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point 


1S78. 


26. 
27. 


28. 
29. 


Lukanan  and  Zoltoy  . . 

Southwest  and  English 

Bays 

Ketovy  and  Zoltoy 

Tolstoy  and  Lukanan. . 


205 

703 
857 

2,407 
556 

1.098 

'887 

1,  282 

1,501 

2,271 

992 

1,  731 
1.4.57 
1.309 

5,  900 
1,473 
1,.5.52 
1,895 

2,  666 
l,i)(;i 
1,130 


June  29. 

July     1. 

2. 

S. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

6. 

8. 

8. 

9. 

10. 

10. 

12. 

13. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

18. 

30. 

Aug.  10. 

Nov.  26. 

28. 

Dec.  14. 


Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Zoltoy  and  Ketovy 

Lukanan 

Zoltov  and  Ketovy 

Tolstoy ^. 

Zoltoy  and  Ketovy 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point.. 

Lukanan  and  Ketovy.. 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Northeast  Point 

Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill 

Zoltoy 

Tolstoy 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

I.,ukanan 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Reef  and  Tolstoy 

Reef  and  Tolstoy 

Northeast  Point 


120 
129 
207 
163 
50 
9 
376 
127 
575 

77,  900 


6,449 
1,  849 
1,534 

2,522 

2,275 

5,660 

1,113 

495 

2,086 

2, 172 

1,066 

75 

142 

168 

176 

108 

52 

201 

1,241 

339 

20 

61,  584 


6,375 

2,237 

3,903 

791 

2,010 

2,622 

1,036 

7,231 

484 

885 

2,288 

916 

3,322 

3,  600 

2,101 

1,986 

2,337 

1,549 

272 

304 

294 

1,128 

815 

183 

82, 152 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    LSLAND. 


121 


July 


1879. 

May   20.  Southwest  and  English  I  June  28. 

Bays 278 

26.  Reef 525  | 

June    2.  Reef 162  ! 

7.  English  and  Southwest 

Bays 1,627 

9.  Reef 431 

10.  Halfway  Point 1, 188 

11.  Southwest  and  English 

Bays 1,462 

12.  Tolstoy 498 

14.  Southwest     Bay      and 

Middle  Hill 997 

13.  Reef,  Zoltoy,  and   Ke- 

tovy 730 

16.  Halfway  Point 522 

17.  Southwest      Bay     and 

Middle  Hill 1,331 

18.  Reef,   Zoltoy,  and   Ke- 

tovy 914 

19.  Southwest  and  English 

Bavs 1,110 

20.  Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill  1, 176 

21.  Lukanau,  Ketovy,  and 

R9ef ■ 1,  053 

21.  Northeast  Point 7,  388 

23.  Tolstoy  and  :Middle  Hill  2,  300 

24.  Southwest  and  English 

Bays 1,822 

25.  Reef,  Zoltoy,   and   Ke- 

tovy    1, 995 

26.  Tolstov,    Middle    Hill, 

andZoltov 1,542 

27.  HaKway  Point 1,940 

1S80 

May   14.  Southwest  Bay 206 

22.  Reef 225 

29.  Northeast  Point 19 

June    1.  Reef 216 

8.  Southwest  Bay 1,  496 

9.  Reef 926 

11.  Tolstoy     and    English 

Bay 884 

12.  Southwest  and  English 

Bays 762 

14.  Halfway  Point   1,  204 

15.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 763 

16.  Southwest  and  English 

Bays 990 

17.  Reef,    Zoltoy,  and    Ke- 

tovy    703 

18.  Tolstoy     and     English 

Bay 1,618 

19.  Northeast  Point 5,  277 

19.  English  Bav  and  Mid- 
dle Hill  . ! 801 

21.  Halfway  Point 1,  459 

22.  Reef,    Zoltoy,    and  Ke- 

tovy.....'   1,035 

23.  Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill  1,  701 

24.  Reef,    Zoltoy,  and   Ke- 

tovy    1, 437 

25.  English  Bay  and  Middle 

Hill '. 2,  ,580 

26.  Reef,    Zoltoy,    and  Ke- 

tovy    1. 062 

26.  Northeast  Point fi,  201 

28.  Halfway  Point   1 ,  514 

29.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  . .  1,  743 


10. 
10. 
14. 
15. 
16. 

25. 

29. 
Aug.     2. 

11. 

28. 
Nov.  13. 

27. 
Dec.     6. 

15. 

26. 
Auir.  20. 


June  30. 


Lukanan,  Ketovy,  and 

Zoltoy ." 1,206 

Northeast  Point 7,  042 

Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill  2,  617 

English  Bay 2, 148 

Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  . .  1,  885 

Tolstoy  and  Ketovy  ...  1,  932 

English  Bay 2, 106 

Lukanan  and  Ketovy. .  1, 168 

Northeast  Point ". . .  9,  083 

Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill  1,528 
Lukanan,   Ketovy,  and 

Z(dtoy 1,920 

Lukanan,  Ketovy,  and 

Zoltoy ." 983 

Tolstoy 948 

Northeast  Point 5,  599 

Zoltoy 2,652 

Zoltoy  and  Ketovy 1,  283 

Tolstoy,    Middle  'llill. 

and  Lukanan 2,  282 

Zoltoy 434 

Zoltoy 429 

Zoltoy 237 

Zoltoy 171 

Zoltov 3 

Reef. 70 

Reef 162 

Reef 845 

Reef 1,144 

Northeast  I'oi n  t 62 

Zoltoy 121 


81.  C04 


July 


10. 
10. 

12. 
13. 
14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

30. 

31. 
Aug.  19. 
Oct.  25. 
Nov.  29 
D.  c.  8. 
9. 

31. 


Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill  2,  297 

I'olstov  and  Jliddle  Hill  1.  621 

English  Bay 2,373 

Northeast  Point 7, 167 

Zoltoy,    Reef,   and   Ke- 
tovy    1, 386 

Halfway  Point 789 

Lukanan  and  Ketovy..  651 

Zoltoy '. . .  1,  577 

Tolstoy  and  Lukanan. .  1,  654 
Reef,  Ketovy,  and  Zol- 
toy  ". 2.218 

Middle  Hill  and  Luka- 
nan    1, 426 

Northeast  Point 7,  073 

Zoltoy,     Ketovy,      and 

Lukanan 1,221 

Zoltoy  and  Ketovy 817 

Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill  1,  763 
Reef,  Zoltoy,  and  Luka- 
nan  ■ 2,638 

Middle  1  lill  and  Ketovy  1,  834 

English  Bay 2.461 

Zoltoy 531 

ZoltoV 228 

ZoltoV ,218 

Zoltov 351 

Euuiish  Hay 60 

English  Bay 480 

Reef 1,126 

Southwest  P.ay 13 

Northeast  Point 125 

78,  923 


122 


TESTIMONY 


1881. 


Jan.     1. 

3. 
May  29. 
Juue    G. 

7. 

9. 

10. 
14. 
15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
24. 


2.5. 
27. 

28. 

29. 

30. 

1 

2. 
3. 
4. 


Tilly 


July 


.Tun. 

12. 

I'Vb. 

8. 

10. 

May 

22. 

MM, 

30. 

.June 

•   2. 

7. 

8. 

10. 

12. 

13. 

14. 

14. 

IG. 

17. 

10. 

20. 

21 

Tolstov  and  Reef 919 

Tolstoy 122 

Reef 171 

Reef  and  Zoltoy 421 

Enj^lish  and  Southwest 

Bays 1,22.") 

Reef 149 

Rocky  Point. 474 

Reef  and  Zoltoy 195 

English  and  Soutinvest 

Bays 2,38G 

Lnkanan,  Reef,  and  Zol- 
toy   723 

TIalfwav  Point 539 

Tolstoyaiid  English P.ay  1,  225 

Zoltoy  and  Lnkanan. ..  1,  614 

Tolstoy  and  Middl.-  Hill  1,  491 

Tolstoyand lOnglisli  I'.ay  2,  058 

Zoltoy 1.163 

Halfway  Point 638 

English' liay  and  Middle 

liill....." 2,438 

Middh;  Ilill,  Lnkanan, 

and  Zoltov 1,  275 

Northeast  Point 4,196 

English  Bay    and   Tol- 
stoy   1,252 

Southwest  and  English 

Bays 1,919 

Zoltoy  and  Lnkanan  ..  1,604 

Zoltoy  and  Lnkanan ...  3,  000 
Tolstoy,    Middle    Hill, 

and  Ketoyy 1,134 

Halfway  Point 943 

Northeast  I'oint 7,  369 

English  Bay  and  Middle 

Hill 2,285 

1883 

Sea  Lion  Roek 77 

Sea  Lion  Roek 103 

Sea  Ijion  Rock 8 

'I'olstoy 134 

Northeast  Point 54 

Reef 146 

Sonth  west  Bay 400 

Sontliwest  Bay 847 

l?eef  and  Zoltoy 428 

Reef  and  Zoltoy 488 

Sonthwest  Bay 1, 196 

Halfway  Point 217 

Southw(>st  Bay 803 

Northeast  Point 1,  393 

Zoltoy    and    Plalfway 

Poi'nt '.-  1,4.%8 

Sonthwest  Bay  and  Zol- 
toy  ." 1,070 

Lnkanan,  Ketoyy,  and 

Reef .' 9.S6 

Sonthwest  P.ay 2,  010 

,  'J'olstoy     and       Mid<l](! 

Hill! 6.52 

,  Reef,  Zoltoy,   and   Ke- 

tovy 1.4.57 

.  Halfway  I'oint 1,230 

.  Tolstoy      and      Middle 

Hill". 1,083 


Ang. 


Noy. 


Dec. 


5.  Zoltoy  and  Ketoyy 1,129 

6.  English  and  Southwest 

Bays 3,447 

7.  Tolstoy  and  Zoltoy  ....  1,  890 

8.  Halfway  Point 1, 118 

8.  Northea'st  Point 6,  371 

9.  English  Bay  and  IMiddle 

Hill  ....' 2,630 

12.  Tolstoy,     Zoltoy,     and 

Lnkanan 3,073 

13.  English  Bay  and  Middle 

Hill ' 1,778 

14.  English  Bay 1,  471 

15.  Tolstoy.  Lnkanan,  and 

Zoltoy 3, 558 

16.  Lnkanan,   Ketovv,  and 

Zoltov .'. 711 

16.  Northeast  Point 16 

18.  Tolstoy,  Lnlcanan    and 

Zoltoy 2,  449 

19.  English  Bay 2,  300 

20.  Tolstoy,    Lnkanan  and 

Zoltov 2,530 

1.  Zoltoy 313 

5.  Zoltoy 224 

16.  Zoltoy 247 

5.  Middle  Hill 180 

16.  Middle  Hill 669 

17.  Tolstoy 490 

21.  Mi<ldle  Hill 461 

7.  Southwest  Bay 1,018 

9.  Reef 1.  385 


82,  386 


June  24.  Northeast  Point 5, 987 

26.  Southwest  Bay 1,861 

27.  English    P.ay  and   Mid- 
dle Hill 2,654 

28.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 2,  293 

29.  Middle    Hill    and  Tol- 
stoy    1,791 

30.  Ha  1  f w  ay  Po  i  n  t 1 ,  497 

July      1.  Zoltoy 1,021 

1.  Northeast  Point *.  5,  830 

3.  Southwest  Bay 2,  520 

4.  English   Bay  and    Mid- 
dle Hill.." 2,037 

5.  Zoltov  and  Ketf)yy  .. .-  1,  778 

6.  Tolstoy,     Middle  "  Hiil, 
and  'Z(dtoy 1,241 

7.  English    ]5av  and    iMid- 
dleHill.." 1,373 

8.  Halfway  Point 1,  977 

8.  Northeast  I'oint 5, 128 

10.  Zoltoy,     Ketovy,    and 

Lnkanan 2,  055 

12.  Zoltoy,     Ketoyy,     and 
Lnkanan-..-- 1,928 

13.  Sonthwest  Bay 2,  700 

14.  English   Hay  and    Mid- 
dle Hill..' 2.  .503 

15.  Northeast  Point 4,  037 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND. 


123 


18  8  S— Continued. 


1,046 


July   15.  Zoltoy  and  Lnlcaiian  .. 
17.  English   Bav  and    Mid- 
dle Hill..' 

17.  Northeast  Point 

18.  Zoltoy 

19.  Zoltoy,     Ketovy,     and 

Lukauau 1,  27G 

20.  Southwest  Bay 724 

25.  Zoltoy 204 


1,719 

874 
923 


Jan.  1. 
May  20. 
June    4. 

6. 

9. 
11. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
18. 
19. 

20. 

21. 
22. 

23. 
23. 
25. 

26. 
27. 

28, 

29. 

30. 

30. 

July    2. 

3, 


Northeast  Point 

Southwest  Bay 

Tolstoy  and  Southwest 
Bay 

Halfway  Point 

Reef  and  Zoltoy 

Southwest  Bay 

Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill 

Reef  and  Zoltoy 

Halfway  Point 

Southwest  Bay 

Tolstoy  and  Lukauan . . 

Reef  and  Zoltoy 

Southwest  Bay 

Tolstoy,  Middle  Hill, 
and  English  Bay 

Halfway  Point  and  Luk- 
auan   

Reef  and  Zoltoy 

Middle  Hill  and  Eng- 
lish Bay 

Northeast  Point 

Tolstoy  and  Lukanan . . 

English  Bay  and  Middle 
Hill 

Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  . . 

Southwest  and  English 
Bays 

Tolstoy,  Lukanan,  and 
Zoltoy 

Middle  Hill  and  Zoltoy 

Lukanan  and  Zoltoy  .. 

Northeast  Point 

Halfway  Point 

Southwest  Bay 


Aug.     4.  Zoltoy  . 

14.  Zoltoy  . 

Nov.  17.  Tolstoy 

Hiir. 

30.  Tolstoy 

Reef . '. . 

Reef . . . 


and      Middle 


Dec. 


1883. 


19 

227 

.590 
352 
175 
209 
196 
351 
252 
490 
434 
341 
417 

734 

904 
9.55 

1,401 
3,279 

1,078 

1,428 
838 

1,638 

1,607 
1,  515 
1,191 
5,012 
1,  699 
2,151 


July     4.  MiddleHill  and  Tolstoy 

5.  Reef,  Zoltoy  and  Luka- 

nan   

6.  Middle  Hill  and  Zoltoy 

7.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  .. 

9.  Northeast  Point 

9.  MiddleHill 

10.  Middle     Hill,  Tolstoy, 
and  Zoltoy 

12.  Lukanan  and  Halfway 

Point ". 

13.  Southwest  Bay 

14.  Middle  Hill  and  Tol.stoy 

16.  Middle  Hill    and    Eng- 

lish Bay 

17.  PI alfway  Point  and  Zol- 

toy   

18.  Southwest  Bay 

19.  Middle    Hill,  Lukanan 

and  Zoltoy 

19.  Middle    Hill,    Lul;anan 

and  Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 


4ug.     1. 

10. 

20. 
Sept.    1. 

12. 
Nov.     5. 

26. 

27. 
Dec.    12. 

19. 


Zoltoy  . 
Zoltoy  . 
Zoltoy  . 
Reef  . . . 
Reef  . . . 
Tolstoy 
Reef . . . 
Reef  . . . 


251 
103 

161 
803 

865 
398 

77,  798 


1.494 

2,346 
1,  755 
935 
5,  066 
L161 

1,923 

1,  657 

2. 440 
2, 126 

2,  059 

1, 115 
1,873 


101 
190 
154 
197 
112 

53 
174 
155 

84 
402 
421 

59,  258 


1884. 


Jan 
May 


June 


2.  Reef 

21.  Halfway  Point  and 
Reef 

27.  Southwest  Bay  and 
Reef 

3.  Reef 

5.  Southwe.st      Bay     and 

Tolstoy 

9.  Halfway      Point      and 
Reef 

10.  English  Bay 

11.  Southwest      Bay      and 

Halfway  Point 

12.  Middle  Hill  and  Zoltoy 

13.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 

14.  Tolstoy    and    Halfway 

Point 

16.  Southwest  Bay 

17.  English  Bay  and  Reef. 


161 

187 

427 
317 

767 

1,238 
426 

1,  356 
8()4 
771 

837 
1,!21 
1,266 


June  18.  Halfway     Point      and 

Ketovy 912 

19.  English '  P,ay  uiid    Tol- 

stoy    486 

20.  South  west  Bay 1,  786 

21.  Zoltoy  and  K<'cf 1,  115 

21.  Northeast  Point 4,  074 

23.  Halfway      Point      and 

Zoltoy 2, 163 

24.  Lukanan  Reef  and  Zol- 

toy        1.724 

25.  Sout h  west  P>a y 1, 194 

26.  p:nglish    P.ay  and  Mid- 

dle Hill..' 2,528 

27.  Zoltoy,  Reef,    and    Ke- 

tovy....        1,827 

28.  Tolstoy,    Uiddh-     Hill. 

and  Lukauan 1,500 

28.  Northe.a.st  Point 5, 134 


124 


TESTIMONY 


1884 — Coutiuucd. 


June  30.  Halfway      Point      and 

Zolto'y 1,662 

July     1.  Tolstoy,     Zoltoy,     and 

Lukanan 1,824 

2.  English  Bay  and  Mid- 

dle Hill 1,884 

3.  Southwest      Bay       and 

ZoltoY 1,336 

4.  Middle    Hill,    Tolstoy, 

and  Lukanan 1,  512 

5.  Eeef,  Zoltoy,   and   Ke- 

tovy ^. 1,249 

5.  Northeast  Point 5,  799 

7.  Halfway  Point 1, 934 

8.  Reef,  Zoltoy,  and   Ke- 

tovy 2,067 

9.  Sou  th  west  Bay 1,  966 

9.  Northeast  Point 3,  003 

10.  English  Bay  and   Mid- 

dle Hill 1,915 

12.  Middle  Hill,  Lulianau, 

and  Zoltoy 3,072 

14.  Halfway      Point      and 

Zoltoy 2,  515 

1SS5. 

May   19.  Sea  Lion  Eock 127 

21.  Sea  Lion  Rock 41 

27.  Zoltoy 136 

June    3.  Eeef 48 

6.  Eeef 73 

11.  Eeef  and  Zoltoy 125 

13.  Middle  Hill  and'Xolstoy  587 

15.  Halfway  Point 741 

16.  Eeef  and  Luk;"aian 971 

17.  Southwest  Bay 1,  700 

18.  English  Bay  and  ^lid- 

d'le  Hill 617 

19.  Halfway      Point     and 

Lukanan 1,  307 

20.  Eeef  and  Zoltoy 986 

22.  Zoltoy  and  Jjukanan  ..  789 

23.  Halfway  Point  and  Zol- 

toy    1, 142 

24.  Southwest  and  English 

hays 1,  733 

25.  Lukanan,      Eeef,      and 

Zoltoy 1,679 

26.  Halfway  Point 1,  372 

27.  Lukanan,    Zoltoy,    and 

Eeef '. 1,328 

27.  Northeast  Point 4,  970 

29.  Southwest  Bay 1,  002 

30.  Ejiglish  Bay  and  Middle 

Hill 2,681 

July     1.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  ..  1,782 

2.  MiihU'o  Hill  and  English 

Bay 1,456 

3.  Halfway  Point  and  Zol- 

toy .: 2,132 

4.  Lukanan  and  Zoltoy  ..  976 
4.  Northeast  Point 4, 152 

6.  Southwest  Bay 1,271 

7.  English  Bay  and  Middh^ 

Hill 2,GG3 


July 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

18. 

19. 

21 

Aug. 

1 

5 

12 

19 

26 

Oct. 

30 

Nov. 

10 

24 

Dec. 

5 

24 

Southwest  Bay 2, 049 

English    Bay  and  Mid- 
dle Hill 1,523 

Lukanan  and  Zoltoy..  1,777 
English    Bay  and  Mid- 
dle Hill 1,866 

Northeast  Point 5,  089 

Middle  Hill,  Ltikanau, 

and  Zoltoy 2,527 

English    Bay,    Zoltoy, 

and  Eetoyy 1,907 

Zoltoy 229 

Zoltoy 89 

Zoltoy 65 

Zoltoy 84 

Zoltoy 57 

Zoltoy 53 

Tolstoy 115 

Tolstoy 108 

Zoltoy 487 

Eeef: 489 

84,  733 


July  8. 
9. 
10. 
10. 
13. 
14. 

15. 
16. 

17. 
18. 
18. 
20. 
21. 

22. 

23. 
23. 

24. 


27. 
Aug.     3. 

12. 

21. 
Sept.  5. 
Oct.  26. 
Nov.     9. 


Dec. 


Lukanan  and  Ketovy . .  2,  548 

Middle  Hill 1,292 

Halfway  Point 2,  302 

Northeast  Point 3,  916 

Southwest  Bay 2, 132 

English  Bay  and  Middle 

HiU 2,692 

Zoltoy 2,138 

Halfway      Point      aiul 

Lukanan 2, 137 

Zoltoy 2,201 

Reef  and  Middle  Hill . .  1,  552 

Northeast  Point 4,160 

Southwest  Bay 1,-590 

Middle  Hill  and  English 

Bay 2,720 

Zoltoy,  Eeef,  and  Luka- 
nan    2, 739 

Zoltoy  and  Middle  Hill  1,  603 

Northeast  Point 2,  620 

Halfway      Point      and 

Middle  Hill 2,495 

Middle  Hill,  Lukanan, 

and  Zoltoy 2,212 

Zoltoy  and  Ketovy  ....  983 

Zoltoy 147 

Zoltoy 178 

Zoltoy 176 

Zoltoy 44 

Zoltoy 53 

English  Bay  and  Midirio 

Hill ' 330 

Eeef 144 

Eeef 383 

Eeef 701 


85,  395 


RELATING   TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND. 


125 


1886. 


Jan.   21.  Sea  Liou  Kock 83 

29.  Southwest  Bay 49 

May    17.  Southwest      Bay     and 

Eeef 300 

28.  Reef h^S 

June    4.  Reef 561 

8.  Sonthwost      Bay      and 

T(dstov '. 1,323 

9.  Hallway  I'oiut 299 

10.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 633 

11.  Tolstoy 211 

14.  Lnkanan  and  Reef 427 

15.  Southwest  Bay 1, 1G6 

16.  English  Bay  and   Tol- 

stoy    850 

17.  Halfway  Point 833 

18.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 651 

19.  Tolstoy     and  "  Middle 

Hill 1,064 

19.  Northeast  Point 4,  655 

21.  Southwest  Bay 1,  890 

22.  English  Bay  and    Tol- 

stoy   " 1,  006 

23.  Halfway  Point 1,  770 

24.  Zoltoy 1,555 

25.  Reef,  English  Bay,  and 

Tolstoy ." 2, 158 

26.  Northeast  Point 4,  295 

28.  Southwest  Bay 1,  070 

29.  English    Bay  and  Zol- 

toy    1,503 

30.  Halfway      Point      and 

Lukanan 490 

July     1.  English  Bay  and    Tol- 
stoy  ^ 1,318 

2.  Southwest  Bay 856 

3.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 1,259 

3.  Northeast  Point 4,  544 

5.  English  Baj^  and    Tol- 

stoy   .^ 1, 161 

6.  Halfway -Point 942 


July     7.  Reef,   Zoltoy,  and    Lu- 
kanan ..." 1,967 

8.  Southwest  Bay 1, 466 

9.  English   Bar  and  Mid- 

dle Hill./. 1,562 

10.  Reef,    Zoltoy,   and   Lu- 
kanan    1.1.32 

10.  Northeast  Point 4.  822 

12.  Halfway  Point 1,  044 

13.  Southwest      Bay     and 

West  Point...' 1,442 

14.  English  Bay  and  .Ai id- 

die  Hill 1,  074 

15.  Reef,  Zoltoy,  and    Lu- 

kanan    1, 956 

16.  Halfway  Point 937 

17.  Southwest      Bay     and 

West  Point ...^ 2,  055 

19.  Northeast  Point 4,  422 

19.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 2,  312 

20.  English  Bay  and  Mid- 

dle Hill 3,110 

21.  Halfway  Point 1, 475 

22.  Southwest      Bay     and 

West  Point  ..\ 2,  015 

23.  Reef,  Zoltoy,  and    Lu- 

kanan    3, 147 

24.  English    Bay  and  Mid- 

dle Hill 1,624 

24.  Northeast  Point 4, 186 

26.  Southwest      Bay     and 

Halfway  Point 1, 988 

3.  Zoltoy 287 

19.  Zoltoy 282 

6.  Zoltoy 100 

24.  Reef 143 

23.  Reef  and  Tolstoy 665 

1.  Reef " 378 

21.  Tolstoy 191 


Aug. 

Sept. 
Oct. 
Nov. 
Dec. 


84,  890 


1887. 


May   25.  Reef     and     Southwest 

Bay 275 

June    6.  Tolstoy 419 

9.  Reef 314 

11.  Tolstoy 501 

13.  Southwest  15a y 4 07 

15.  Reef  and  Zoltoy .526 

16.  Halfway  Point ' 750 

17.  Tolstoy     and     English 

Bay '. 765 

20.  Southwest  Bay 523 

20.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 1,  641 

22.  English  Bay  and  Luka- 

nan    1, 004 

23.  Halfway  Point 1,  314 

24.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 1, 165 

25.  Northeast  Point 4,  891 

25.  English   Bay  and    Tol- 
stoy    1,961 

27.  Southwest    Bay     and 

West  Point...' 1,180 

28.  Zoltoy  and  Lukanan  ..  2,964 
20.  Tolstoy  and  Midlle  Hill  1,  895 


June  30.  Halfway  Point 1,  604 

July     I.English  Bay 1,162 

2.  Northeast  Point 6,  068 

2.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 1,  616 

4.  Tolstoy  and  Midilh-  Hill  1, 703 

5.  Reef,    Zoltoy,   and   h\\- 

kanan...." 2,016 

6.  Halfway  Point 990 

7.  English   Bay   and   Tol- 

stoy  .' 1,618 

8.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 1, 125 

9.  Northeast  Point 5,717 

9.  Southwest  Bay 2,  061 

12.  English    Bay    and    Lu- 

kanan . . .' 2,  593 

13.  Reef,    Zoltoy,    and   Jve- 

toyy 3,  028 

14.  Halfway  Point 1,  201 

15.  Tolstoy  and  Ketovy  ...  1,  298 

16.  Reef  and  Zoltov ..'. 986 

16.  Northeast  Point 6,  324 

17.  West  Point 617 

18.  Southwest  Bay 2, 105 


126 


TESTIMONY 


18  SV— Contiuued. 


Auff. 


Sept, 
Nov. 


Dec. 


July  19.  English   Bay   and   Tol- 
stoy    2,0o7 

20.  Zoltov  and  Lnkunan ...  3,  294 

21.  Hallway  Point  and  La- 

goon    1, 397 

22.  English   Bay  and   Tol- 

stoy   1,87G 

22.  Nortlieast  Point 5, 565 

23.  Zoltov   and    Southwest 

Bav 2,226 

24-.  Middle  M ill 232  j 

Aug.     1.  Zoltov 164 

8.  Zoltoy 113  I 

1888. 

Jan.   25.  Nortlieast  Point 532 

May   19.  Tolstoy  and    Sea   Lion 

Kock 122 

24.  Kecf 113 

28.  Eeef 82 

31.  Zoltov 290 

June    2.  Eect!: 121 

7.  Keef  and  Zoltoy 175 

9.  Tolstoy " 342 

11.  Southwest  and  English 

Bavs 927 

11.  Northeast  Point 121 

12.  English  Bav 584 

15.  Halfway  Point 428 

16.  Eeef  and  Zoltoy 788 

18.  Southwest  Bay 764 

19.  English   Bay  and  Tol- 

stoy    490 

21.  Eeef  and  Zoltoy 1,  398 

22.  Halfwav  Point 799 

23.  Northeast  Point 5,  562 

23.  English  Bay  and  Mid- 
dle Hill 700 

25.  Southwest  Bav 1,  440 

26.  English  Bay  and  Mid- 

dle Hill 1,158 

27.  Eeef,  Zoltoy,  and  Lulca- 

nau ' 2,005 

28.  Hallway  I'oint 911 

29.  South w'cst  Bav 1,  098 

30.  Nortlieast  Point 5,  998 

30.  English  Bay  and  Mid- 
dle Hill 1,625 

July     2.  Eeef,  Zoltoy,  and  Luha- 

nan ' 2,071 

3.  Halfway  l'f)int 1, 188 

4.  Southwest  Bay 822 

5.  English  Bay  and  Luka- 

uan 1.942 

6.  Eeef  and  Zoltoy 1,  491 

7.  Halfway  I'oint' 490 

7.  Nortlieast  Point 7,  054 

9.  English  I'ay  and  Luka- 

nan '. 2,398 

1889. 

May  22.  Sea  Lion  Eock 124 

25.  Eeef 41 

28.  Eeef 234 

J  une    5,  Eeef 201 


16.  Eeef  and  Lukanat 207 

24.  English  Bay 519 

5.  Middle  Hill 403 

15.  Zoltoy 106 

6.  Zoltoy 65 

7.  Middle  Hill 590 

25.  Eeef 78 

26.  Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill  185 
9.  Tolstoy  and  Middle  Hill  445 

15.  Sea     Lion     Eock     and 

Southwest  Bay 167 


July    10. 
12. 

13. 

14. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 

20. 
21. 
21. 

23. 

24. 


26. 

26. 

27. 

Aug. 

2 

8. 

16. 

23. 

25. 

Sept 

6 

15. 

Oct. 

27. 

Nov. 

3 

15. 

26. 

30. 

Dec. 

17 

26. 

85,  996 


Eeef  and  Zoltoy 1,082 

English  Bay  and  Luka- 

nan 1,  .5.54 

Southwest  Bay 1,  337 

Northeast  Point 5,  088 

Halfwav  Point 773 

West ''oint 480 

Eeef  and  Zoltoy 2,  004 

English  Bay 2,054 

Southwest  Bay 2,  216 

Halfway   Point    and 

Lnkanan 1,  410 

Zoltoy  and  Eeef 2.018 

Northeast  Point 5,  463 

English    Bay    and    La- 
goon    1, 347 

Eeef,  Zoltoy,  and  Lnka- 
nan    1, 269 

Halfwav  Point 347 

English  Bay 1,  619 

Northeast  Point 3,  565 

Eeef,  Zoltoy,  and  Lnka- 
nan   1,  353 

Southwest  Bay  and  Zol- 
tov    950 

Zoltov 177 

Zoltoy 140 

Zoltoy 159 

Middle  Hill  and  Lnka- 
nan    362 

Zoltoy 321 

Zoltoy 44 

Zoltoy 14 

Middle  Hill 32 

Middle  Hill  and  Zoltoy  126 

Zoltoy \  277 

Zoltoy Ill 

Eeef 127 

Tolstoy 190 

Sea  Lion  Eock 78 


84, 116 


June  10.  Eeef 120 

12.  Tolstoy 94" 

14.  Eeef  and  Zoltoy 764 

15.  Southwest  Bay 340 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND. 


127 


ISSO — Continued. 


Halfway  Point 

Euglish  Bay  aii<l  Middle 

Hill 

Zoltoy,  Reef,  aud  Luka- 

nau 

Southwest  Bay 

Northeast  Point 

Euglish  Bay  and  Middle 

HiU 

Eeef  and  Zoltoy 

Halfway    Point    and 

Lukauan 

English  Bay  and  Middle 

Hill 

Southwest  Bay 

Reef,   Zoltoy,    and  Ke- 

tovy 

Northeast  Point 

Euglish  Baj^  and  Middle 

Hill 

July     1.  Reef,  Zoltoy,  aud  Luka- 

nau 

Halfway  Point 

Euglish  Bavand  Middle 

Hill \ 

Reef,  Zoltoy,  and  Luka- 
uan  

Southwest  Bay 

English  Bay  and  Middle 

Hill 

6.  Northeast  Point 

8.  Reef,  Zoltoy,  aud  Luka- 
nan 

9.  Euglish  Bay  and  Middle 
Hill 

10.  Halfway  Point 

12.  Reef  and  Zoltoy 

13.  Southwest  Ba v 

13.  Northeast  Point 


Jau.   27.  Sea  Lion  Rock 


June  17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 
21. 

22. 

24. 
25. 

26. 

27. 
28. 

29. 
29. 


1,229 

1,160 

1,561 

253 

4, 156 

1,  355 
2,578 

979 

1,314 
311 

1,349 
4,260 

1,038 

1,023 
834 

1,841 

1,  716 
1,255 

1,  302 
5,627 

813 

1,314 
932 
2,004 
1,006 
3,148 


July   15. 
16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 
20. 
22. 

23. 

24. 


26. 

27. 
27. 
29. 

30. 

31. 
31. 

Aug.     6. 

14. 

22. 

3L 
Oct.  26. 
Nov.     4. 

19. 

21. 

27. 

30. 
Dec.    11. 


English  Bayaud  Middle 
liill  

Zoltoy,  Reef  and  Lu- 
kauan   

Halfway  Point 

English  Bay,  Middle 
Hill,  and  Lagoon 

Southwest  Bay 

Zoltoy  and  Reef 

Northeast  Poiut 

English  Bay  and  Middle 
Hill 

Reef,  Zoltoy,  aud  Ke- 
tovy 

Halfway  Point 

English  Bay  and  Middle 
Hill.....* 

Southwest  Bay 

Reef  and  Lukanan 

Northeast  Point 

Euglish  Bay  aud  Middle 
Hill 

Half w ay  Point  aud 
Southwest  l:>ay 

Northeast  Poiut 

Zoltoy 

Lukauan 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Zoltoy 

Lukanan 

Zoltov 

Tolstoy 

Reef 

Reef 

Reef 

Zapadnie 


ISOO. 

^170  1  May    21.  Sea  Lion  Rock 


3,083 

1,911 
1,931 

2,  045 
2,  016 
1,  913 
6,  301 

1,943 

1,122 
1,334 

1,752 

679 

1, 105 

3,140 

1,  640 

1,  588 

2,  i(;2 

*156 

M63 

MSI 

*139 

*87 

*44 

*80 

*223 

*347 

-^189 

*246 

*24U 

84,  937 


asi 


Recapitulation  of  seals  killed  for  their  slcins  on  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska,  from  1S71  to 

ISSO,  inclusive. 

1881 82,  .386 

1882 77,798 


1871 77,  620 

1872 75,  352 

1873 75,437 

1874 92,  221 

1875 90,036 


1876 77,900 

1877 61.584 

1878 82,152 

1879 81,004 

1880 78, 923 


1883 .59,258  | 

1884 84,733  ! 

1885 85,395  i 


1886 81,890 

1887 85,  996 

1888 84,116 

1889 81,937 


I,  Max  Heilbronner,  Secretary  of  the  Alaska  Coiiimercia]  Conipaiiyof 
San  Francisco,  solemnly  swear  that  the  foregoing'  "  seal  skin  record  of 
St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska,  1871  to  1SS9,"  is  formulated  and  compiled 
from  the  books  of  said  company  kept  on  said  island,  now  in  my  ens- 
tody,  and  is  correct  and  true,  according-  to  my  best  knowledge  and  belief. 

Max  Heilbronner, 
Secretary  Alaska  Commercial  Company. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Kolary  Public. 


*  Killed  for  food.  The  seals  killed  for  food  from  July  31,  1889,  to  May  21,  1890, 
int'lu;nve,  do  not  appear  in  the  records  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Conij)any,  Vut  are 
couipiled  from  the  ofticial  report  of  the  Treasury  ageut  iu  charge. — M.  H, 


128  TE.STIMOIsY 

Deposition  of  Aggie  KusMn,  assistant  priest  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  em- 
ploye of  lessees. 

MANAGEMENT,  HABITS 

Alaska,  TJ.  S.  A., 

iSt.  Paul  Island,  Pribilof  Group,  ss: 
Aggie  Kuslii  11,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 

Simshoe,  Knrile  Islands,  and  am  37  years  of  age.     I 
•.xpenence.  came  to  St.  Panl  Island  in  1867  and  have  resided  here 

ever  since.  I  can  read  and  write  in  the  Ilnssian  and  Aleut  languages, 
and  am  able  to  interpret  the  one  into  the  other ;  and  I  understand  the 
English  language  fairly  well.  At  present  and  for  several  years  past 
I  am  assistant  priest  in  the  Greek  Catholic  Church.  My  occupation 
on  the  island  is  that  of  native  sealer,  and  J  have  been  such  since  1870. 

I  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  taking  of  fur 
i8^u"toi884*'™'^'°°'  seals  for  skins  in  all  its  details  as  it  has  been  done  on 

St.  Paul  Island  since  1870.  From  1870  to  about  1884 
the  seal  rookeries  were  always  filled  out  to  their  limits,  and  sometimes 
beyond  them. 

About  1885  a  decrease  was  observed,  and  that  decrease  has  become 
^^  .      ,-jj,    more  marked  every  year  from  1885  to  the  present  time. 

1  never  saw  many  sealing  schooners  before  1881,  but 
they  have  been  coming-  more  and  more  every  year  since,  and  I  notice 
that  as  the  schooners  multiply  in  the  sea  the  seals  decrease  on  the 
rookeries.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the  seals  were  injured  because  a 
few  were  killed  on  the  rookeries,  when  men  from  schooners  landed  on 
the  islands  in  the  night  or  when  the  fog  was  very  thick,  for  the  num- 

bers  killed  in  that  way  never  amounted  to  much,  as  it 

is  not  often  the  raiders  can  land  on  a  rookery  and  es- 
cape Avith  their  inlander.  When,  in  188G,  we  all  saw  the  decrease  of  seals 
upon  the  hauling  grounds  and  rookeries,  we  asked  each  other  what  was 
the  canse  of  it,  but  when  we  learned  that  white  men  were  shooting 
seals  in  the  water  with  guns  we  knew  what  was  the  matter;  we  knew 
that  if  thej^  killed  seals  in  the  water  that  they  must  be  nearly  all 
iciiKiles  that  were  going  out  to  feed,  for  the  males  stay  on  the  islands 
until  tlicy  get  ready  to  go  away  in  the  fall  or  winter.     It  was  amonf^ 

the  cows  we  first  noticed  the  decrease,  and  as  we  never 
isiamis.  """^  """^'''^ ''°  kill  ttie  cows  ou  thc  isUinds,  wc  knew  they  must  be 

killing  them  in  the  water.     V/e  noticed  idle  vigorous 
bulls  on  the  breeding  rookeries,  because  of  the  scarcity  of  cows,  and  I 
have  noticed  that  the  cows  have  decreased  steadily  every  year  since 
1886,  but  more  particularly  so  in  1888,  1881),  1890,  and  1891. 
There  was  a  great  number  of  dead  pups  upon  the  rookeries  last  year, 
^^^^^  ^^^  whose  mothers,  I  believe,  were  killed  at  sea  by  sealing 

<a(  pups.  schooiu^rs  and  I  do  not  expect  to  see  many  cows  this 

year.  I  never  saw  a  dead  grown  seal  on  the  island  during  my  twenty- 
five  years'  residence  here,  except  odd  ones  that  had  been  killed  in 
fighting  for  places  on  the  rookeries. 

J  never  heard  any  of  tlie  old  men  Avho  have  lived  here  for  fifty  years 

before  mv  time  speak  of  such  a  thing  as  sickness  or 
ease^nmol'rseais.'"'"'  ^eatli  among  the  seals.     We  eat  the  flesh  of  the  seal 

and  it  constitutes  the  meat  supply  of  the  natives,  and 
seals  from  two  to  five  years  oldliave  been  killed  by  them  for  food  every 
week  during  their  stay  on  the  hind  ever  since  the  islands  were  peopled, 
and  no  one  has  yet  found  a  diseased  seal  either  young  or  old. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND  129 

I  have  been  told  tliat  tlieie  are  persons  who  claim  Ave  are  not  careful 
in  drivinar  seals  and  that  we  kill  them  regardless  of  sex,  ^^  .  . 
These  statements  are  not  true.  I  have  taken  my  turn 
at  driving  seals  from  the  hauling-  to  the  killing  grounds  every  year 
since  1870  and  I  know  the  driving  is  very  carefully  done.  When  I  first 
came  here  seals  used  to  be  driven  from  Half  way  Point  to  the  vilhige,  a 
distance  of  about  six  miles ;  and  from  Za[)adnic  to  the  vilhige  a  distance 
of  nearly  five  miles.  Wet,  or  very  <lanip,  cool  weather  was  chosen  for 
such  drives,  and  we  started  the  drive  at  about  six  o'clock  at  night  and 
driving  all  night  reached  the  village  at  from  six  to  eight  o'clock  next 
morning. 

Half  a  mile  in  one  hour  was  about  the  rate  of  speed  on  such  drives 
in  favorable  weather  and  I  do  not  know  of  any  drives  of  over  two  miles 
where  we  ever  went  at  a  greater  speed. 

All  long  drives  were  stopped  in  1879  when  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Cojni»anv  made  a  killing  ground  and  built  a  salt  house      ^  if,, 

•  ;■■   •       i  -1  ,.  TT    1 ,-  T»    •     i_  1  T         1   -ii-  Improved  UK  tliods. 

withm  two  nnles  ot  Hallway  Point;  and  madeakilhng 

ground  within  a  mile  of  Zupadnie.     Since  these  changes  were  made  no 

seals  have  been  driven  on  St.  Paul  Island  over  two  miles  to  a  killing 

ground. 

The  seals  are  never  driven  at  a  greater  speed  than  one  mile  in  three 
hours;  and  the  men  who  do  the  driving  have  to  relieve  each  other  on 
the  road  because  they  travel  so  slowly  they  get  very  cold. 

In  a  very  large  drive  a  small  seal  may  be  smothered,  but  that  does  not 
injure  the  skin,  which  is  taken  and  salted  and  counted 
to  the  lessees;  and  the  greatest  number  I  ever  saw  die  jn^f-'^i'  ^''^^""^ '"  ^'■'^• 
on  the  drive  was  twenty  ont  of  a  drive  of  about  nine 
thousand  seals,  and  the  twenty  skins  were  good  and  were  accepted 
as  "first-class."     The  bull  seal  arrives  at  the  island      ,.,,,„ 

1        ■        ^T  1     1     ^  1-  1  XI         1  T  Arrival  of  bulls. 

early  in  May,  and  takes  his  place  on  the  breeding 

rookery,  and  he  stays  there  until  August  or  September  without  food. 

About  the  middle  of  May  the  young  males  begin  to  haul  ^^ 

out    but  are  driven  ott'   by  the  bulls  y\ho  would  tear 

them  to  pieces  if  they  went  on  the  breeding  rookeries.     Consequently 

the  bachelors  haul  out  by  themselves  and  are  easily  surrounded  and 

driven  into  the  killing  ground  without  disturbing  the  breeding  rookery. 

The  cows  begin  to  haul  put  in  June  and  take  their  places  on  the 
breeding  rookeries  beside  the  bulls,  where  the  young- 
pups  are  born,  in  from  one  to  three  days  after  the  ar-       '^'^^' 
rival  of  the  cows. 

When  the  cow  goes  into  the  sea  for  food  her  stay  there  becomes  longer 
and  longer  as  the  season  advances,  until  at  times  she  ,    ^   ,. 

■  1,  ,  jy       J_^  !•  1  ^       J.'  Females  leeums;. 

Will  be  aMay  lor  three  or  tour  days  at  a  time. 

The  pui)s  when  first  born  can  not  swim,  and  will 

d- /.  , ,  J.   •     i  J.  Pups  can  not  swim. 

rown  it  they  are  put  into  water. 

I  have  seen  many  pups  drowned  when  washed  off  the  edge  of  the 

rookery  by  the  surf.     They  do  not  go  into  the  water 

x-i  XI  •  •     1  j_  1  1  1  T   XI  XI  -11         Lcarniiis  to  swim. 

until  they  are  six  or  eight  weeks  old  and  then  tuey  will 

keep  in  shallow  water  and  (dose  to  the  shore  for  sevc^ral  days  more. 

They  seem  to  like  to  stay  on  land  until  late  in  the  season.  Every 
native  knows  a  female  seal  at  sight,  and,  as  the  hnv  against  killing  a 
female  is  strict  and  so  rigidly  enforced,  and  as  the 
clubbers  are  the  most  experienced  and  most  careful  ejubiTec/f^ ''"'"'''''' "' 
men  on  the  island,  it  is  very  seldom  that  any  female 
seal  is  clubbed.  Our  people  have  great  respect  for  law  and  are  always 
leady  to  obey  any  rules  laid  down  by  the  proper  authority,  and  they 
2716— VOL.  II 9 


130  TESTIMONY 

have  been  raised  in  the  firm  belief  that  it  is  wron^-  to  kill  a  cow  seal. 
No  one  knows  better  than  the  natives  that  our  i)ros])crity  is  in  the  pro- 
tection of  the  seals.  They  are  our  food  siipidy,  and  our  earnings  from 
takiufjf  the  skins  enable  ns  to  live  coinfcntably.  Slionhl  the  Company 
desire  us  to  kill  female  seals,  every  nati^■e  iu  the  villa«;e  W(mld  be  inter- 
ested iu  having"  the  Government  officer  know  it.  The  instructions  we 
have  always  received  from  the  Company  was  to  be  careful  in  driving 
and  to  never  kill  a  female  seal. 

During  the  month  of  August  the  families  break  up  and  the  seals 
scatter  around,  and  some  of  the  cows  mingle  with  the  yonng  males  and 
are  driven  along  with  them  when  we  make  a  drive  for  food,  and  some- 
times one  or  two  are  killed  accidentally.  It  is  so  seldom  that  this  oc- 
curs, 1  do  not  thiidv  that  there  has  been  more  than  about  ten  cows  per 
year  killed  on  St.  Paul  Island  since  1870. 

The  skins  taken  from  seals  killed  for  food  are  salted  and  counted  to 
the  lessees  on  the  quota  of  the  following-  year,  so  that  nothing-  may  be 
wasted.  When  we  were  allowed  to  kill  pups  in  November  for  food  and 
clothing,  we  always  picked  out  the  males,  because  Ave  were  not  allowed 
to  kill  female  pups,  and  now  we  are  not  allowed  to  kill  R\^y  pui^s  at  all. 
.  When  the  seals  leave  the  island  they  go  to  the  south- 

igra  ion.  ward,  aud  when  they  come  back  in  the  spring  they 

come  from  that  direction.  The  bulls  begin  to  leave  the  island  about 
the  middle  of  August,  and  most  of  them  are  gone  by  the  middle  of 
September.  The  cows  and  bachelors  leave  in  November  and  the  ])ups 
follow  or  go  Avith  the  cows.  When  the  Aveather  is  good  a  number  of 
seals  Avill  cling  to  the  beach  or  remain  in  the  Avater  around  the  rookeries 
until  December  and  sometimes  until  late  in  January.     I  have  noticed 

more  and  more  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  every  year 
pups.  since  1888,  and  in  1891  they  were  so  close  together  in 

places  I  could  not  step  among  them  Avithout  stepinug  on  a  dead  jni]). 
I  saw  many  of  them  cut  open  arid  examined  by  the  doctor  (Dr.  Ack- 
erly)  and  their  stomachs  Avere  empty.  All  of  the  dead  pujis  Avere  poor 
and  thin  and  starved. 

I  believe  they  all  died  of  starvation,  because  their  mothers  had  been 
shot  at.sea  Avhen  they  Avent  out  to  iced.     I  nev^er  saw  a  full  fat  pup  or 

one  Avho  had  a  mother  to  feed  him  dead,  except  a  few 
VT  ':!V,?,>,?^'^^'"  that  Avere  droAvned  in  tlie  surf.  No  coav  Avill  suckle  anv 

pup  but  her  own,  and  1  liaAe  often  Avatched  a  cow  driv- 
ing pups  from  her  until  she  found  her  own.  She  knoAvs  her  puj)  by 
suu'lling  it. 

There  are  not  one-fourth  as  many  seals  now  as  there 

Avere  in  1882,  and  our  ])eoi)le  are  A'ery  much  alarmed 
to  know  Avhat  is  to  become  of  them  after  the  s?als  are  killed  off.    If 

the  seals  decrease  as  fast  as  they  have  during  the  past 

Effect  ou  natives.        ,,  •  , ,  -ii   i  i    i-j    •  i        ^ 

hA^e  or  SIX  years  there  Avill  be  none  left  m  a  A'ery  short 
time  for  us  to  live  upon. 

Aggej  Kushen. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  adminis- 
ter oaths,  under  section  1970,  Etivised  Statutes  of  the  United  States, 
on  this  the  6th  day  of  June,  1892,  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  H.  Williams, 
Trcasunj  aycnt  in  charfje  of  seal  islands. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  131 

Deposition  of  Jacob  Kotchoofcn,  native  scaler  on  St.  Paul  Island. 
HABITS — PELAGIC   SEALING — 3IANAGE3IENT. 

Alaska,  II.  S.  A., 

St.  Paul  Island,  Prihilof  Group,  ss: 

Jacob  Kotcliooten,  beiii!"^  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  na- 
tive of  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska,  and  I  am  iO  years  of  age.  I  am  a 
native  sealer,  and  have  worked  among  seals  on  St.  Paul  . 

Island  all  my  life,  and  I  remember  when  I  was  first        ^i«='i«^^ii«e. 
rated  a  man,  some  twenty-three  years  ago;  it  was  when  Kerriek  Buterin 
was  chief,  and  he  used  to  follow  us  np  when  we  went  to  drive  seals,  and 
tell  us  to  walk  along  as  slow  as  we  could,  so  as  not  to  tire  the  seals  or 
worry  them  in  any  way. 

When  we  used  to  kill  85,000  seals  in  two  months  we 
had  to  work  hard,  and  we  had  to  go  out  at  night  to  ,nl%^eu'''  ""*  °'^'' 
drive,  so  that  the  seals  should  not  be  hurried,  nor 
driven  in  the  daytime  when  it  was  warm.  In  those  days  seals  were 
driven  from  Halfway  Poiiit  to  the  village,  when-  the  ground  was  wet, 
a  distance  of  about  0  miles,  and  we  used  to  start  the  drive  at  G  ox-lock 
at  night,  and  get  into  the  village  between  6  and  7  o'clock  next  morning. 

In  1870  the  Alaska  Commercial  Com}»any  built  a  salt 
house  about  2  miles  from  Halfway  Point,  and  after  that  ^""'  «ho,  t.ned. 
the  seals  were  never  driven  more  than  2  miles.  Drives  used  tobebrought 
from  Zapadnie  to  the  village,  a  distance  of  alxmt  5  miles,  until,  in  1870, 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Comi»any  made  a  killing  ground  within  a.  mile 
of  the  rookery,  and  had  the  skins  taken  across  tiie  bay  in  boats  to  the 
village  salt  house. 

For  the  ijast  thirteen  years  no  seals  have  been  driven  a  greater  dis- 
tance than  about  2  miles,  and  most  of  the  drives  are  not  over  1  mile. 
The  drives  are  always  made  by  our  own  i)eople,  under  t^  • ,  , 
the  direction  of  the  chiefs.  None  of  our  people  ever  tivt"?*''''""*'^  ^  "^' 
knew  of  any  sickness  among  the  seals  and  pups,  and  No  sickuess  amoug 
their  tlesh  has  always  been  our  meat  food.  *^®  ^^^^^' 

But  very  few  dead  pups  were  ever  seen  on  the  rookeries  until  the  seal- 
ing schooners  began  to  come  in  the  water  around  the 
island,  and  they  have  increased  more  and  more  since  ^'^'  ^"''^'" 
1888.  In  1801  there  was  a  great  many  that  were  thin  and  i)oor,  and 
they  would  crawl  down  to  the  water  and  make  a  noise  for  their  moth- 
ers until  they  died,  and  when  some  of  them  were  cut  open  they  had  no 
milk  in  their  stomachs. 

When  the  cows  first  come  to  the  ishuids  they  go  on  the  l)reedin* 
rookeries  and  remain  there  through  June  and  July, 
excepting  Avhile  they  go  out  to  sea  to  i'ced,  and  this  is   ,„.'};.'|''*''  "'   ^^"^  '"' 
why  very  few  cows  are  ever  found  in  the  drives  made 
in  those  two  months  while  Ave  are  killing  for  skins.     In  August  the  fam- 
ilies are  broken  up  on  the  rookeries  and  the  cows  scatter  and  mix  uj) 
with  the  young  males,  and  when  we  drive  for  food  there 
are  a  few  cows  in  every  drive,  but  as  it  is  unlawful  to      ^'",  '■'•■"•'''^■■'*  tiiicu 
kill  a  cow  seal  on  the  islands  we  are  careiul  tliat  none 
is  killed. 

Our  people  are  very  careful  about  that,  and  if  one  is  killed  by  acci- 
dent they  do  not  like  it,  and   the  chiefs  report  us   to  tiie  GoNcrnment 
oflflcer.     The  inost  of  the  bulls  leave  the  island  in  Sep- 
tember,  and  the  cows  in  the  last  of  October,  and  early        '^''  ""^' 
iu  November,  and  the  pups  leave  in  November;  sometimes  when  the 


132  TESTIMONY 

weatlicris  warm  a  few  seals  remain  until  January  at  Northeast  Point 
and  on  "  Sea  Lion  Kock." 

In  1<S!)()  we  killed  seals  at  both  places  late  in  January,  and  we  seen 

seals  on  Sea  Lion   liock  in  rlannary,  1802.     J  have  noticed  that  tlie 

seals  go  oil"  south  as  soon  as  the  beach  becomes  icy,  and  when  tlie  is. 

-^    ,,,.,      ,  land  is  surrounded    by  drift  ice  the    seals  disai)i»ear 

Doubttul    where  ,•.  xi  j_i  i  j.i  i  ^i 

seals  Ko.  cutu'ely.     1  do  not  know  where  the  seals  go  to  when 

roo^iery"ach"ycar!™°  ^^^^^  Icavc  the  island,  but  I  do  thiulv  tlicy  come  bade 

to  the  same  lookery  every  year. 

Ten  or  twelve  years  ago  the  rookeries  and  sea  were  full  of  seals,  but 

^  now  there  is  not  a  great  many;  we  used  to  kill  85,000 

jie.i  (ccrease.         .^  j^^^  than  two  uiouth's  time  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and 

our  peojde  earned  plenty  of  money  to  buy  everything  they  wanted,  and 

in  the  Aviuter  we  killed  2,000  or  3,000  male  pups  for  food  and  clothing. 

Xow  we  are  not  allowed  to  kill  any  more  pups,  and  oidy  7,500  male 

seals  for  food,  and  our  i)eople  are  very  much  worried  to  know  what  is 

to  become  of  themselves  and  children. 

Jacob  Kotchooten. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  adminis- 
ter oaths  under  section  107(>,  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States, 
this  8th  day  of  June,  1892,  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  H.  Williams, 
Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  seal  islands. 


Deposition  of  Wicoli  KruTcoff,  native  enqjloye  of  lessees,  on  St.  Paul  Island 

PELAGIC   SEALING,  HABITS,  AND   MANAGEMENT. 

Alaska,  U.  S.  A., 

;S'^  Paul  Island,  Prihilof  Group,  ss  : 
Nicoli  Krukoff,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  43  years 
of  age  and  was  born  at  Sitka,  Alaska.     I  can  read   and   speak  the 
Kussian,  Aleut,  and  English  languages.     I    came   to  St.  Paul  Island 
in  18G0,  and  have  been  here  ever  since,  constantly  employed  among  the 
.  fur  seals,  and  I  have  had  daily  experience  in  all  the 

.xiJciKiice.  branches  of  the  business,  from  driving  the  seals  to  pre- 

l)aring  the  skins  fm*  shiiunent.  and  I  am  at  present  the  second  chief  on 
St.  Paul  Island,  to  which  position  I  was  appointed  in  1891.     I  remem- 
ber the  iirst  time  I  noticed  a  decrease  of  seals  on  the  rookeries,  about 
seven  or  eight  years  ago,  and  the  seals  have  become 
Decrease    be gau  fewcT  cvcrv  vcar  siuce.     We  used  to  kill  85,000  seals 

seven  or  eight  years  02.     r>      S  V    i         i   •       i  j_i  •    i.       t  1   1-  x-i 

ago.  on  St.  Paul  Island  in  less  than  sixty  days   time  until 

1890,  when  they  became  so  few  we  could  not  take  more 
than  about  one-fourth  of  that  number  in  the  same  length  of  time. 
I  never  saw  but  a  few  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  until  the  schooners 
came  into  the  sea  and  shot  the  cows  when  they  went 
i>"ps-  ^^^  ^^j  j-^^^l   .^jj^l   then   the  dead   ])ups  began  to  in- 

crease on  the  rookeries.  I  hRve  often  cut  o])en  dead  pups  and  examined 
their  stomachs,  and  found  them  empty,  and  the  pups  looked  as  if  they 
had  been  starved  to  death.  There  were  more  dead  jnips  in  1891  than 
c-\  ('!•  betore,  and  they  were  all  starved  to  deatb.  When  we  used  to  kill 
pups  for  food  and  clothing  in  November,  I  often  examined  them,  and 
always  found  plenty  of  milk  in  their  stomachs. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  133 

I  never  saw  or  lieard  tell  of  a  siok  seal  and  althougli 
we  liave  always  eaten  the  flesh  of  tliefur  seal  we  have  ^^^o  sick  or  diseased 
never  found  one  that  was  diseased  in  any  way. 

The  seals  came  to  theislands  in  the  spring  and  they  come  from  the 
south  through  the  passes  of  the  Aleutian  islands.     The      a    -.i  f 
bulls  come  lirst  in  May,  then  the  oldest  of  the  bach-      £^^[1]^  ° 
elors,  and  they  keep  coming  till  July,  and  they  haul  out 
by  themselves  on  the  hauling  grounds;  and  the  bulls        '^^  ^''^'*' 
and  cows  go  together  on  the  breeding  rookeries.     If  the  bachelors  went 
on  the  breeding  rookeries  the  bulls  would  kill  them. 

The  cows  begin  to  haul  out  in  June  and  they  are  all  on  the  rookeries 
about  the  middle  of  July,  and  the  ])ups  are  born  soon 
after  the  cows  re;ich  the  rookeries.    As   soon  as  the     ^"^"^^ 
pups  are  a  few  days  old  the  cows  go  into  the  sea  to      (^^^^^  feedin<r 
feed  and  they  stay  out  a  little  louger  every  time  they 
go  until  they  will  be  away  for  a  week  at  a  time.     Tlie  pups  are  help- 
less whe.n  born,  and  they  can  not  swim;  and  they  would 
drown  if  put  into  water,  and  I  have  seen  them  drown      rupscau  not  swim. 
when  swept  off  by  the  surf  in  bad  weather.     They  do  not  eat  or  drink 
anything  except  the  milk  they  get  from  the  cows.     No 
cow  will  suckle  any  pup  but  her  own.     I  think  the  herowu^'u^'*^^  ""'^ 
bachelors  do  not  eat  from  the  time  they  arrive  till  they 
go  away,  and  I  think  so  because  the  seals  killed  in  jMay  and  early  June 
are  fat  and  have  plenty  of  food  in  thciir  stomachs,  Avhile 
those  killed  later  than  June  are  i^oor  and  their  stomachs    J^^aciieiors   do  not 

.  1    , ,  ,  ^  ,  ,  . ,   , ,  leave  islands  to  feed. 

are  empty,  and  they  get  ijoorer  and  poorer  until  they 
go  off  in  November. 

The  driving  is  all  done  by  our  own  people  under  direction  of  the  chiefs 
and  we  never  drive  faster  than  about  half  a  mile  in  one 
hour.     We  very  seldom  drive  twice  from  one  rookery     i^i'"'ii»g- 
in  one  week  and  very  few  cows  get  iuto  a  drive  before  the  middle  of 
August. 

.    Later  in  the  season,  when  we  are  driving  seals  for  food,  a  few  cows 
get  into  the  drives,  but  we  are  careful  that  they  do  not  get  hurt;  we 
all  kno^v  it  is  forbidden  to  kill  a  female  seal  at  any  time  and  we  do  not 
want  to  have  them  killed  and  none  are  killed  except 
by  accident.     I  never   saw  a  seal  killed  b/ overdriv-  onfy  by  Occident  ^"'' 
ing  or  by  overheating;  odd  ones  do  die  on  the  drives 
by  smothering,  but  their  skins  are  taken  by  the  company  aod   are 
counted  in  with  the  others.     We  used  to  kill  pups  for  food  in  November 
and  then  we  had  to  examine  the  sex  and  kill  none  but  males.     The  Gov- 
ernment has  forbidden  us  to  kill  any  more  pui)S  and 
we  get  other  meat  instead.     All  our  people  know  the  pups'.''''''*'''"  ^   ''"* 
seals  are  getting  scarcer  every  year  and  we  think  it  is 
because  of  the  schooners  coming  in  and  shooting  the 
cows  in  the  sea.     Sometimes  thc^y  try  to  land  on  the 
rookeries,  but  we  drive  them  off  with  guns  and  they      j,  . 
never  get  many  seals  that  way.     We  earn  very  little       "^"  ' 
wages  now,  and  weexpecitthe  Government  to  kec])  us 
in  food  and  clothing.   Unless  the  schooners  are  stojjped   „if  llam  e"*^  decrease 
the  seals  will  all  be  gone  soon  and  then  I  do  not  know 
what  my  ix'0[)le  can  do  for  a  living;  they  know  nothing  of  other  work 
and  there  is  nothing  else  at  the  seal  islands. 

NicoLi  Krukoff. 


134  TESTIMONY 

Subscrihod  nnd  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  admin- 
ister oatlis  under  section  l'.>7(),  Kevised  Statutes  of  the  United  States, 
this  8th  day  of  June,  1892,  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Ahiska. 

Wm.  n.  Wii.lt AMS, 
Treasury  Agent  in  Charge  of  Seal  Islands. 


Deposition  of  IT.  W.  Mclntyre,  chief  mechanic  and  resident  agent  of  lessees, 

on  St.  Paul  Lsland. 

management. 

State  of  Caltfoenia, 

County  of  Tehama,  ss  : 

H.  W,  Mclntyre,  haviui;-  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
an  American  citizen,  a  native  of  the  State  of  Vermont;  my  age  is  57 
years;  I  am  a  resident  of  Vina,  Tehama  County,  California,  and  by  oc- 
cuj)ation  General  Manager  of  Senator  Leland  Stanford's  Vina  ranch  and 
Palo  Alto  Vineyard.  In  the  year  1871  I  entered  the  service  of  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Comjiany,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  at  the  Pribilof 
groui?  of  islands  in  Bering  Sea,  first  in  the  capacity  of  chief  mechanic 
and  later  as  resident  Agent  in  charge  of  the  island  of  St.  Paul. 

I  left  San  Francisco  for  Alaska  early  in  Aj)ri]  of  1871,  and  arrived  at 
St.  Paul  Island  about  tlie  beginning  of  May  the  same 
xpenence.  year,  ou  wliicli  isUiud  I  resided  continuously  until  the 

close  of  the  sealing  season  of  the  year  1881,  leavingthere  in  the  month 
of  August,  except  that  I  Avas  absent  on  leave  duriug  a  portion  of  the 
winter  season  in  1^74, 1877,  and  1880.  During  theperiod  of  my  residence 
I  visited  the  islands  of  St.  (leorge,  Uualaska,  and  other  principal  sta- 
tions of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North 
Pacific,  and  obtained  through  observation  and  from  information  very 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  fur  seals  andtlieir  habits  while  upon  or  near 
the  islaiuls  which  constitute  their  breeding  place. 

Under  persomil  instruction  from  the  late  Senator  John  F.  Miller, 
tlien  president  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Companv,  I 
St  rlu?Mami!°"  "^  commeuccd  shortly  after  my  arrival  upon  the  Island  a 
series  of  observations  in  order  to  determine  as  nearly 
as  i)racticable  the  area  of  ground  occupied  by  tlie  seals,  and  incident- 
ally tlieir  number,  approximately,  during  the  season  of  1871  for  tlie 
purpose  of  noting  the  clianges  wliich  miglit  occur  from  year  to  year. 
To  tliis  end,  in  the  year  1871,  I  carefully  noted  tbe  position  of  the  seals 
on  bret'ding  rookeries  and  u])on  the  several  liauling  grounds  where  old, 
young,  and  middle-aged  seals  were  congregated,  and  by  definitely 
jnarkingtlie  i)oiiits  reached  was  enabled,  after  the  animals  had  migrated 
in  the  autumn,  to  carry  forward  a  survey  of  the  Island  as  a  whole,  and 
on  the  plat  or  ma])  resulting  from  said  survey  was  designated  accurately 
the  ground  occupied  by  the  seals. 

The  work'  of  sTirvey  was  carried  on  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  I  was 
enabled  from  the  observations  so  made  to  make  a  chart  or  map  havings 
upon  it  bearings  and  distances,  the  Avhole  of  which  were  verified  by 
Lieut.  Washburn  ^Nlaynard,  of  the  IT.  S.  Navy,  slight  differences  in  our 
measurements  and  observations  only  l)eing  noted. 

Owing  to  the  faet  that  President  Miller  took  occasion  to  impress  upon 
me  thenecessity  of  exercising  the  greatci^t  care  in  complying  strictly  with 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  135 

all  the  requirements  of  the  lease,  and  that  ctireful  attention  to  the  pres- 
ervation of  the  seal  life  should  under  all  circumstances  be  regarded  as 
of  first  importance,  and  to  this  end  the  most  careful  study  of  tlie  habits 
of  the  animals  should  be  made  at  the  outset,  and  continued  from  year 
to  year  in  order  to  determine  what  effect  the  killing  of  a  definite  number 
might  have  upon  the  seals  as  to  increase  or  diminution — I  took  more 
than  ordinary  care  in  noting  the  area  of  ground  occui)ied  each  year  by 
the  different  classes  of  seals,  and  it  was  evident  that      „,      , 

,       .  ■■■  -.-.r^-.     ,       -..->.,-.     •       1       ■  XI  Steady    increase 

during  the  years  lb <1  to  Ibbl  inclusive  there  was  a  from  is7i  to  issi. 
steady  increase  in  seals  of  all  kinds. 

As  my  observations  extended  over  a  period  of  time  sufficient  for  the 
growth  and  full  development  of  individuals  I  was  enabled  to  determine 
with  a  greater  degree  of  accuracy  the  ettect  of  the  operations  of  the  Com- 
pany generally,  as  well  as  to  follow  specifically  to  result,  various  mat- 
ters of  detail,  allot  which  were  based  upon  the  ex])erience  and  methods 
of  the  Russian  American  Company  as  practically  known  to  Captain  Nie- 
banm.  General  Manager  of  the  business  of  the  Lessees,  and  to  the  Chiefs 
and  other  j)ermanent  residents  of  the  Islands. 

Grounds  occupied  by  the  seals  as  "breeding  rookeries"  or  "hauling 
grounds"  are  filled  with  a  degree  of  uniformity  each  year;  hence  the 
area  occupied  is  a  very  sure  criterion  in  estimating  numbers,  whether 
of  "  bulls,"  or  females  with  their  young,  or  young  males,  or  of  mixed 
young  (yearlings)  of  both  sexes,  and  the  fact  of  there  being  a  constant 
increase  as  above  mentioned  was  fully  established  by  the  constant  en- 
largement, year  after  year,  of  the  space  so  filled. 

The  fur  seals  of  Alaska  are  bred  and  born  on  the  Islands  of  the  Pribi- 
lof  group  in  Bering  Sea,  where  they  find  combined  the  pribiiof  islands  tbe 
conditions  requisite  to  their  existence,  of  isolation,  home  of  the  luxskau 
climate,  and  proximity  to  food  sux)i)ly.  ^^^^' 

The  seals  are  polygamous  in  their  habits  as  to  breeding,  and  each 
full  grown  and  vigorous  male   animal  endeavors    to 
gather  around  himself  the  largest  possible  number   of 
females,  and  to  appropriate  and  hold  by  force  the  space  necessary  for 
them  and  their  young.     Accordingly,  when  the  males 
return  to  the  Islands,  beginning  in  May  of  each  year  ^^^^^^^^  '^'"'^  p"iyga- 
(in  favorable  seasons  some  may  be  seen  in  April),  the 
most  desirable  locations  on  the  breeding  grounds  are  ai)propriated  by 
the  strongest  and  most  vigorous  males,  while  the  weaker  or  half  grown, 
or  young,  are  forced  to  take  places  more  remote  from  well  defined  cen- 
,  ters  of  poi)uhition. 

In  June  the  females  driven  by  the  nearai)proacli  of  maternity  arrive, 
and  on  landing  are  forced  by  the  nearest  male  to  remain 
near  himself  as  long  as  possible,  but  as  the  space  he  can  rriur"^'^*'""  "^  ''* 
hold  is  limited  and  soon  filled,  his  neighbors  attempt  to 
steal  from  his  harem,  which  gives  rise  to  fierce  contests,  in  which,  not  in- 
frequently, the  femaleisthe  victim  and  is  maimed  or  killed,  and  the  young 
(pups),  perhaps  just  born,  are  trampled  and  crushed ;  hence  it  is  evident 
thatasiii)erabun(lanceof  males  on  thebreoding  grounds     c,        i     i         «• 

i.    1       ■       11  1  -J.  •         I  -1        i  J.1      .  -     X    IT  J.        hnpcvabnndunco  of 

IS  not  desirable,  ana  it  is  also  evident  that  an  intelligent  m  ai  es  on  breeding 
and  carefully  applied  system  of  killing  males  only  must  gr->"ndsnotdesirabie. 
result  favorably  to  seal  life,  by  preventing  overcrowding,  and  thus 
removing  the  cause  of  a  constant  warfare  which  could  not  fail  of  being 
fatal  to  vast  numbers  of  females  and  young  of  both  sexes. 

To  myself,  as  having  the  interest  ot  my  employer  at  heart,  the  health- 
ful conditiim  of  the  "  rookeries"  and  their  constant  ex])ansioii  was  a 
source  of  gratification  in  all  resi^ects,  and  especially  as  in  full  evidence 


136  TESTIMONY 

tliat  the  business  was  coudiieted  ou  correct  principles.     Of  this  I  am 

fully  convinced,  and  were  I  to  have  occasion  to  assume  control  of  the 

seal  interest  (outside  destruction  being  prevented),  I 

Judicious  manage-  should  most  assurcdlv  follow  the  precedent  established 

meut  by  lessees.  ,        ,_         .,,         y,  "^        -i/^-i  t-  ,        n      , 

by  the  Alaska  Commercial  (Jompany  durino-  the  nrst 
ten  years  of  its  lease  of  the  Islands. 
Within  a  few  days  after  landing  (it  may  be  but  a  few  hours  or  even 

minutes,  as  I  have  seen)  the  female  gives  birth  to  her 

^"^''*  young,  but  one  being  brought  forth  each  year.     The 

reported  occasional  birth  of  twins  is  not  verified.     These  little  ones, 

"  puiDS,"  as  they  are  called,  are  comparatively  helpless, 

Unable  to  swim.       particularly  awkward  tn  movement,  and,  unlike  the 

hair  seal,  are  unable  to  swim.     They  are  nursed  by  the  mother,  who, 

after  copulation  has  taken  place,  is  permitted  by  the  old  male  to  go  at 

will  in  quest  of  food.     At  about  six  weeks  old  the 
Learning  to  swim,    y^^jjg  gather  iu  groups  and  shortly  after  learn  to  swim, 
but  depend  for  a  long  period  upon  the  mother  for  sustenance,  hence 
her  destruction  must  result  in  the  death  of  the  young  through  starva- 
tion. 

On  the  approach  of  inclement  and  wintry  weather  the  seals  migrate 

to  lind  places  where  food  is  abundant  and  where  the 

Migration.  climatic  conditions  suit  them  best;  but  it  is  notable 

that  they  are  governed  in  this  solely  by  consideration  of  their  own 

comfort  and  convenience,  and  not  by  any  fixed  or  even  approximate 

time. 

Indeed,  so  well  are  the  people  of  the  Islands  aware  of  their  habits  in 
this  respect  that  they  carefully  watch  for  the  approach  of  ice  or  of  se- 
vere storms  from  the  northwest  before  taking  their  supply  of  seals  for 
winter  food. 

I  have  seen  many  seals  upon  the  Island  each  month  in  the  year,  with 
a  possible  exception  of  the  month  of  March;  and  I  have  been  informed 
that,  since  I  left  the  service,  seals  have  been  seen  and  captured  on  shore 

in  this  month  also.  They  evidently  have  no  fixed  or 
on^[stmis."^ ''^ ''"^^  definite  "  hauling  ground  "  to  visit,  as  it  would  have 

been  discovered  long  since,  but  as  they  can  sleep  as 
well  as  find  food  at  sea.  they  have  no  occasion  to  land  until  warned  by 
the  reproductive  instinct  to  return  to  the  place  of  their  birtii — their 
home — which  they  do,  and  are  often  found  at  i)recisely  the  place  occu- 
pied during  the  preceding  season  or  seasons.  In  evidence  of  this  I 
have  observed  seals  bearing  unmistakable  marks  for  identification  re- 
turn to  the  same  spot  year  after  year. 

It  was  the  custom  each  year  just  prior  to  the  migration  of  the  young 

seals  to  take  a  certain  number,  under  supervision  of 
fo^'""^  P'^P^  f"'"  the  United  States  Treasury  agent,  for  food  of  the  na- 
tives during  the  winter,  and  as  females  were  in  no  case 
killed,  a  selection  of  male  "i)nps"  had  to  be  made.  This  was  done 
rapidly  by  catching  each  "jmp"  by  the  flipper,  and  upon  releasing 
the  animal,  alter  examination,  to  send  it  with  the  males  for  slaughter, 
or  with  the  females  for  return  to  the  sea.  On  such,  and  on  other  occa- 
sions, seals  were  often  marked,  or  were  noted  as  being  marked  by  scars 
from  fighting  among  the  males;  such  marks  were  used  to  obtain  data 
relative  to  their  return  to  the  Island,  and  during  the  latter  portion  of  my 
stay  on  St.  Paul  Island  such  marked  animals  were  seen  and  identi- 
fied in  the  herd  or  on  breeding  grounds. 
These  cases  were  sufQcieutly  numerous  to  warrant  my  present  belief 


RELATING    TO    ST,    PAUL    ISLAND.  137 

tbat  if  such  marking'  had  been  constantly  practiced  extensively,  as 

might  easily  have  been  done  precisely  as  in  ease  of  a 

baud  of  cattle  on  the  plains  with  iill  the  young,  it  would  ,^^^1^'^''''    ^^ 

have  established  their  identity  and  completely  shown 

that  the  seals  do  not  IiikI  a  home  at  any  place  other  than  that  of  their 

birth. 

The  erection  of  "  salt  houses"  at  suitable  places  for  curing  the  seal 
skins  was  one  of  the  earliest  works  undertaken,  and 
several  were  erected  at  points  convenient  to  the  larg-   i„'',SIeinent!"'"'^' 
est  "hauliug  grounds,"     In  addition    to  this  teams 
were  furnished  and  skins  hauled  to  the  salting  places  or,  in  other  in- 
stances, they  were  taken  by  boats  as  most  convenient.      jy^^^^^„ 

In  this  manner  the  necessity  for  long  drives  was  ob-        "''"'"■ 
viated  and  the  work  made  easier  in  all  respects. 

The  polygamous  habit  before  mentioned  naturally  results  in  forcing 
the  young  male  seals  to  "haul"  from  the  sea  by  themselves,  which 
renders  their  capture  less  difficult,  as  they  may  be  driven  without  dis- 
turbing the  breeding  seals  with  their  young.  Seals  to  be  killed  were 
usually,  and  as  a  rule,  driven  at  night  or  very  early  in  the  morning 
wben  the  grass  or  ground  was  moist  with  dew  or  during  the  prevalence 
of  fog,  and  was  leisurely  performed  under  direction  of  experienced  hunt- 
ers, hence  the  animals  were  spared  the  fatigue  of  traveling  on  dry 
ground  at  unwonted  speed. 

When  not  being  driven  their  movements  on  land  are  in  nowise  un- 
oertain  or  distressing,  and  they  are  frequently  seen  journeying  of  their 
own  volition  from  one  "rookery"  or  "hauling  place"  to  another  at 
considerable  distance,  especially  when  singly  or  in  small  groups;  they 
catch  on  a  strong  wind  the  scent  of  a  herd  at  a  remote  point  and  set 
out  to  join  it.  In  connection  with  the  work  of  driving  the  seals  at  fre- 
quent intervals  it  was  of  special  interest  to  observe  that  they  became 
less  wild  or  timid,  and  consequently  could  be  managed  more  easily  in 
herd. 

The  "  hauling  grounds"  nearest  the  "  salt  houses"  were,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  most  frequently  visited  by  the  hunters.  At  each  time  of 
driving  some  animals  were  found  too  large  or  too  small,  or  otherwise 
undesirable,  and  were  alio  wed  to  escape  from  among  the  "killable"  herd, 
and  it  was  the  subject  of  frequent  remark  that  these 

,  „  n        -I    ■  1  j_  ij_xi  lameness  ot  seals. 

seals  so  frequently  driven  became  at^customed  to  tne 
presence  of  man,  and  evidently  acquired  coniidence  from  the  fact  that 
they  were  not  harmed,  so  far  that  on  being  separated  from  the  herd 
they  appeared  unconcerned,  and  not  worried  or  friglitened,  but  would 
leisurely  return  to  the  x^lace  whence  driven,  and,  without  taking  to  the 
water  as  is  their  habit  when  frightened,  would  remain  until,  on  the  ar- 
rival of  others  in  sufticient  numbers,  they  were  again  driven,  only  to 
be  released  and  returned  as  before. 

These  repeated  drivings  did  not  apparently  injure  the  animals  in  the 
least.  Injuries  through  accident  resulted  at  intervals, 
but  most  of  those  were  slight,  and  recovery  soon  fol-  j„hous'.""*  "*'*  "'' 
lowed.  That  the  driving  of  the  seals  as  practiced, 
whether  more  or  less  frequently,  did  not  result  injuriously  to  the  breed- 
ing, is  abundantly  proven  by  tlie  results  noted  after  the  lapse  of  several 
years. 

The  area  of  "rookeries"  constantly  expanding  was  fihed  with  ani- 
mals evidently  healthy  and  strong;  vigorous  males  were  in  abumlauce, 
as  shown  by  the  increase  of  young,  and  by  the  fact  that  the  nuinber 
of  barren  females  was  not  increased.     Superannuated  males  were  found 


138  TESTIMONY 

as  usual,  but  during  the  time  of  iny  resideuoe  no  unusual  lack  of 
liealth,  strength,  or  vigor  was  seen  among  the  seals  of  whatever  elass 
or  age. 

During  my  long  and  constant  residence  I  became  interested  in  all 
matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  the  people  residing  upon  the  Is- 
lands, and  have  since,  tlirongli  an  extensive  acquaintance  witli  Agents 
and  <'mi)loyes  ol"  the  Lessees,  been  constantly  advised  as  to  events  trans- 
piring tlu'i-e  from  year  to  year. 

From  statements  made  by  such  personal  acquaintances  and  friends 

I  became  aware  of  a  rayiid  decrease  in  seal  life  in 
Decrease  of  seals,  ^y^^^]-.^^  and  rcports  of  pclagic  sealing,  as  made  public 
tlirongh  tlie  press,  combined  witli  previous  personal  knowledge  <>f 
affairs  as  existhig  prior  to  188:3,  leaves  no  possible  tloubt  as  to  tlu; 
cause  of  such  decrease  of  seals.  Pelagic  sealing  as  practiced  prior  to 
the  year  18813  had  no  api)arent  effect  upon  seal  life,  and  even  when  to 
this  was  added  the  taking  of  a  definite  nundjer  year  after  year  under 
lease  from  the  United  States  Government,  tliere  was  still  a  constant 

increase  of  seals  observed;  I  am,  therefore,  fidly  con- 
causi''"'''  ^'^''^'"^  *''*'  firmed  in  the  belief  that  the  decrease  in  their  inimbers 

is  due  solely  to  the  indiscriminate  killing  at  sea  of  all 
ages,  regardless  of  sex,  as  practiced  since  1884. 

I  have  also  no  doubt  as  to  the  final  result  of  this  indiscriminate 
sealing.    The  dense  fogs  v/liicli  prevail  over  Bering  Sea  in  suinnicr 

render  the  drawing  of  an  imaginary  line  of  protection 
.sar>™*"'"""  ° *'"*'"■   at>out  the  seal  islands  absolutely  futile  and  inoperative 

for  such  purpose;  ;uul  ludessfuli  protection  is  afforded 
the  animals,  their  extermination  nuist  follow  as  surely  as  in  the  case 
of  the  seals  at  the  South  Shetland  Islands,  or  the  buffalo  on  the  plains 
of  ]!:^orth  America. 

H.  W.  McIntvee. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  ino  this  IGtli  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1802. 

[SEAX.J  K.    tllLDEBRANDT, 

Notary  Public. 


Depositwnft  of  Anton  ilfdorcdoff,  Noen  Mandrcf/hi,  Apollon  Borndal-ajfsly, 
Aggie  Ku.shin,  Ni(-<>li  KniL-off,  J  6'.  Ri-ilpath,  (J.  L.  Foivler,  and  J. 
G.  is.  Akerly,  residents  on  Ht.  I'aiil  Island. 

DECREASE    OF    HERD. 

Territory  of  Alaska,  U.  S.  A., 

The  Island  of  St  Paul. 

Before  me,  F.  H.  Xewcond),  a  first  lieutenant  in  the  IT.  S.  Eevenue 
Marine  Servic<%  and  executive  oflicer  of  the  0".  S.  Revenue  steamer 
Unsh^  and  autliori/.ed  and  empowered  to  taivc  testimony  and  admiinster 
oaths,  ]M'rsonally  api>eared  Anton  Melovedofi*,  who,  being  by  me  first 
duly  sworn  according  to  law,  testilicd  as  follows,  to  wit: 

Q.  State  youi- age  and  i)la('e  of  residence. — A.  lam  thirty-six  years 
of  age;  have  resided  on  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska,  for  the  past  twenty- 
four  years. 

Q.  Wliat  is  y<mr  occu])ation? — A.     I  am  a  .sealer; 
Experience.  formerly  in  tlie  employ  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Com- 

pany, and  now  in  the  employ  of  the  Korth  American 
Commer(-.ial  Com  [)any. 

Q.  Has  your  occu])ation  Ixmmi  sncli  as  to  give  you  an  opportunity  to 
notice  from  year  to  year  the  condition  of  t!ie  rooki^ries  and  the  peculiar- 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL   ISLAND,  139 

ities  of  seal  life? — A.  Yes;  I  was  chief  for  about  ten  years,  and  during 
that  time  had  charge  of  the  drives  and  have  always  participated  in  the 
killing  of  the  seals. 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  perceptible  difl'erence  in  the  number  of 
seals  on  rookeries  fi^>m  one  year  to  another? — A.  Yes. 

Q.  What  changes  have  you  noticed? — A.  They  have  been  getting 
less  every  year  for  about  the  last  six  years. 

Q.  About  how  much  less  is  the  number  of  seals  dur- 
ing the  past  year  than  they  were  six  years  ago? — A.  The  number  of 
seals  this  year  are  al»out  one-fourth  of  what  they  were 
six  years  ago,  and  about  one-half  of  what  they  were 
last  year. 

Q.  In  what  way  do  you  form  your  above  opinion  as  to  the  relative 
number  of  seals  on  the  rcmkcries? — A.  By  the  fact  that  many  spaces 
on  the  rookeries  which  were  formerly  crowded  are  now  not  occupied  at 
all. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribnte  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  seals  on 
the  rookeries'? — A.  To  the  great  number  of  cows  killed 

T  1  T  XI       1  i'  Cause  01. 

by  poachers,  and  consequently  less  i)ups  are  born  on 
tlie  rookeries. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that  cows  have  been  killed  by  poachers? — A.  1 
have  handled  and  seen  a  great  number  of  skins  captured  by  tlie  Eevenue 
Cutters  from  the  i)oaching  vessels,  and  there  were  very  few  male  skins 
among  them;  also  have  seen  among  them  a  great  number  of  uiiborn 
pups.  Twice  upou  the  rookeries  I  have  seen  cows  killed  and  left  there 
by  the  poachers. 

Q.  Why  is  it,  in  your  opinion,  that  more  female  thaii  male  seals  are 
killed  by  the  poachers  ? — A.  Because,  lirst,  in  the  pas- 
sage of  the  seals  to  the  islands  in  the  early  season  the  p.^^^Xisftn^ikl!''^' 
females  travel  in  groups  and  the  males  scatter;  sec- 
ondly, after  arriving  at  the  islands  the  males  remain  on  or  about  the 
hauling  grounds,  while  the  females  having  their  pups     „      ,    <-   ,• 

"  '^  ,    •     i       J 1  J  1  J     •       ,•       1  I'  eniales  feeding. 

to  nurse  go  out  into  the  sea  to  obtain  lood. 

Q.  How  do  you  tell  the  skin  of  a  female  from  that  of  a  male? — A. 
By  the  nipples  and  general  appearance. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  known  the  lessees  to  take  fcmah^ 
skins?— A.  No.     Any  einidoyc  killing  a  female  eitlier   ,,^^",!^;'^.^"' ^'""'^ 
intentionally  or  accitlentally  would  be  liable  to  a.  line. 

Q.  Did  you  see  any  dead  pii^js  on  the  rookeries  the     ^^^^^^ 
past  season? — A.  Yes;  1  saw  lots  of  tliem. 

Q.  How  do  theycompare  with  the  number  observed  informer  years? — 
A.  Much  greater  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  females  on  the  rook- 
eries than  formerly. 

Q.  How  do  you  account  for  this? — A.  I  think  the  cows  were  killed 
by  the  poiichers  while  away  from  the  rookeries,  and  as  mother  seals 
nurse  none  but  their  own  young,  consequently  the  pups  whose  niothei-s 
were  killed  die  from  starvation. 

Anton  Melovedoff. 

Also  Noen  Mandregin,  who,  being  duly  sworn  by  me  as  hei'einaftor 
certified,  testified  as  follows: 

Q.  State  your  age  and  place  of  residence. — A.  1  am  thirty-four  years 
of  age  and  am  a  native  and  resident  of  St,  P;iul  island,  Alaska. 

Q.  What  is  your  occu])ation? — A.  I  am  a  sealer,  formerly  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Alaska  Oommeicial  Company,  and  now  in      j.;x,,j.,.j,.uce. 
the  employ  of  the  North  vVmericau  Commercial  Com- 
pany. 


140  TESTIMONY 

Q.  Did  you  sec  an  uiivisiial  nnnibcrof  dead  imps  on  the  rookeries  this 

Dead  m  s  seasou  ? — A.    Yes  J    I  saAv  more  dead  pups  this  year 

ea<  pups.  than  ever  before.     I  went  with  Mr.  J.  Stanley  Brown 

in  Auiiust  to  assist  liimto  make  a  survey  of  the  rookeries  and  saw  dead 

pups  jiioupcd  in  various  phiees. 

Q.  Did  you  see  dead  pups  on  all  the  rookeries  you  visited? — A.  Yes; 
but  some  rookeiies  had  more  than  others. 

i}.  I  low  do  you  account  for  so  mnny  dead  pups? — A.  I  think  their 
Cause  of  motliers  were  killed  in  the  sea  by  the  poachers  while 

away  from  the  islands  in  search  of  food. 
Q.  Why  do  you  think  that  they  Avere  killed  by  poachers? — A.  I  was 
once  ou  board  a  schooner  which  was  seized  at  Northeast  Point  and  saw 
a  number  of  female  skins  onboard. 

Q.  How  does  the  number  of  seals  on  th^  rookeries  this  year  compare 
Decrease  with  the  number  four  or  five  years  ago? — A.  The  num- 

ber now  is  about  oue-fouith  of  what  they  were  then. 

NOEN  Mandregin. 

We,  the  undersigned,  natives,  residents  of  St.  Paul  Island,  who 
„      .  have  for  a  number  of  years  been  en iiaced  in  the  busi- 

Expenence.  „  , .  -i  •   i         i       i         •  t 

ness  01  sealing  on  these  islands  having  been  present 
and  heard  the  testimony  of  Anton  Melovedoff  and  Noen  Mandregiu, 
as  above  given,  do  hereby  concur  substantially  in  their  statements. 

Apollon  Borudakaffsky. 

aggie  kushin. 

NicoLi  Krukoff,  Second  O'hief. 

Also  J.  0.  Eedpath,  who,  having  been  duly  sworn  by  me,  as  herein- 

iifter  certified,  testified  as  follows: 

Q.  State  yoiu'  age,  place  of  residence,  and  occupation. — A.  I  am  forty- 

.  seven  (47)  years  of  age  and  have  been  a  resident  of  the 

■.xpuiuuce.  g^^j  islands  for  the  past  seventeen   years;   formerly 

local  agent  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  now  of  the  Norih 

American  Commercial  Company,  and  during   that   time  have  been 

engaged  in  the  taking- of  seal. 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  perceptible  difference  in  the  number  of 
seals  ou  the  rookeries  from  one  year  to  another?    If  so,  what  changes 
have  you  observed? — A.  Within  the  last  four  or  five 
years  I  have  observed  a  decided  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  seals  on  the  rookeries. 

Q.  In  what  proportion  have  the  seals  decreased  within  the  time  men- 
tioned?— A.  As  far  as  my  judgment' goes,  I  should  say 
Exteutof.  at  least  one-half. 

Q.  How  do  you  account  for  it  ? — A.  By  the  numbers, 
^^^^^^-  principally  females,  that  are  killed  in  the  waters  by 

marauders. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  that  the  marauders  kill  females  iirincipally?— 
A.  I  know  that  the  females,  after  giving  birth  to  their 
b>^polchei^"'''^"''^"^'*''Voii"^"  on  the  rookeries,  frequent  the  open  sea  in  search 
of  food,  whereas  the  irales  frequent  the  haulinggrounds 
pcung.      or  waters  immediately  around  it.     At  various  times  I 
have  seen  skins  which  Avere  seized  by  the  cutters  from  tlie  poac^hers, 
and  they  were  substantially  female  skins. 
Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  this  past  sea- 
son, and  in  what  i)roportion  to  former  years! — A.  I 
i).;.ii pups.  have  se<Mi  an  unusual  number  of  dead  pups  this  year 

on  the  breeding  grouiuls;  I  may  s;iy  twice  as  many  as  formerly. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  141 

Q.  How  do  you  accouut  lor  it  ? — A.  From  the  fact  of  their  mothers 
havins;'  beeu  killed  by  marauders.     It  is  a  well-knowu 
fact  that  the  mothers  suckle  uone  but  their  owu  pups; 
cousequeiitly  the  motherless  die  from  want  of  nourishmeut. 

Q.  AVhat  is  the  general  condition  of  a  healthy  pup  seal  receiving 
constant  attention  from  its  mother? — A.  I  know  liim  to  be  completely 
gorged  with  milk  and  his  body  to  be  enveloped  in  fat. 

Q,  What  effect,  in  your  opinion,  does  the  increase  in  the  number  of 
poaching  vessels  in  Bering  Sea  have  upon  seal  life? — 
A.  Since  the  number  ot  sealing  vessels  has  increased,  poachers!^ ^"*^'^''*'''^  °^ 
the  number  of  seals  coming  to  the  islands  has  corre- 
spondingly decreased. 

J.  C.  Eedpath, 

Agent. 

Also  G.  L.  Fowler,  who,  being  duly  sworn  by  me  as  hereinafter  cer- 
tified, testifled  as  follows : 

I  have  been  a  resident  of  the  seal  islands  for  the  past  ten  years  j 
formerly  ass't  agent  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Co., 
now  agent  of  the  ISTorth  American  Comj)any,  and  dur-        ^penence. 
ing  that  time  have  been  engaged  in  the  taking  of  seals.     I  have  lis- 
tened to  the  testimony  of  J.  C.  Eedpath  as  above  and      corroborates     Mr 
fully  concur  in  all  tliat  lie  has  said  concerning  seal  life,  RcdpatL  except  as  to 
with  the  exception  that  the  number  of  seals  on  tlui  *^'^'='''^"^'^- 
islands  this  season  are  in  my  judgment  not  more  than  one-fourth  of 
what  they  were  in  1887. 

C.  L.  Fowler. 

Also  J.  0.  S.  Akerly,  who  being  duly  sworn  by  me,  as  hereinafter 
certifled,  testified  as  follows : 

Q.  State  your  age,  place  of  residence,  and  occupation. — A.  I  am  thirty- 
one  (31)  years  of  age,  reside  in  Oakland,  California,  and 
am  physi(;ian  on  St.  Paul  Island,  in  the  employ  of  the       ^pe^tnce. 
North  American  Commercial  C'ompany. 

Q.  Did  you  see  any  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  this  season? — A. 
Yes;  my  attention  was  called  to  the  matter  by  J.  Stan- 
ley Brown,  who  requested  me  to  examine  them  with  a  ^^  ^^"^''^' 
view  to  determining  the  cause  of  their  death.  I  examined  a  number 
which  had  apparently  recently  died.  Their  bodies  AAcre  entirely  desti- 
tute of  fat  and  no  food  to  be  found  in  their  stonuichs.  After  a  careful 
examination,  I  found  no  evidence  of  disease. 

Q.   What   do    you    assign   as  the  cause  of    their 
death? — A.  I  believe  them  to  have  died  of  starvation. 

Q.  Why  do  you  think  they  died  of  starvation? — A.  From  the  fact 
that  nearly  all  the  dead  on  the  rookery  Avere  pups,  and  from  absence 
of  all  signs  of  disease,  emaciated  condition  of  their  bodies,  and  ab- 
sence of  food  from  their  stomachs, 

J.  C.  S.  Akerly,  M.  D.,  Ph.  B. 

Sworn  and  fiubscribed  to  before  me  this  twenty-fourth  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1891,  at  St.  Paid  Island,  Pribilof  Grouj),  Bering  Sea. 

Frank  II.  Neavcomr, 
First  Lieutenant  U.  S.  R.  M, 
Witnesses : 

Milton  Barnes. 
Johnstone  H.  Quinan, 

S'icond  Lieutenant  U.  S.  E.  M. 


142  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Anton  Melovedoff,  native  A  laslan^  and  employe  of  lessees  on 

iSt.  Paul  Island. 

manag-ement — habits. 

St.  Paul,  Island,  Pribilop  Group, 

Alaska,  U.  S.  A.,  ss: 

Anton  Melovedoff,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  thirty- 
eigiit  (38)  j^ears  ofage  and  I  was  born  on  Kadiak  Island,  Alaska.    I  came 
to  iSt.  Paul  Island  in  1804,  the  first  time,  and  in  18(!y  tlie  second  time.     I 
Lave  resided  here  since  1869  and  I  have  been  constantly  employed  among 
the  Alaskan  fur-seals  in  all  that  time.     I  have  had  a 
Exp.iKuce.  large  and  varied  experience  in  all  the  details  of  the 

business  as  it  has  been  carried  on  on  St,  Paul  Island,  and  I  have 
done  service  in  all  the  departments  from  the  work  of  a  boy  to  that  of 
First  Chief  of  the  Island.  I  can  read  and  write  the  Englisli,  Eussian, 
and  Aleut  languages  and  I  can  interpret  them  into  one  another.  I  have 
read  a  considerable  amount  of  the  controversies  on  the  Seal  Question 
since  the  seals  began  to  decrease  so  rapidly  on  the  rookeries  and  I  have 
observed  the  rookeries  and  their  daily  condition  since  I  became  First 
Chief  in  1881,  which  office  I  resigned  in  1891. 

In  the  Kussian  times,  before  18G8,  the  seals  were  always  driven  across 
DriviiiK  while  uii-  tlic  Islaud  of  St.  Paul  from  Xorth  East  Point  to  the 
(ler  Kussian  manage-  village  Salt  liousc — a  distauce  of  12^  milcs — but  when 
""improved  methods  ^^e  Alaska  Commercial  Company  leased  the  islands 
under  Anurican man-  they  stoppcd  loug  (U'iving  aud  built  Salt  houscs  near 
agement.  ^^  ^j^^  luiuling  giouiids,  SO  that  by  1879  no  seals  were 

driven  more  than  2  miles. 

No  one  ever  said  in  those  days  that  seals  were  made  impotent  by 
driving,  although  long  drives  had  been  made  for  at  least  fifty  years. 
I  have  never  known  or  heard  tell  of  a  time  when  there 
en  >  o  )u  8.  ^^^^  ^^^  bulls  enough  and  to  spare  on  the  breeding 
rookeries.  I  never  saw  a  cow  of  3  years  old  or  over  in  August  with- 
out a  pup  by  her  side.  The  only  cows  on  a  breeding  rookery  without 
imps  are  the  virgin  cows  who  have  come  there  for  the  first  time.  I 
never  went  onto  a  rookery  in  the  breeding  season  when  I  could  not 
have  counted  plenty  of  idle  vigorous  bulls  who  had  no  cows. 

I  have  heard  it  said  that  the  seals  are  slaughtered  indiscriminately 
on  the  seal  islands,  and  that  the  natives  take  no  care  of  the  seals.  The 
contrary  of  this  is  true.  Eules  could  hardly  be  made  any  more  stringent 
than  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  Government  and  Company  Officers 
for  the  care  and  management  of  the  seals,  and  no  people  could  be  more 
carclnl  in  obeying  them  in  letter  and  sjdrit  than  what  ours  are. 

The  killing  of  females  is  a  crime  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  our  Church 
teaches  that  it  is  a  sin  to  kill  one,  and  our  ])eople  know  that  the  death 
of  a  cow  seal  means  one  pup  less  Joi'  meat  in  years  to  come.  Never,  since 
I  came  here  in  18(»!>.  liave  I  known  of  a  cow  to  l)e  killed 
aikilnt '""^  ""'■^'■'  unless  by  accident,  and  I  think  there  has  not  been  lU 
cows  killed  out  of  every  85,000  seals  killed  eyery  year 
from  1870  to  1889. 

When  I  first  went  on  a  drive  I  remember  how  the  Chiefs  talked  to 
me  alxmt  being  careful  of  how  I  went  on  the  hauling  grounds;  how  I 
must  not  distirrb  the  breeding  rookeries,  and  that  I  must  walk  as  slow 
as  I  could  when  driving,  and  stop  and  let  the  seals  rest  occasionally. 

I  believe  the  same  instructions  were  given  at  all  times  by  the  Chiefs 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  143 

to  our  peo])le,  aud  I  think  they  have  been  generally  very  faithfully 
obeyed.  Tlie  bulls  and  cows  being  on  the  breeding-  rookeries  all  through 
June  and  July,  while  the  killing  of  the  bachelors  for  skins  is  taking 
place,  there  is  no  reason  why  a  cow  should  be  driven  or  killed  in  the 
two  months  named,  and  it  is  a  very  rare  case  to  see  a  cow  on  the  kill- 
ing grounds  at  this  time  and  still  rarer  to  have  one  killed. 

After  the  killing  season  is  ended  and  the  breeding  season  is  over,  the 
cows  do  mix  up  with  the  bachelors  on  the  hauling  grounds,  and  they 
are  often  driven  when  we  make  a  drive  of  seals  to  kill  for  food,  anil 
sometimes  one  or  two  is  clubbed  by  accident.  With  this  exception 
there  are  no  cows  or  females  ever  killed  on  the  seal  islands. 

I  was  First  Chief  from  18S4  to  1891,  all  through  lyhe  years  of  the  de- 
crease and  controversy,  and  it  has  been  my  duty  to  inspect  the  rookeries 
and  seals  from  time  to  time  and  to  report  the  condition  of  both  to  the 
Government  and  Company  Agents.  It  has  been  my  duty  to  thoroughly 
inform  myself  of  the  number  of  male  seals — bachelors — on  eacli  rookery, 
and  to  select  the  grounds  to  be  driven  from  every  killing  day  tlnough- 
out  each  killing  season,  and  I  believe  I  never  allowed  the  seals  to  be 
overdriven  or  the  drives  to  be  made  too  often.  I  remember  seeing  an 
occasional  sealing  schooner  in  Bering  8ea  as  long  ago-  as  1878,  but 
it  was  in  1884  they  came  in  large  numbers.  At  tirst  it  m  as  sui)posed 
they  intended  to  raid  the  rookeries,  and  Ave  armed  a  ,  . 
number  of  men  and  kept  guard  every  night,  and  we  '■'"'^^' 
droveoif  any  boats  we  found  coming  to  a  rookery.  Sometimes  in  a  dense 
fog  or  very  dark  night  they  landed  and  killed  a  few  hundred  seals,  but 
the  numbers  taken  in  this  manner  are  too  small  to  be  considered. 

About  188G  1  noticed  that  the  lines  of  former  years  Avere  not  lilled 
with  cows,  and  every  succeeding  year  since  then  has 
shown  a  more  marked  decrease.     In  1889  the  bachelors     i^^cmise. 
were  so  few  on  the  hauling  grounds  that  the  standard      ^je^^ase  in^vei-ht 
weight  of  skins  was  lowered  to  o  pounds,  and  hundreds   oi  skius. 
Avere  taken  at  only  4  pounds  in  order  to  till  the  (plot  a  of 
100,000. 

It  was  noticed  by  everyone  on  the  Island  at  this  time  that  as  the 
seals  decreased  on  the  rookeries  from  year  to  year  the 
number  of  dead  ])ups  increased,  until  in  1891  the  rook-      ^'^'^'Ip^p^- 
eries  were  coA^ered  Avith  them.    From  1884  the  schooners     increase  of  sealing 
kept  on  increasing,  until  in  1891  there  Avas  more  than  "'"*" 
one  hundred.    These  schooners  care  A-ery  little  about 
coming  to  the  islands  to  take  seals  on  the  land,  for  tliey  only  ha\T',  to  hoA'cr 
around  the  lishing  banks  from  50  to  200  miles  away  and 
take  all  the  seals  they  want.     It  is  to  these  l)anlcs  tiie  to  2w  ruL^s7rom  il 
cow  seals  go  to  feed  after  the  birth  of  their  young,  and   '•"'"''''• 
it  is  here  they  are  shot  and  killed  and  the  pups  are  left  to  starve  and 
die  on  the  rookeries. 

Last  year  I  seen  thousands  of  siu-h  jmps,  and  J  saw  many  ol"  them 
opened,  and  in  all  cases  there  Avas  not  a  sign  of  lood  in  their  "stomachs. 
I  ne\'er  seen  a  pup  that  had  a  mother  living  to  snckle  it  look  jtoor  or 
sick  or  starved;  nor  did  I  ever  see  or  hear  of  a  sick  or  diseased  seal, 
althongh  I  have  eaten  the  tlesh  of  the  fur-seal  all  my  life,  and  it  is  and 
has  ever  been  the  staple  meat  ration  of  our  people. 

Seal  meat  is  cooked  at  the  Company  house  every  day  Avhile  seals  are 
to  be  had,  and  it  is  eaten  by  all  the  white  men  on  the  Island.    Men 
talk  of  epidemics  among  seals  and  of  impotent  bulls 
on  the  rookeries,  but  those  who  have  spent  a  lifetime  „,^!"±I:"fs?..n'."  '^'^' 
on  the  Seal  Islands,  and  Avhase  business  and  duty  it 


1 44  TESTIMONY 

lias  been  to  guiird  inul  observe  tliein,  liave  no  knowledge  of  the  exist- 
ence of  eitlier.  An  injpotent  bull  dare  not  attempt  to  go  on  a  rookery, 
even  had  he  a  desire  to  (h)  so.  Excepting  the  extremely  old  and  feeble, 
I  have  ne\'er  seen  a  bidl  that  was  impotent. 

The  seals  come  to  tlie  islands  ev^ery  year  liom  the  southward,  through 
.  the  passes  of  the  Aleutian  Islands ;  and  the  bulls  reaeli 

the  islands  late  in  April  or  early  in  May,  and  they  con- 
^""'"'  tiuue  to  haul  out  till  June.     They  select  their  stations 

on  the  rookeries,  and  I  believe  they  generally  return  to  the  spot  they 
occupied  the  previous  year ;  and  they  stay  there  till  August  or  Sep- 
tember without  food  or  water,  and  without  much  rest 
"^^'''  or  sleep.     The  cows  begin  to  haul  out  early  in  June 

and  they  continue  to  haul  out  till  about  the  middle  of  July;  aud  the 
Xmps  are  born  soon  after  the  cows  land  on  the  rookeries.     When  the 
pu])  is  born  it  is  utterly  helpless  and  would  drown  if 
Pups  can  no  swim.  ^^^^^  .^^^^  water.     Tliose  born  nearest  tlie  water  are  often 
drowned  in  the  surf  when  the  sea  is  rough  in  stormy  weather.     When 
the  pup  is  a  few  days  old  the  cow  goes  into  the  sea  to 
ema.s  m  iiig.      fgg^j^  .,j|(j  .^g  f]^Q  p^p  gpQws  oldcr  the  cow  will  stay 

longer  and  longer,  until  sometimes  she  will  be  away  for  a  week.  When 
the  cows  return  they  go  to  their  own  pnx)S,  nor  will  a  cow  suckle  any 
pup  but  her  own.  The  pups  would  suck  any  cow  that  would  let  them, 
for  they  do  not  seem  to  know  one  cow  from  another. 
sJ'm!"  ^'''^™'"s  to  ^^  y  ^^,  ^  weeks  old  the  pups  learn  to  swim  by  first 
paddling  in  the  shallow  water,  but  after  learning  to 
swim  they  appear  to  prefer  to  stay  on  land  until  the  cold  weather  drives 
them  oft'  in  November. 

Until  1891  we  were  allowed  to  kill  several  thousand  pup  seals  for 
111  If   f       food  in  November  about  the  time  they  were  ready  to 

ups  1  et  01  00  .  jgyyg  ^j^g  Island.  We  generally  killed  ten  or  twelve 
for  every  person  on  the  Island,  and  when  we  killed  them  they  were 
always  found  to  be  full  of  milk. 

The  bachelors  commence  to  haul  out  in  May,  and  they  haul  out  till 

..,,.,    ,  ,      latein  July,  the  older  ones  coming  early  and  the  younger 

Arrival  oi  bacnclors  ^  ^  o  i/  */  ^ 

ones  later;  and  I  have  found  that  the  seals  kdled  in 
May  and  eail y  June  were  fat  and  that  their  stomachs  were  full  of  food, 
l)rincipally  codfish,  aud  that  later  in  the  season  they  were  poor  and  had 
Only  mouier  seiiis  "othiug  iu  their  stomachs.  My  opinion,  therefore,  is 
leave  the  islands  for  thatiioue  but  the  motlier  seals  go  out  in  the  sea  to  eat 
*"*"^-  during  the  time  the  herds  are  on  the  islands,  and  this 

accounts  for  the  great  number  of  cows  shot  by  the  sealing  schooners  in 
Bering  Seaduring  July,  August,  and  September.  I  was  visiting  in  San 
Francisco  in  the  winter  of  1890-'t)l,  and  I  worked  iu  a  iiir  store  duiing 
Skins  insjeetedb-  '^^j'^'^'ral  luouths  of  my  Stay  thcie,  and  I  was  called  on 
hiiii  ^i"f  San  I'rancisco  to  haiidlc  aiid  iiispcct  thousaiids  of  the  skins  taken  by 
those  of  cows.  schooners  in  Bering  Sea,  and  they  were  nearly  all  cow- 

seal  skins. 

I  know  of  no  other  explanation  than   this:  The  cows  are  shot  and 
killed  when  tliey  go  into  the  sea  to  feed  and  the  pups  die  on  the  rook- 
eries.    This,  I  think,  is  the  true  solution  of  the  vexed  question,  "  What 
has  become  of  the  seals?".   Wlien  the  season  ends  and  the  compact 
.^^  family  organization  breaks  up,  the  bulls  begin  to  leave 

'"'^'' '"  ■  the  islands,  going  away  slowly  through  September  and 

early  October  before  they  are  all  gone. 

Tlie  bacheh)rs,  cows,  and  pups  go  in  November,  the  older  bachelors 
leaving  late  in  October  and  the  i)ups  in  November.    Sometimes  in  good, 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  145 

mild  weatliev  baclielois  are  found  and  killed  for  food  late  in  January. 

The  movements  of  tlie  seals  are  governed  quite  considerably  by  tlie 
weather.  When  tliey  do  leave  the  Island  they  go  southward  and  pass 
once  more  througli  the  passes  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  and  out  into  the 
North  Paciiic  Ocean. 

It  is  usually  supposed  that  seals  are  like  wild  animals.  This  is  uot 
so.  Tlieyare  used  to  the  natives  and  will  not  run  far 
from  them.  Tlie  little  pups  will  come  to  them,  andeven  ^amouesso  seas, 
in  the  fall  when  they  are  older  we  can  take  them  up  in  our  hands  and 
see  whether  they  are  males  or  females.  We  can  drive  the  seals  about 
in  little  or  large  bands  just  as  we  want  them  to  go,  and  they  are  easy 
to  manage.  AVe  protect  and  take  good  care  of  tlie  seals,  and  if  they 
were  not  killed  in  the  sea  we  could  make  them  increase  upon  the 
islands  so  that  they  would  be  as  many  as  before. 

Anton  jNIelovedoff. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  admin- 
ister oaths  nnder  section  1976,  Revised  Statutes  United  States,  this 
lUth  day  of  June,  1892,  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  II.  WlLLIA?.rS, 
Treasury  Agent  in  charge  of  iScal  Islands. 


Deposition  of  Simeon  Melovidov,  naUce  Ahisl-an,  and  cnqdoi/eof  (he  lessees 

on  St.  Paul  Island. 

MANAGEMENT — PELAGIC   SEALING. 

St.  Paul  Mand,  Pribilof  Group,  Alaska,  U.  S.  A.,  .s.s-: 

Simeon  Melovidov,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,   and   I   was  born   at   Sitka,  Alaska.    1    can^.c    to 
St.  Paul  Island  in  1807,  and  resided  here  ever  since. 
I  have  a  practical  knowledge  of  and  am  familiar  with      ^'^^i"i'^^^"ce. 
the  fur-seal  industry  as  it  is  larried  on  on  St.  Paul  Island.     I  became 
an  able  sealer  in  1879,  and  worked  at  it  ever  since,  except  in  the  win- 
ters, when  I  was  at  school.     I  have  driven  seals  and  skinned  tliem  and 
prepared  the  skins  for  shipment.     I  am  at  present  the  school  teacher 
on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  I  can  lead  and  write  English  and  Pussian,  as 
well  as  the  Aleut  language.     I  know  that  as  long  as  I  can  remember  the 
driving  of  seals  has  been  the  most  (  arcfully  donC  work 
on  the  island,  and  all  the  drives  have  been  d(me  by  our      ^''^'"s- 
own  people,  uider  the  immediate  orders  of  the  native  Chiefs.     The  aim 
at  all  times  of  all  concerned  has  been  to  care  for  and 
guard  the  seals,  and  to  do  everything  possible  to  pre       t.\ire tai.en  of.sc..is. 
serve  ami  perpetuate  seal  life.     We  were  always  instructed  by  the 
Chiefs  to  drive  slowly,  and  to  let  the  seals  stop  and  rest  occasionally, 
and  if  a  cow  happened  to  join  the  drive,  we  had  to  allow  her  to  drop 
out  and  return  unmolested  to  the  water. 

It  has  been  the  policy  and  practice  of  the  lessees  to  do  everything 
that  could  be  done  to  shorten  the  length  of  the  drives 
whenever  it  could  be  done  without  injuring  or  disturb-  ■^^''''■*'' """'''  "'"'"■ 
ing  the  the  breeding  rookeries,  and  to  this  end  salt  houses  have  been 
built,  teams  and  wagons  or  boats  used  so  as  to  reduce  the  longest 
drive  on  St.  Paul  Island  to  not  to  exceed  2  miles.  Xever  since  LS79has 
a  seal  been  driven  on  this  island  to  exceed  that  distance.  In  likemau- 
271G— VOL  II 10 


146  TESTIMONY 

iier  rales  have  been  made  and  iij;i<lly  enforced  that  no  hauling-  p-ouuds 
shall  be  driven  from  oftener  than  tAvice  in  any  one  week,  and  it  is  a  rare 
thin<;-  to  drive  more  than  once  a  weeh  from  tlie  same  place. 

,  .  .  There  is  no  fonndation  in  fact  for  the  stories  told  of 

dearth  of  Lulls;  uo  ovcrd rivniii- oi  seals.  oS or  is  there  any  shadow  ol  tact 
iiuimtoiit  bJiUs.  ^^^  ^j^^j  j^ll^,  statements  made  from  time  to  time  about  a 

dearth  of  bnlls  on  the  rookeries  or  of  imjjotent  bulls. 

I  have  talked  to  the  old  men  of  our  people,  men  who  can  remember 
back  over  tifty  years,  and  not  one  of  them  knows  of  a  time  when  there 
M  as  not  plenty  of  bulls,  and  more  than  enough  on  the  breeding  rook- 
erics,  and  no  one  here  cAer  heard  of  an  imi^otent  bull. 
w-Si'tiik-Ii'^  lookeries   Until  the  schooners  came  into  Bering  Sea  the  rookeries 
were  always  well  tilled,  and  many  of  them  had  grown 
shmt  tmi'e ''' *"^'"' '"   stcadily  for  years,  until  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for 
the  lessees  to  take  the  quota  of  85,U(J0  seals  on  St.  Paul 
Island  between  June  1st  and  July  lit)  of  each  year.     After  1884,  when  the 
original  two  or  three  sealing  vessels  had  grown  to  be  a 
uc-crease  since  1881.  ^^.^^j  ,,^,g..^i,J2e(i  fleet,  wc  fouiid  a  stcady  decrease  of  seals 
(••n  all  the  rookeries  and  we  found  it  difficult  to  secure  the  quota  of  skins, 
and  in  1889  the  lessees  had  to  lower  the  standard  of  weight  loAver  than 
ever  before  in  the  history  of  the  Island.     And  as  the 
Dead  puim.  seals  (Iccrcased  we  found  the  rookeries  covered  with 

dead  pups,  which  in  1891  lay  in  heaps  upon  the  ground;  and  when  they 
were  examined  by  the  physician  I  was  present,  and  I  saw  them  cut  open 
and  their  stomachs  Avere  enqity  and  not  a  sign  of  milk  in  them. 
The  only  solution  of  the  ])r(>blem  is,  in  my  oi)inion,  that  the  cows  or 
mother  seals  go  into  the  st'a  to  feed,  and  while  they  are 
M..thers  killed  at  thcie  they  are  shot  and  killed  by  iielagic  hunters,  and 
the  pups,  deprived  of  sustenance,  die  upon  the  rook- 
eries. 

Until  1891  we  were  allowed  several  thousand  pup  seals  for  food,  and 
I  have  often  killed  them,  and  saw  others  killing-  them,  and  they  were 
always  full  of  milk.  The  pups  found  dead  upon  the  rookeries  are  al- 
ways iJoor  and  thin  and  starved  and  empty. 

Nodeirth  of  bulls        ^^  ^^'^^  ^'*'^"  ^'^'^^  ^^^^^'  ^^^^^  ^"^^  baiTeii  somctimes  be- 
cause of  the  dearth  of  bulls,  but  such  is  not  the  case 
at  all,  for  the  only  cows  on  the  breeding  rookeries  in 
tn.4'i  ila "■Imps!  '''    J^^^'  ^i"  Augiist  without  pui)s  are  the  2-year-olds  (vir- 
gins), which  have  come  on  the  rookeries  for  the  first 
time 

The  young  males  or  bachelors  that  are  killed  for  skins  are  found  to 
be  full  of  food  ill  ?*Iay  and  early  in  June,  but  their  stomachs  are  empty 
when  killed  in  July  or  later.     This  shows,  I  think,  that 
islands  foi'fuod. '''"''■   "o"^'  S"o  <>ut  to  fccd  ill  the  sea  except  the  cows  during 
the  time  they  are  nursing  their  young.      The  pups, 
Puiis  iieii.icss  when  born,  can  not  swim  (U'  help  themselves  in  any  way, 

and  they  are  entirely  de])eiident  on  the  cows  for  suste- 
nance.    They  are  6  or  8  weeks  old  before  they  can 
^^ecksol'.'^  ^'  "   «wiin,  and  were  they  put  into  the  waterwhen  born  they 

would  perish,  for  they  are  not  then  auqihibious. 
The  flesh  of  the  fur-seal  has  been  eaten  by  our  people  ever  since  their 
first  settling  here,  and  it  constitutes  the  chief  part  of  tluMr  daily  food, 
^o  diseased  seals    ^^^  '^  ^""^  ('^U-\^  leguhirly  by  every  white  mun  on  the  Is- 
land; and  yet  no  one  here  has  ever  seen  or  heard  tell  of 
a  sick  or  diseased  seal. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  147 

I  believe  the  seals  coine  to  the  islands  from  the  southwanl,  and  when 
tliey  leave  in  November  or  December  tliey  .uo  south- 
ward tlirouiih  the  passes  of  the  Aleutian  ls];\nds  and      Go     iiiroush    the 
into  the  Pacific  Ocean.     I  believe  the  bulls  do  not  eat  i'"''"'''*^''' 
or  drink  during  their  three  to  four  months'  sojourn  on    „,^'""^  ^^^^  *"'  ™'^^'- 
the  island  and  I  know  they  take  little  if  any  rest  or 
sleep. 

I  do  not  think  it  is  any  more  trouble  to  manage  the  seal  herd  than 
it  is  to  manng-e  some  of  the  herds  of  ( attle  1  have      Domestic  chaiacttr 
seen  in  California,  and  of  the  two  the  seals  seem  tome  of  seals. 
tamer  and  less  afiaid  of  the  natives,  to  whom  they  are  accustomed. 

We  could  now,  as  we  always  did  in  the  ])ast,  handle  the  young  ]nips 
in  the  fall.  We  cau  care  for  and  protect  the  mature  seals  as  Avell  ;is 
the  cattle  on  the  ranges  are  cared  for  and  protected,  and  if  they  could 
be  guarded  from  tht?  hunters  in  the  sea  we  could  by  good  management 
again  umke  the  rookeries  as  large  as  before. 

After  careful  incpiiry  among  our  oldest  pcoi)le  and  weighing  my  own 
experience  and  observations,  I  believe  the  decrease  of 
the  Alaskan  fur-seal  is  due  altogether  to  pelagic  hunt-    ,^ruS't'im!i''k"'''-*' 
ing. 

Simeon  Melovidov. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  admin- 
ister oaths,  under  section  1!)7(!,  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States, 
this  10th  day  of  June,  1802,  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  II,  Willi a:\is. 
Treasury  Agent  in  eharge  iScal  Inlands. 


Deposition  of  J.  C.  EeiJpath^afient  of  lessees  on  tSt.  Paul  Island. 

HABITS,  MANAGEMENT,  AND  UULKS  OF  EUK  UUMrANIES.-rELAGIC  SEALING. 

\8t.  Paul  Island,  Prihilof  Group, 

Alaska,  ij.  S.  A.,  ss:  ]   • 

J.  C,  Redpath,  being  duly  sworn,  dep;ises  and  says:  I  am  an  Ameri- 
can citizen,  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  1  am  forty  eight  (48)  years 
of  age.  At  present  I  am  a  resident  of  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska.  I 
have  resided  on  the  Seal  Islands  of  St.  George  and 
St.  Paul  since  my  first  coming  to  Alaska  in  1875.  ^^i''''*'"^^- 
My  present  occupation  is  that  of  local  agent  on  St.  Paul  Island 
for  the  present  lessees,  the  Korth  American  Commercial  Comi)any.  I 
have  a  practical  knowledge  of  and  am  thoroughly  conversant  witli 
the  habits  and  conditions  of  the  fur-seal  as  it  exists  on  the  Pril)ih)f 
Islands  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul,  and  also  of  the  methods  adojttcd 
and  practiced  in  the  taking  of  the  skins,  and  of  the  several  efforts 
made  by  the  former  and  present  lessees,  as  experience  taught  them,  to 
increase  tlui  herd  ;ind  to  build  up  the  rookeries  and  per[)i'tuate  seal 
life.  I  have  had  a  personal  experience  of  seventeen  seasons  on  the 
killing  grounds  in  different  sitiuitions,  from  that  of  seal-clubber  to  fore- 
man, several  years  of  whicii  I  have  been  the  resident  local  agent. 
My  position  as  local  agent  has  led  me  to  make  a  carefnl  study  of  the 
seal  question,  ami  it  is  my  duty  to  rei)()rt,  from  tinu^  to  time,  to  tho 
general  agent  of  the  lessees  the  result  of  my  observations. 


148  TESTIMONY 

Tlie  Alaskan  fur  >cal  is  a  native  ot  the  Piibilof  Islands,  and,  unless  ])re- 

Spais  are  natives  of  veuted,  will  I'etiim  to  tliose  islaiuls  every  year  with  the 

I'ribiiof  Islands.         re.Jiularity  of  tlic  seasons.    All  the  peculiarities  ofnature 

Seals  return  to  tiio   tluic  surnnuul  the  Pribilof  (Iroupof  Islands,  such  as  low 

islands  every  J  ear.       andeveii  teuipeiature,  foi;',  iiiist,  and  perpetually  clouded 

sky,  seeur  to  indicate  their  litness  and  adai)tal»ility  as  a  home  for  the 

Alaskan  fur-seal;  and  with  an  instinct  bordeiinj;  on  reason  they  liave 

selected  these  lonely  and  barren  islands  as  the  choicest  spots  of  earth 

T,  .,./..  T     upon  which  to  assemble  and   dwell  toiiether  durini'- 

stay  on  Pribilof  Is-     ,t^    .         .  mi     t      j.  i        i  i  n       xi 

lauds'six months.        their  SIX  moutlis'  Stay  on  land;     and    annually  they 

journey  across  thousands  of  miles  of  ocean,  and  ])ass 

hundreds  of  islands,  without  pause  or  rest,  until  they  come  to  the  place 

of  their  birth.     And  it  is  a  well-established  fact  that 

Hani  up  only  on   upon  uo  otliex  laud  in  the  world  do  the  Alaskan  fur-seal 

islanils.  ,  ^      ,  J.      n         j_ 

haul  out  ot  w^ater. 
Early  in  May  the  bulls  approach  the  islands  and  alter  cautiously  and 
,  ,.,   „         carefully  reconnoiterinii' the  surroundings  haul  out  and 

Arrival  ot  bulls.  ii.ii'  j-     i  •  i.i  i         •  i  ii 

select  their  stations  on  the  rookeries,  where  they 
])atiently  await  the  coming  of  the  cows.  When  they  first  appear  upon 
the  rookeries  the  bulls  are  fat  and  sleek  and  very  aggressive,  but  aftei  a 
stay  of  from  three  to  four  months,  without  food,  tliey  crawl  away  irom 

the  rookeries  in  a  very  lean  condition.  In  my  opinion, 
Bulls  return  to  same   the  bull  Seal  icturns  to  the  siiot  he  occupied  thi'  pre- 

si)ot  every  vear.  ,.  iri  £•  i-i  i 

ceding  years,  and  I  know  oi  several  instances  where 
he  could  be  distinguished  by  the  loss  of  an  eye  or  a  tiip])er,  in  which 
he  actually  did  return  for  a  series  of  years  to  the  same  spsst. 

The  mother  seals  or  cows  commence  to  haul  out  about  June  lOth.  and 
•v  1  of  cows       nearly  all  of  them  are  on  the  rookeries  by  July  ir>tli,  and 
I  believe  they  bring  forth  their  young  almost  immedi- 
ately after  reaching  their  places  on  the  rookeries.     When  the  pup  is 
of  uia  from  four  to  six  days  old,  the  mother  goes  into  the 

pupa.         -water  for  food  and,  as  time  passes,  her  stay  becomes 
Females  feeding.      loiigcr,  uutil  filially  slic  will  be  away  froiu  licr  pup  for 
several  days  at  a  time,  and  sometimes  for  a  whole 
Mothers  killed  200  ij^rpek.     During  these  longer  migrations  she  often  goes 

miles  from  islands.  o  •'"'  i"-  •     ,.     ^       i 

200  miles  from  the  rookery,  and  I  have  been  inl<u-med 
by  men  who  were  engaged  in  the  trade  of  pelagic  hunting  that  they 
had  taken  "mothers in  milk"  at  a  distance  of  over  200  miles  from  the 
Seal  Islands. 

i^o  cow  will  nurse  any  pu])  but  her  own,  and  I  have  often  watched 

the  pups  attempt  to  suck  cow^s,  but  thev  were  always 
tJf™frns''''"^^  driven  off;  and  this  fact  convinces  me' that  the  cow 

iiicir  own  |Hi|jf*.  ,         ' 

recognizes   her  owmi  pup  and  that  the  pup  does  not 

know  its  dam.     At  birth  and  for  several  weeks  after,  the  pup  is  utterly 

,,   ,    ,  ,      helpless  and  <>ntire]y  dependent  on  its  dam  for  suste- 

Pnps   utterly  help-  '-  iiii''j_i-  j_  ^  i_  -,       ■ 

less.  nance;  and  slunild  anything  prevent  her  return  during 

,.  .     „       „,    .    this  period  it  dies  on  the  rookerv.     This  has  been  dem- 

Dying  from  neglect.  j.       *     i    i  -.  i        i  i.       •    '         j.i  i-  i 

onstrated  beyond  a  doubt  since  the  sealing  vessels 
have  operated  largely  in  IJering  Sea  during  the  months  of  July,  Au- 
gust, and  Sei»tember,  and  which,  killing  the  cows  at  the  feeding  grounds, 
left  the  pups  to  die  on  the  islands. 

Ab  about  live  weeks  old  the  pups  begin  to  run  about  and  congregate 
,.        ,       .       ,     in  bunches  or  "pods;"  and  at  (5  to  8  weeks  old  they  go 

Pups     learning    to     .  ,  i      ii  -  i  i        n      i  ^  .  •'    '^ 

8wim.  into  tlie  siiallow  water  and  gradually  learn  to  swim. 

They  arc  not  amphibious  when  born,  nor  can  they  swim  for  several 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    LSLAND.  149 

weeks  tliereafter,  and  wore  tliey  put  into  the  water 
A\-oiil(l  peiisli  beyond  a  doubt,  as  lias  been  well  estab-   ,-„.^;;'*  '-^-"pi""^'""^^  at 
lislied  by  the  drowning-  of  pups  caught  by  the  surf  in 
stormy  weather.     After  learning  to  swim  the  pups  still  draw  their  sus- 
tenance from  the  cows,  and  I  luive  noticed  at  the  annual  Icilling  of  pups 
for  food  in  November  that  their  stomachs  were  always  full  of  milk  and 
nothing  else,  although  the  cows  had  left  the  Island  some  days  before. 
1  have  no  knowledge  of  the  pups  obtaining  sustenance 
of  any  kind  except  that  furnished  by  the  cows;  nor  „XrfoV\mKr  "" 
have  I  CA^er  seen  anything  but  ni'lk  in  a  dead  X)up's 
stomach.    The  young  males,  from  2  to  5  years  old,  whose  skins  are  taken 
by  the  lessees  begiji  to  haul  out  on  land  in  May  and 
they  continue  to  haul  out  till  July.     They  herd  by  Arrival  of  baciieiois 
Themselves  duriiig  the  months  of  Mav,  June,  and  Julv,    .^  , .,    .. ,    ,  , 

-    ,-  -,,,■',  1        •  J.1        1  T  ilabits  ot  bachelors. 

and  they  do  this  because,  during  the  breeding  season, 
they  dare  not  approach  tlu',  breeding  rookeries  or  the  bulls  would  de- 
stroy them.     Being  thus  debarred  from  a  position  on  the  breeding 
rookeries  or  IVom  inteiiningling  with  the  cows,  they  herd  together  on 
the  hauling  grounds,  where  they  are  easily  approached 
and  surrounded  by  the  natives,  who  drive  them  to  the   ^'''"'"s- 
killing  groumls  without  distui'bing  the  breeding  rookeries. 

Young  males  killed  in  ]\Iay  and  June  when  examin(xl  are  found  to  be 
in  prime  condition,  and  their  stoinachs  are  hlled  with 
iish — princii^allv  codfish — but  those  killed  later  in  the      Males  do  not  leave; 
season  are  found  to  be  poor  and  lean  and  tlieir  stonuichs  summer  lor  luod. 
empty;  which  shows  that  the  males  rarely  leave  the 
islands  for  food  during  the  summer  months. 

Statute  law  forbids  the  killing  of  the  female  seal,  and  nature  regu- 
lates the  matter  so  that  there  is  no  danger  of  their 
being  driven  or  killed  during  the  regular  killing  season,  t,,f  £;;!;'" ^'"'"' "" 
Avhich  takes  i)late  in  June  and  July  when  all  the  "kill- 
ing for  skins"  is  done;  and  after  all  my  experience  here  I  am  iree  to 
say  that  a  small  iVaction  of  one  per  cent  would  represent  all  the  females 
killed  on  the  islaiids  since  they  became  the  property  of  the  ITnited 
States. 

The  compact  family  arrangement  so  tenaciously  adhered  to  during 
the  breeding  season  becomes  relaxed  in  August,  and 
the  females  scatter,  and  a  fev\^  of  them  mix  up  with  the  ,  female,  kiiua only 
young  males,  and  when  the  natives  make  a  drive  lor 
food  it  occasionally  happens  that  a  female  will  accompany  the  males,  and 
sometimes  one  or  tvro  may  be  accidentally  killed.    I  use 
the  word  "accidentally"  advisedly,  because  there  is  no      Females  less  vain- 
good  reason  why  the  natives  or  the  lessees  should  kill  skins^mdibod.'''^ 
a  female  seal  designedly,  as  the  skin  is  of  no  more  use 
or  value  (if  so  much),  nor  its  llesh  as  good  for  food,  as  is  that  of  the 
male.     And,  excepting  accidents,  it  is  a  fact  that  no 
female  seals  are,  or  ever  were,  killed  on  the  Pribilof  „„^|"i^y',\'g"''''  ^'''''^^'' 
Isla'ids  since  American  rules  and  regulations  were  es- 
tablished theie. 

Tlie  regular  killing  season  for  skins  under  the  lease  begins  on  June 
1st  and  ends  i)ractically  on  the  last  of  July;  and  dnr-      ^..„. 

,  ,    .  •       1      J.1  1'        1.       ^  i  ^        ^  jy  it-  K.llllli;'  season. 

iiig  this  period  the  lirst-class  Alaskan  tur-seal  skins 
are  taken.     The  seals  are  driven  from  the  hauling  to  the  killing  grounds 
by  experienced  natives  under  the  orders  of  the  native  ,  ^  .^j.^^ . 

Chief,  and  the  constant  aim  and  object  of  all  concerned 


150  TESTIMONY 

is  to  exercise  llic  jifoatcst  cnro  in  (lri\iii.ii-,  so  tliat  tlio 
Caroot  seas.  aiiiiiials  may  not  be  injured  or  abused  in  any  manner. 

As  tlic  re.^nlatious  i-e(|uire  tlie  lessees  to  i)ay  for  every  skin  taken 
from  seals  killiMJ  by  the  orders  of  their  local  ageuts,  and 
iirfvri'r  ""*   o^'*^'"-   as  the  skin  of  an  overheated  seal  is  valueless,  it  is  only 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  tbey  ^yonl(l  be  the  last  men 
liviiiii'  to  encourage  or  allow  their  employes  to  overdrive  or  in  any  man- 
ner injure  tlie  seals.     I  know  that  the  orders  given  to 
Positive  .n-.icrs  of  me,  as  lof'al  agent,  were  always  of  the  most  positive 
(•oiin>:iii.v    o  i)io  .;<•    ^^^^^  emphatic  kind  on  this  point,  and  they  were  always 
obeyed  to  tlie  letter.     Instead  of  overdriving  or  neg- 
lecting the  seals  tlie  lessees  liave  endeavored  to  do  everything  in  their 
])ower  to  shorten  the  distances  between  tlieliauliug  and  killing  grounds, 
oi'  between  the  hauling  grounds  and  the  salt  house. 

Before  the  Alaska  Coiiniercial  Company  leased  the  seal  islands  in 
ISTO,  it  was  a  common  practice  to  drive  seals  from  ISlortli  l^^ast  I'oiut  to 
the  Village  on  St.  Paul  Island,  a  distance  of  lU  miles,  and  fVom  Zapad- 
nie  to  the  Village  on  St.  (reorge  Island,  a  distance  of  0  miles,  across  a 
very  rough  and  rugged  country. 

J^'rom  Halfway  point  and  from  Zai>adnie  on  St.  Panl 
Island,  seals  were  driven,  respectively,  o  and  b  miles. 
When  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  took  control  of  the  islands 
the  drive  from  North  East  point  was  prohibited,  and  a  salt  house  and 
other  necessary  buildings  erected  within  li  miles  of  the  killing  ground, 
and  all  the  skins  taken  there  were  salted  and  stored  and  shipped  fr  Jin 
North  East  Point.  In  1879  a  killing  ground  was  made,  and  a  salt  house 
built  at  Halfway  Point,  within  '2  miles  of  the  hauling  gr(mnds,  and  all 
skins  taken  at  the  Point  are  salted  there.  At  Zapadnie,  the  same  year, 
a  killing  ground  was  made  within  a  mile  of  the  hauling  ground,  and  the 
skins  taken  there  are  taken  to  the  Vil'age  salt  house  in  boats,  or,  when 
the  weather  is  iinCavorahle,  by  team  and  wagon. 

.  .  ^  Since  1878  there  has  not  been  a  driv^e  made  on  St. 

""""■  Paul   Island   to  exceed  2   miles.      At   Zapadnie,   St. 

(leorge,  a  salt  house  was  built  about  1875,  and  the  i»  mile  drive  pro- 
hibited, and  a  trail  made  at  great  expense  across  the  Island,  over  which 
the  skins  art^  taken  on  pack  saddles  to  the  Village.    Since  1874  no  seals 
have  been  driven  on  St.  George  Island  to  exceed  2A  miles. 
,   .       ,  Althouiih  the  seals  are  comparatively  tame  alter  be- 

Strict  rules.  .  j_ii         i    ,■  ij.i-  ii  ^         j.  i 

ing  on  the  laud  lor  a  short  time,  and  do  not  get  scared 
so  easily  as  is  commonly  su])posed,  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the 
Treasury  Depai'tment  are  very  strict  on  the  question  of  absolute  i)ro- 
(ection  to  the  seals  on  the  Islands,  and  the  Treasuiy  Agents  have  always 
most  rigidly  enforced  them. 

It  is  unlawful  to  tire  a  gun  on  the  islands  from  the  time  the  first  seal 
,.    ,    ,.      „      1  appears  in  the  siuing  until  the  last  one  leaves  at  the 

Jso.slioot in;; allowed.  i       ,.  . ,  '  '  ,    .  -,        ,  ,  ..  ,,   . 

end  ot  the  season  ;  and  m  order  to  properly  enforce  this 
law,  the  firearms  are  taken  from  the  natives  and  locked  up  in  the  Gov- 
ernment house,  in  care  of  the  Ti'casury  Agents. 

No  person  is  allowed  to  go  lu'ar  a  rookery  unless  by  special  order  of 

the  Treasury  Agent;  and,  when  driving  from  the  haul- 
tiiH^e/r' '*'*'  ""*  '^''^    "^'^"  f^'i^'o'i'"!^  ^l'<'  iKitivesarc^  forbidden  to  smoke  or  make 

any  unusual  iu)ise,  or  to  do  anything  that  might  dis- 
turb or  frighten  the  seals.     All  driving  is  done  when  the  weather  is 
j,i..^..jj„  cool  and  moist,  and  when  the  condition  of  the  weather 

demands  it,  the  drives  are  made  in  the  cool  of  the  night; 
and  in  no  case  are  seals  driven  at  a  higher  rate  of  speed  than  about 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  151 

half  a  mile  an  liour.  So  carol'iilly  is  t!ie  (lii\ing  done  that  it  has  heeu 
tbinid  necessary  to  divide  tlie  native  drivers  into  several '•  watehes" 
which  relieve  each  other  on  the  road,  because,  the  [)ace  being  so  slow, 
the  men  get  cold. 

From  1875  to  1883  il  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  lessees  to  take 
tlie  annual  <|uota  of  lOO.OlK)  skins  between  Juiu^lst  and 
July  L'O,  and  yet  there  was  no  sign  of  any  decrease,  but   is%'tti88f ""  ^''"'" 
rather  an  expansion  of  most  of  the  rookeries. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  be  able  to  say  how  many  seals  there  are,  or  ever 
were,  on  the  rookeries;  nor  do  1  believe  anybody  else  can  tell;  for  the 
rookeries  are  so  broken  and  tilled  with  rocks  it  is  impossible  to  esti- 
mate the  number  of  seals  upon  them  with  any  api)roacli  to  accuracy. 
The  lines  of  expansion  and  contraction  are  plain  enough,  and  can  be 
seen  and  understood  by  the  whole  community. 

Until  1884  sealing  schooners  were  seen  but  very  seldom  near  the  is- 
lands or  in  Bering  Sea,  and  the  few  seals  taken  by  the 
hunters  who  raided  the  rookeries  occasionally  are  too   ^^^^"  p'-^'iniis 'M-fore 
])altry  to  be  seriously   considered,  because  the  raids 
were  so  few,  and  the  facilities  for  taking  many  seals  off  so  utterly  in- 
significant.   In  1881  the  sealing  schooners  became  num- 
erous.   I  believe  there  were  ;ibout  thirty  in  the  sea  that  creashfg'sfuce'illi!"" 
year,  and  they  have  increased  very  rapidly  every  year 
since,  until  now  they  are  said  to  be  about  (me  hundred  and  twenty. 
As  the  schooners  increased  the  seals  decreased,  and  the 
lines  of  contraction  on  the  rookeries  were  noticed  to  ereas^oSr    '^''' 
draw  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  beach,  and  the  killable 
seals  became  fewer  in  numbers,  and  liarder  to  find.     In  1880  the  de- 
crease was  so  |)lain  that  the  natives  and  all  the  agents      :^i;,i.t,>.uiecrease  in 
on  the  islands  saw  it  and  were  startled;  and  theories  of  isk' 
all  sorts  were  advanced  in  an  attempt  to  account  for  a 
cause. 

A  dearth  of  bulls  on  the  breeding  rookeries  was  a  pet  theory  of  one 
or  two  transient  visitors,  but  it  only  neeeded  a  thorough      xheories. 
investigation  of  the  condition  of  the  rookeries  to   con- 
vince the  most  skeptical  that  there  were  ])lenty  of  bulls,  and  to  spare, 
and  that  hardly  a  cow  could  be  found  on  the  rookeries  without  a   i)up 
at  her  side. 

For  five  years  I  have  given  this  particular  subject  my  most  earnest 
attention,  ami  every  succeeding  year's  experience  has      ^.^^  dearth  of  buiis. 
convinced  me  that  there  is  not,  and  never  was,  a  dearth 
of  bulls.     The  theory  of  impotency  of  the  young  bulls  because  of  over 
driving  when  young  m  not  worthy  of  co)isideration  by 
any  sane  or  honest  nmn  who  has  ever  seeen  a  bull  seal    ^^Yoimsi^'iHsnotim- 
on  al)reeding  rookery;  and  as  I  have  already  answered      xo  overdriving. 
the  question  of  over  driving  I  will  only  add  here  that 
no  young  bull  ever  goes  u])on  a  breeding  rookery  until  he  is  able  to 
tight  his  way  in,  and  an  impoteiif  bull  has  no  desire  to  fight,  nor  could 
he  win  a  position  on  the  rookerv  were  be  to  attempt 

rni  •  J       1-  1  '  •  Bulls  SIX  voars  old 

it.     The  man  is  not  alive  who  ever  saw  a  six  or  seven  never iuipoteut. 
year  old  bull  seal  impotent. 

Another  theory,  ec^ually  untrue,  was  that  an  epidemic  had  seized 
the  herd;  but  investigations  of  the  closest  kind  Inive       xoipi.i.Miui-. 
never  revealed  the  death,  on  the  islands,  of  a  full  grown 
seal  from  unknown  causes.     Let  it  be  rememl)ered  that  the  fiesli  of 
the  seal  is  the  staple  diet  of  the  natives  and  that  it  is  eaten  daily 


152  TESTIMONY 

by  most  of  the  wljite  employes  as  well;  and  yet  it  is  true  that  a  sign 

of  taint  or  disease  has  never  been  found  on  a  seal  axr- 

Dcad|up*s'!  *''*''"'''    ^'•^'^^  i"  ^^'^  memory  of  man.     It  was  not  until  so  many 

thousands  of  dead  pups  were  found  upon  the  rookeries 

that  the  ])roblem  was  solved. 

The  truth  is  that  when  the  cows  go  out  tu  the  feedin,^-  grounds  to 
feed  they  are  shot  and  killed  by  the  pelagic  hunter,  and  the  pups,  de- 
prived of  sustenance,  die  uj^on  the  rookeries.  Excepting  a  few  ])ups 
killed  by  the  surf  occasionally  it  has  been  demonstrated  that  all  the 
pups  found  dead  are  poor  and  starved,  and  when  examined  their 
stomachs  are  found  to  be  without  a  sigu  of  fo  Dd  of  any 
.Niu.'Spnps."*''"^  soi't.  In  I'^Ol  the  roi>keries  on  St.  Paul  Island  were 
covered,  in  places,  witli  dead  pups,  all  of  which  had 
every  symptom  of  having  died  of  hunger,  and  on  opening  several  of 
them  the  stomachs  were  tound  to  be  empty. 

The  resi<lent  pliysician,  Dr.  Ackerly,  examined  majiy  of  them  and 
found  in  everv  instance  that  starvation  was  the  cause 
vaHon.''  '^"'  '"  '*"'    of'  '^''^'tli-     'J^l'*'  l'•^vest  estimatcs  made  at  the  time  plac- 
ing the  number  of  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries  at  25,000 
is  too  high. 

It  has  l3eeu  said  that  man  can  do  nothing  to  facilitate  tlie  propagation 

o-   •      lumid  of  the  fur-seal.     My  experience  does  not  support  this. 

be  \xa"iSat«i!  Vt'iiw^  The  reservation  of  females  and  the  killing  of  the  sur- 

wiso  the  bulls  i<iii   plug  males,  so  that  each  bull  can  have  a  reasonable 

one  another.  i  ^  •  i  j.  .       .,  ^,        , 

number  ot  cows,  is  more  advantage  to  the  growth  ot 
the  rookeries  than  when  in  a  state  of  nature  bulls  killed  each  otlier  in 
their  efforts  to  secure  a  single  cow. 

The  same  care  can  be  and  is  exercised  in  the  handling  and  manage- 
ment of  the  seal  herd  as  is  bestowed   by  a  ranchman 
seSs™''^^**'  "ii'ure  of  j^p^j,^  ijjg  baiuls  of  ranging  stocli,  and  is  productive  of 
like  results.     The  seals  have  become  so  accustomed  to 
the  natives  that  the  presence  of  the  latter  does  not  disturb  them.     The 
pnps  are  easily  linndled  l)y  tiie  natives,  and  formerly,  when  nsed  as  an 
article  of  food,  thousands  of  pups  were  actually  i)icked  u])  and  exam- 
ined, in  accordance  with  Government  requirement,  to  a\oid  the  killing 
of  a  female.     So  easily  are  the  seals  controlled  that,  when  a  drive  of 
^'bachelors"  is  made  to  the  killing  grounds,  a  guard  of  two  or  three 
small  boys  is  sulhcient  to  l<eep  theni  from  straying,  and  from  the  gen- 
eral band  an,\-  nund)er  from  one  upwards  can  be  readily  cut  out.     It  is 
I)ossible  in  tlie  future,  as  it  has  been  in  the  past,  to  resei've  unmolested 
suitable  areas  to  serve  as  breeding  grounds;  to  set 
de^irlbie""   ^'"""''''  asidc  cach  year  a  proper-  number  of  young  males  for 
stock  br.MMiiii;:   future  scrvicc  upon  the  rookeries,  and  by  the  api)lica- 
to'seais.'^''  ''"''  "'^ ' '    t'on  of  the  ordinary  stock-breeding  i)rincipies  not  only 
to  ])erpetuate  but  to  rapidly  increase  the  seal  herd. 
To  one  who  has  spent  so  many  years  among  the  seals  as  I  have  and 
who  has  taken  so  much   inteiest    in  them,  it  does  appear  to  be  wrong 
,^   ,    ^,.^  that  thev  should  be  allowed  to  be  so  ruthlesslv  and 

Waste  of  life.  •      t  --i-i  i  li  ii  i-i  i_       ''  ^ 

indiscriminately  slaughtereil  by  pelagic  hunters,  who 
secure  only  about  one  fourth  of  all  they  kill.     There  is  no  doubt  in  my 
mind  that  unless  immediate  protection  be  given  to  the 
^  protection    neces-   Ahiskau  fur-se:il  the  species  will  be  practically  de- 
stroyed in  a  very   few  years;  and  in  order  to  protect 
them  pelagic  hunting  must  be  absolutely  prohibited. 

N.  B. — The  foregoing  is  substantially  the  same  testimony  that  I  gave 
to  the  commissioners  who  visited  the  islands  in  18!)1. 

J.  C.  Redpath. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND.  153 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  au  officer  eiiii)owed  to  adiiuiiister 
oatlis  under  .section  1!)7(>,  Kevised  Statutes  of  tlie  United  States,  on 
this  tlic  3d  day  of  June,  18!)i5,  at  St.  Paul  Island,  Alaska. 

W:m.  H  Williams, 
Treasury  Agent  in  Gharg,  of  ^eal  Islands. 


Deposition  of  George  M.   Temple,  assistant  agent  of  lessees  on   ^St.  Paul 

Island. 

habits.    management. 

State  of  Vermont, 

Connty  of  Orange,  ss: 

George  H.  Teni])le,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
32  years  old;  a  native  of  Yermont,  where  I  now  reside. 
I  was  bred  to  the  occupation  of  farming,  and  am  at       ^pencuoe. 
l)resent  a  hardware  merchant  in  my  native  town  of  llandolph. 

From  1880  to  1882  I  was  employed  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Com- 
pany at  St.  I'aul  Island,  Alaska,  as  assistant  agent,  and  in  that  i)osition 
became  familiar  with  the  work  of  handling,  driving,  and  herding  the 
killable  seals,  and  with  the  habits  and  ])eculiarities  of  the  breeding 
seals  on  the  rookeries,  both  of  which  liave,  in  the  main,  been  accurately 
and  intelligently  described  by  II.  W.  Elliott  in  his  "Keport  on  tlie  Seal 
Islands  of  Alaska,"  publislied  by  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  Census 
Office,  1884.  I  think  he  might,  however,  have  nu^de  his  description  of 
tlie  animals  and  the  manner  of  obtaining  their  skins  for  market  more 
intelligible  to  the  ordinary  reader  by  folio win.g  more  closely  the  analogy 
between  the  seals  and  iarm  animals,  which  invariably  strikes  the  ob- 
sei'ver  who  is  familiar  with  the  rearing,  h.andling,  and  slaughtering  of 
both. 

A  farmer  on  going  to  the  seal  islands  at  once  notices,  as  I  did,  that  the 
term  "  seal  hunting,"  so  called,  conveys  no  idea  of  the 
business  of  taking  seals  for  their  skins  as  it  is  there  of^'Jais^*"^  character 
carried  on.  It  is  in  no  sense  "  hunting,"  the  work  of 
bringing  in  for  slaughter  from  their  accust  jmed  haunts  and  slaying 
such  number  of  killable  seals  from  day  to  day  as  will  serve  as  a  day's 
work  for  those  engaged  in  the  killing  being  in  no  way  different  from 
that  pursued  by  the  farmer  in  driving  up  his  farm  herd  and  selecting 
and  killing  such  as  he  sees  tit;  the  only  difference  being  that,  in  the 
case  of  the  seals,  the  pasture  in  which  they  feed  is  the  broad  ocean,  out 
of  which  the  seal  farmer  can  not  drive  them.  He  must  wait  until  they 
come  on  shore;  but  he  can  count  with  absolute  certainty  on  their  com- 
ing within  his  reach  in  due  time,  provided  only  tlieir  natural  enemies 
oppose  them,  and  they  are  spared  while  at  sea  by  their  human  enemies, 
who  may,  with  perfect  propriety,  be  termed  ''seal  hunters." 

The  analogy  can  be  further  profitably  followed  bycom])aringthe  system 
usually  pursued  in  breeding  domestic  animals  with  the 
meth(!ds  adopted  by  the  late  lessees  of  tlie  seal  tisheries  ,,„t,"fj'.""""'  *°  ^'"■'" 
in  preserving  all  tlie  female  seals,  and  enough  males  for 
breeders,  and  also  in  their  manner  of  driving,  yarding,  herding,  select- 
ing for  slaughter  and  for  l)reediiig,  handling  the  young,  and  generally 
in  the  management  of  the  herd;  the  exception  in  this  respect  being 
found  chiefly  in  tlie  fact  that  the  seals,  after  they  are  a  few  months  old, 
can  not  be  manipulated  with  tlie  hands,  because  of  their  piopensity  to 
bite,  but  must  be  always  kept  at  arm's  length  by  the  hcrdiiiairs  seal 


154  TESTIMONY 

cliil),  in  tlie  use  of  v.iiicli  hv  bccoiiu's  so  exi)ort  tliat,  without  strikiiij;-  the 

se;il  or  in  anv  way  injiirin,u'  him,  lie  ])rotocts  liimself  most  tlioronghly 

against  the  snapi^ing  jaws  and  sharp  tectli  l)y  which  lie  is  confronted. 

Before  the  young  seal  leaACs  the  island  for  the  first  time,  in  the  year 

of  ins  birth,  he  is  less  vicious,  or  less  exiiert  in  the 

\  oiiiiK  sials  tame.  n  a   •      ±       1 1  i  i  -ii  i^ijj- 

use  of  his  teeth,  and  may  be  juckcmI  up  by  tiie  fiijipers, 
or,  if  necessary,  mari<:ed  or  branded;  and  at  the  ])ro](er  season  of  the 
year  I  tliink  81>  or  00  per  cent  of  all  the  young  could  be  brought  up 
i'roni  the  beaches  and  so  dealt  with. 

I  make  these  stateniiMits  because  I  have  heard  it  said  that  the  seals 
are  wild  animals  and  can  not  be  identitied  as  belonging  to  any  partic- 
ular herd  or  rookery  when  off  on  the  feeding  grounds  where  they  are 
cai)tnred  by  the  marine  seal  hunters. 

I  again  visited  St.  Paul  Island  and  remained   there  several  days  iii 

No  .laniiige  by  ks-  thc  sumiuer  of  J S,S5,  but  saw  no  evidence  then,  or  when 

sees.         "^  formerly  on  the  island,  to  lead  me  to  think   that  the 

lessees  were  damaging  the  rookeries,  or  doing  anything  different  from 

what  a  judicious  regard  for  the  future  of  the  industry  would  dictate. 

In  giving  this  evi(lence  I  am  as  free  from  i)rejudice  as  is  ])Ossible  when 
entertaining,  as  I  do,  a  feeling  tliat  the  late  lessees  treated  me  in  some 
mcnsure  unjustly,  nor  have  1  any  interest  whatever  in  the  seals  or  the 
])rodu('ts  of  th(^  sealeries. 

it  is  asserted  by  JMr.  Elliott,  in  a  report  made  sul)seqnent  to  that  above 
cited,  from  which  1  have  seen  extracts,  that  permanent 
No  i.ijnry  to  maio  juji^.y  i(.sults  to  tlic  male  scal  tVom  the  practice  of  re 
peatcdly  bringing  him  up  to  the  killing  grounds  and 
letting  him  go  aga  ii  because  of  some  defei^t  in  his  skin,  or  for  the 
reason  that  he  is  needed  as  a  breeder.     He  does  not  say  what  he  saw 
among  the  old  males  to  justify  any  such  conclusion,  and  I  do  not  be- 
lieve it  is  warranted  by  the  facts.     When  the  seals  g-et  back  to  the 
water  after  a  long  drive,  tliey  are,  of  course,  cnnsiderably  fatigued,  but 
leap  as  gaily  as  usual  after  a  little  rest,  and  play  with  their  fellows  on 
shore  with  their  a)('(ai>tomed  vivacity  on  the  day  following  the  drive. 

There  are  always  some  disabled  seals  on  the  beaches  described  by 
j\Ir.  Elliott  as  "hospital  loolceries,"  where  those  maimed  in  the  con- 
tlict  for  supremacy  on  the  breeding  grounds  and  decrepit  old  males  too 
old  for  further  service,  haul  n\)  to  rest  and  heal  tlieir  wounds.  The 
unmber  of  such  animals  is  never  largcMu  iiropoition  to  the  whole  herd, 
aud  all  others  represent  the  highest  type  of  virility,  vigor,  and  strength. 

Geo.  H.  Temple. 

Rubs'.'ribed  and  sworn  to  at  Randolph,  Vermont,  this  13th  day  of 
June.,  A.  D.  181)15,     Ijeforc  me, 

J.  B.  Eldredge, 
[seal.]  Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  Scth  Jlf.  Waslihurn,  nfinifitant  aqont  of  lessees  and  teacher  on 

*S7.  Paul  Island'. 

man  a  gement — habits. 

State  of  Vermont, 

County  of    Windsor,  ss: 
I,  Seth  M.  Washburn,  depose  and  on  oath  say:  That  T  am  42  years 
of  aue,  and  reside  in  Bethel,  N'ermont,  where  I  have  been 
a  merchant  since  Ls<h,     1  was  born  in  Kandoiph,  Ver- 
mont, and  lived  thereuntil  1874,    I  was  a  graduate  of  the  State  Normal 


RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    LSLAND.  155 

School  of  Veriiioiit,  and  in  1874  was  employed  by  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Coni])aiiy,  the  late  lessees  oftlie  Alaska  seal  (islieries,  to  tio  to  the  Island 
oi'St.  L'aiil  of  the  Piibilof  .urou]),  as  Assistant  Agent  and  teacher.  1  went 
there  iu  J874  and  remained  continuously  until  1877,  my  residence 
there  covering'  four  sealing  seasons.  My  duties  as  Assistant  Agent  re- 
(juired  me  to  familiarize  myself  with  the  hal)its  of  the  seals,  the  manner 
of  driving  them  from  the  rookeries,  and  the  killing  them  and  ])reserv- 
ing  their  skins.  In  doing  this  the  rookeries  were  under  my  daily  ob- 
servation. Moreover,  from  tlie  isolated  character  of  the  life  on  St. 
Paul  Island,  and  the  fact  that  the  whole  business  and  resources  of  the 
islanders  and  the  other  emphtyes  of  the  less(^es  were  based  on  the  seal 
])roduct,  the  habits  and  pe(uiliarities  of  these  animals  was  the  princi- 
]>al  and  overshadowing  subject  of  conversation  and  observation  among 
the  inhabitants. 

The  density  of  the  seal  po]Mdation  on  the  rookeries  is  the  same  each 
season ;  an  increase  of  seal  life  simply  extends  the  space  ij,,„]j,.,,j,.^ 
occupied  by  the  rookeries.  By  observing  each  year 
the  extent  ot  ground  covered  with  breeding  seals,  and  com])aring  it, 
one  year  with  aiiother,  an  observer  can  easily  determine  whether  the 
seals  are  stationary,  increasing,  or  diminishing  in  numbers.  From 
year  to  year,  when  1  was  at  St.  Paul,  the  number  of  seals  increased, 
and  the  increase  was  constant.  This  I  know  from  my  own  careful  ob- 
servation of  the  herds  an<l  rookeries,  and  1  estimate      ..  ,„_,  ,.._ 

,,  ,  „  1        i.    cii.    T,       1     ■      -.c.'-r-       J.  -  J.      -i/k  Increase,  18(4-18,7. 

the  number  of  seals  at  St.  Paul,  in  18/ 1,  at  o  to  10  per 

cent,  at  least,  greater  than  the  tirst  season  I  was  there  (1874). 

The  number  of  non-breeding  males  of  suitable  age  and  body  for  kill- 
ing was  in  each  year  largely  in  excess  of  the  nun)ber      „,    ^     ,.     , 

•^      .  "i   -11     1    1         i-i         1  1  1-1  Plwity  (if  males. 

l)ernutted  to  be  kuled  by  the  lease,  and  was  i^Iainly 
large  enough  to  rei>lenish  in  due  time  the  stock  of  breeding  males  in 
such  numbers  that  the  entire  herd  was  enlarged  from  year  to  year  by 
a  gradual  and  healthy  increase.  Tliese  facts  observed  by  me  were 
also  uoted  by  the  natives  and  other  residents,  and  were  the  cause  of 
rejoicing  and  congratulation  among  them. 

After  I  learned  the  business  one  of  my  duties  was  to  have  charge  of 
one  of  the  gangs  of  natives  engaged  in  driving  the      ,,  .  . 
seals  from  the  lookeries  to  the  killing  grounds  and 
there  slaughtering  them.     Such  seals  as  we  did  not  slaughter  for  their 
skins  were  allowed  to  return  at  will  to  the  rookeries  and 
were  in  no  way  injured  by  such  driving  and  return ;  on   ailvhl^""*  '"■'"'■'''' ^''^' 
getting  back  to  the  place  whence  they  started  they 
were,  after  a  short  rest,  as  pla^i»  ful  and  active  as  ever.     The  seal  usually 
makes  one  rookery  his  home,  and  so  the  same  seal,  when  not  uj)  to  the 
standard  for  killing,  is  drix'en  several  times  in  one  season  to  the  killing 
grounds  to  liiul  his  way  back  to  the  rookery  when  those  suitable  for 
killing  have  been  dis])atched.     They  are  as  fresh  for  the  suciceeding 
iournevs,  which  take  place  at  intervals  of  several  days,      ,,  . 

as  for  the  tirst  one.     The  methods  of  the  lessees  in 
killing  their  quota  and  in  care  for  the  preservation  of  the  great  body 
of  the  herd  were,  in  my  judgment,  as  judicious  as  could  be  taken. 

Every  member  of  the  entire  sea  herd  of  the  island  (exceitt  the  new- 
boin  pups  in  the  first  three  or  four  weeks  of  their  m„i,(.  •  viiue 
life)  had,  when  I  was  there,  and,  I  understand,  still  '  •  - 
has,  immediate  money  value;  and  the  entire  herd  is,  each  season,  as 
wholly  and  completely  in  the  actual  p!)wer  and  possessive  control  of 
the  em])loy(^'S  of  the  lessees  as  my  father's  cattle  on  his  farm  were  in 
mine  when  1  was  a  boy  and  he  gave  me  charge  of  them.    The  only 


156  TESTIMONY    RELATING    TO    ST.    PAUL    ISLAND. 

tiling  to  prevent  the  immediate  conversion  of  the  entire  lierd  into  mar- 
ketable skins,  and  so  into  cash,  was  the  limit  of  the  catch  imjtosed  by 
the  terms  of  lease,  unless,  that  limit  being  removed,  tlie  inhabitants 
Avere  possessed  of  foresiglit  and  public  spirit  euongh  to  i^reserve  the 
herd  for  their  own  future  prolit  or  the  future  public  good. 
The  seal  has  many  traits  of  a  domestic  animal,  and  his  birthplace  is 
so  certain  a  home  for  him  that,  in  its  habitable  season, 
^^Domestic  nature  of  j,^,  ^l^^^,^  ^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^  huntcd,  but  cau  l)e  found  there 

as  regularly  as  a  farmer's  cattle  at  night.  To  me  it 
seems  a  pity  to  wastefully  destroy  his  useful  race  when  pasturing  in 
the  great  oceanic  international  common. 

SiiiTii  M.  Washburn. 

tSnbscribed  aud  sworu  to  at  Bethel,  Vt.,  this  13th  day  of  June,  A.  D. 
l.S!)i>,  before  me, 
[L.  S.J  G  VY  Wilson, 

Kotary  Fublic. 


TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO  ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND. 


DciJosition  of  George  R.  Adams,  agent  of  lessees  on  St.  George  Lslaiuh 

management  and  pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

George  R.  Adams,  having-  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  a)>, 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States  and  a  resident  of  PasoEo- 
bles,  (Jal.,  where  I  am  employed  in  general  business.      Exptrience. 
I  first  went  to  xllaska  in  the  bark  Golden  Gate,  Captain 
Scammon,    June    10,  180"),    on  the  American  Telegraph    Expeditiuu 
and    explored   the    country    about  Bering    Sea  from    St.    Michaels 
north  returning  in  September,  18157.      In  the  spring  of  1SG8  I  returned 
to  Alaska  soon  after  its  purchase  by  the  United  States.     I  went  for  the 
late  John  Parrott,  of  San  Francisco,  direct  to  the  islands  of  St.  Paul 
and  St.  George.     We  were  the  first  parties  who  went  to  those  islands 
after  the  purchase,  and  commenced  taking  seals  about 
the  1st  of  July.     We  and  other  parties  took  about  i,SS' isls. '^''°'°'' 
(>r),000  that  year  from  St.  George  Island  alone.     We 
killed  no  females  except  by  accident,  for  the  reason  that  we  thou^^ht  at 
that  time  the  skins  of  females  were  worthless. 

No  sealing  was  done  at  the  Pribilof  Islands  during  the  seasons  of 
1869  and  1870  except  for  food  for  the  natives,  the  Gov-      ^^   soaiin  -   on 
ernment  having  declared  these  islands  a  reservation,  islands  in  isonimdisTo 
and  the  lessees  did  not  perfect  the  lease  in  time  to  excei-t  tor  food. 
commence  operations  that  year  (1870). 

Prom  the  start  I  was  employed  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company 
and  remained  in  their  service  until  1876,  in  charge  of 
the  companies'  business  on  St.  George  Island.   In  1871      Exrerienc^ 

1      ,-.-  ,^/,rv  1  J 1      j_    •    1         1  T    j-1  1  JSJuinuer    killed    on 

we  took  2o,000  seals  on  that  island,  and  the  regular  island  in  i87i. 
quota  each  year  thereafter.     During  the  season  of  1 876  ta?J,h/"'^qi"ota  "from 
1  was  in  charge  of  their  business  at  St.  Paul  Island.  isTo-ie. 
We  had  no  difficulty  during  my  seven  years  residence 
at  the  island  in  obtaining  the  full  quota;  nor  could  I  discover  at  any 
time  any  diminution  of  the  number  of  seals  annually  hauling  up  at  the 
island.    When  the  period  arrived  for  their  coming  to  land,  the  shore 
literally  swarmed  with  seal  life.     It  was  the  uniform 
policy  of  the  lessees  to  carefully  preserve  and  protect     roiicv  of  lessees. 
for  breeding  purposes  all  female  seals;  and,  as  their 
agent,  I  was  instructed  to  exercise  all  possible  care  and  caution  for 
the  preservation  of  the  female  when  driving  or  killing. 
I  observed  a  perceptible  increase  annually  in  the  num-      increase  of  fiimaics. 
ber  of  females  arriving  at  the  island,  due,  in  my  judg- 
ment, to  the  care  exercised  by  those  charged  with  their  custody.     I 
was  also  instructed  to  use  the  greatest  care  and  can-  .  .^^  ^^^^^ 

tion  in  driving  and  kdling  the  bachelor  seals  in  order  ,iiiiiV,Tr.""  """^ '^"' 
not  to  injure  those  not  wanted  for  their  skins,  but  to 

drive  them  back  from  the  killing  grounds  into  the  sea. 

157 


158  TESTIMONY 

Poacliiiig  in  P>erini!,"  Sea  had  not  begun  in  those  years,  and  it  was  a 

rare  thing  to  tind  a  dead  puj)  about  the  shores  or  ou 

those  da^T*^^'''"^'    "'  the  rookeries.     Iliad  frequent  occasion  after  tlie  close 

of  the  breeding  season  to  visit  all  parts  of  the  island, 

and  there  was  no  apjx'arance  of  gaunt  or  starved  seals.     Occasionally 

a  dead  pup  was  foniul  that  had  been  crushed  to  death,  by  the  bulls  in 

their  encounters  with  each  other. 

I  have  always  taken  a  great  interest  in  the  sealing  industry,  and  felt 

a  i>reat  desire  to  have  them  protected  from  destruction, 

peS'seaiinir'^  ^^  P^^  ^  ^^^^  without  hesitation,  that  the  great  decrease 

in  the  number  now  annually  arriving  at  the  seal  i.slands 

is  due  entirely  to  the  killing  of  female  seals  by  pelagic  hunters. 

It  has  been  my  custom  in  the  last  few  years  to  examine  the  logs  of 

sealing  vessels  and  to  converse  with  officers  and  hunters 

AVaste  of  life  as   of  sucli  vcsscls  iu  Order  to  obtain  Avhat  information  I 

learned  from  vessels'  ii  j.ii  iii  i  iiij.  iji 

logs.  could  as  to  tlu'  methods  emiiloyed  by  hunters,  and  tlie 

h)ss  of  seals  occasioned  iu  such  puisuit.  From  the 
logs  1  learned  that  iu  many  instances  one  hundred  rounds  of  anniui- 
nition  had  been  fired  to  each  skin  secured,  and  often  more;  and  on  an 
average  I  found  that  not  over  live  seals  to  the  hundred  shots  had  been 
obtained.  The  logs  further  showed  that  a  large  number  had  been 
wounded  and  hist. 

I  also  ascertained  from  the  logs,  and  from  (conversation  with  masters 
of  sailing  schooners,  that  not  one  seal  out  often  killed  or  wounded  had 
Iteea  caught.  These  iiupiiries  I  pursued  at  San  Francisco  until  quite; 
recently. 

The  chief  killing  by  poachers  was  done  between  the  passes  of  Aleu- 
^  „, .,,    tian  Archipelago  and  the  Pribik)f  Islands. 

W  here  most  ot  kill-  ^  ,  i    ■     n  i-  j        j  i 

iiig  by  poaehers  is       i  luive  110  cxact  lutorination  as  to  the  proportion  ot 

'^"I'roi.orti.ni  of   fe    I'l^^^^  'ii'<^^  female  seals  killed  by  pelagic  hunters,  but  it 

males  killed.  is  luy  tiiiii  couvictiou,  froiu  my  knowledge  of  the  habits 

of  the  males  in  not  leaving  the  islands  during  the 

breeding  season  and  the  well  known  fact  that  mother 

Female.s  leedintr.  i  ^  i.    i  •    x  •  i       i- /•       i       i   -i 

seals  go  great  distances  m  search  oi  lood  while  nursing 
their  young,  that  the  females  are  slaughtered  in  great  numbers  during 
their  journeys  to  and  from  the  islands  by  pelagic  hunters. 

Geokge  R.  Adams. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  Gth  day  of  April,  18D2. 
[SEAL.]  E.  A.  Stowell, 

jS^otarij  Fuhlic. 


Dcposilion  of  Harry  2V".  Clarl-,  employe  of  lesscca  on  8t.  George  Island. 
manage3ient,  habits,  and  pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Calieornia, 

County  of  Tehama,  .ss: 
Harry  N.  (Jlark,  having  betui  duly  sworn,  dejioses  and  says:     I  ain 
oU  years  old,  a  native  of  Vermont,  and  now  a  resident 

Experience.  n^r-  fr    i  /^  j.      /i     i  i   i  j.-  l- 

OI  Vina,  leiiama  I  ounty  (Jal.,  and  by  occupation  lore- 
man  of  vineyard  cultivation  at  (lovernor  Stanford's  Vina  ]\anch. 

From  188f  to  1881),  inclusive,  I  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial ('omi)any  of  San  Francisco,  on  St.  George  Island,  Alaska,  en- 
gaged through  each  sealing  season  as  "boss"  of  a  gang  of  seal-hunters, 
iiiid  in  the  winter,  excepting  that  of  1880  and  1887,  as  teacher  and 
storekeeper  on  that  island. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND.  159 

My  work  as  the  leader  of  tlie  "sealing  gang"  gave  me  as  perfect 
oi)portunity  as  conld  be  had  for  studying  the  habits  and  peculiarities 
of  the  seal  and  deteriniiiing  tlie  best  manner  of  caring  for  tlieni. 

The  condition  of  seal  life  was  the  principal  topic  of  discussion  and 
thought  during  the  summer  months,  and  the  only  one  of  particular  in- 
terest. All  became  familiar  with  it,  and  watched  every  change  in  tlie 
breeding  grounds  or  number  of  killable  seals  as  carefully  as  a  farmer 
watches  the  increase  or  decrease  of  his  flocks  and  herds. 

The  compact  order  in  which  the  breeding  seals  arrange  themselves 
upon  the  "rookeries"  upon  their  arrival  in  the  spring,  com[)leteIy  lill- 
ing  the  ground  first  taken  before  spreading  over  adjoining  space,  en- 
ables one  to  see  at  a  glance,  as  the  season  advances,  whether,  if  he  re- 
members the  land  nuirks  to  which  they  filled  out  in  former  years,  they 
have  groAvn  more  or  less  luimerous. 

I  did  not  notice  any  falling  olf  in  the  size  of  the  "rookeries"  from 
the  land  marks  to  which  they  came  when  I  first  saAv 
them  during  the  first  two  years  I  was  on  the  island,      xo  decicnso  iu 

dn  1     •        T  •  i.1  j_j_  ii      j_  j_i  1        size  or  rookeries  (Ill- 

all  agreed,  in  discussing  the  matter,  that  the  seals  ringissiaudisso. 

had  never  been  more  numerous  than  they  then  were; 
but  in  the  following  years,  and  particularly  in  1888  ami      Subsequeiit  de- 
1880,  no  other  opinion  was   heard  than  that  the  ani- 
mals had  very  greatly  diminished,  and  in  this  opinion  I  fully  coincided. 

Dead  "pup"  seals,  which  seemed  to  have  starved  to  death,  grew 
verv  numerous  on  the  "rookeries"  these  latter  years;  ,.  , 
and  I  .noticed  when  driving  the  "bachelor"  seals  fin- 
killing,  as  we  started  them  up  from  the  beach,  that  many  small  "pups," 
half  starved,  apparently  motherless,  had  wandered  away  from  the 
breeding  grounds  and  became  mixed  with  the  killable  seals.  The  na- 
tives called  my  attention  to  these  waifs,  saying  that  it  did  not  use  to 
be  so,  and  that  the  mothers  were  dead;  otherwise  they  would  be  u])on 
the  breeding  grounds. 

While  1  was  upon  the  island  the  seal  herd  was,  I  believe,  most  wisely 
managed,  so  far  as  we  were  able  to  control  them ;  but 
we  could  not  prevent  the  destruction  w^hich  was  carried      '  ='"a,^'»^^>"'^^"t- 
on  by  Victoria  and  !8an  Francisco  seal-hunters  from  vessels  and  boats 
beyond  our  reach. 

I  never  noticed  any  disproportion  of  the  sexes  that  would  lead  me  to 
suspect  that  the  "bull"  seals  were  too  few,  nor  more 
than  an  occasional  barren  "cow."    These  latter  w^ere  so  b,7welM\''tiie''''xr"" 
few  as  to  excite  no  remark;  but  if  any  such  dispropor- 
tion did,  in  fact,  exist  in  1888  and  1880  it  was  the  fault  of  those  who 
killed  them  at  sea,  because  it  never  occurred  at  all  until  the  marine 
hunters  became  numerous  and  aggressive.     I  mention  this  matter  here 
because,  since  I  left  the  island,  1  have  heard  it  asserted  that  the  mis- 
management there  caused  the  decrease  of  seal  life.     The  management 
there  was  just  such  as  I  would  fi)lIow  if  all  the  seals  belonged  to  me. 

The  driving  of  the  male  seals  to  the  killing  grounds  was  done  very 
carefully.     If  the  weather  was  warm  or  dry  they  were 
allowed  frerpient  opjxntunity  to  rest.     I  am  sure  the       "'^"'"• 
driving  did  not  hurt  them  in  the  least. 

1  was  reared  on  a-  farm,  and  have  been  fiuniliar  from  boyhood  with 
the  breeding  of  domestic  animals,  and  iKirticnlarly  with  the  rearing 
and  management  of  young  animals;  hence  a  comparison  of  the  yonng 
seals  with  the  young  of  our  common  domestic  s]>ecies  is  most  natural. 
From  my  experience  with  both  I  am  able  to  declare  positively  that  it 
is  easier  to  manage  and  handle  young  seals  than  calves  or  Iambs. 


160  TESTIMONY 

Large  numbers  of  the  former  are  customarily  driven  up  in  the  fall  hy 

the  natives,  to  kill  a  certain  number  for  food,  and  all  could  be  "  rounded 

up"  as  the  prairie  cattle  are,  if  there  was  any  need  for  doing  so.    All 

,   the  herd  so  driven  are  lifted  ni)  one  by  one  and  exam- 

rossibilitv  of  bran;!-    .         ,  ,  i        i   -i       •        j-i   •  -t.-  „       i  i  i 

ingandmirrkins.         uicd  as  to  scx,  and  wliHc  HI  tlus  positiou  eacli  could 
be  branded  or  marked  if  necessary. 

If  the  seal  rookeries  were  my  persoiiid  i)roperty  1  should  regard  the 
task  of  branding  all  the  young  as  no  more  difficult  or  onerous  than  the 
branding  of  all  my  calves  if  I  were  engaged  in  breeding  cattle  upon 
the  ])rairies. 

The  same  force  that  has  heretofore  been  engaged  on  the  Pribilof  Is- 
lands in  killing  seals  in  the  summer  could  easily  drive  up  and  brand,  in 
a  i'L'w  days  in  the  fall  months,  all  the  "])up"  seals  born  on  the  islands. 
The  young  seals  at  birth  are  very  helpless.     They 
sJii'iT '*^^"™'"'''' *°  ^'^^^  ^^^^  swim  and  seem  to  have  no  desire  to  loam. 
When  they  are  six  or  seven  weeks  old,  if  the  beach  on 
which  they  lie  slopes  down  very  gradually  to  the  water  and  the  waves 
roll  in  on  it,  they  will  voluntarily  commence  to  paddle  about  and  finally 
get  afloat  without  particular  urging  from  the  older  seals,  but  if  the 
rocks  are  abrui)t  at  the  water's  edge  the  old  ones  must  push  them  over 
into  the  sea  or  seize  them  l)y  the  neck,  as  a  mother  cat  handles  her  kit- 
ten, and  drop  them  into  the  water  before  they  will  learn  to  swim.     In 
such  cases  the  "pups  "often  struggle  to  get  back  upon  laud. 
During  my  stay  upon  St.  (leorge  Island  several  attempts  were  nmde 
by  poachers  to  get  on  shore  and  steal  the  seal,  but 
lam'is!^''  "'"  "'"  '*^'  they  succeeded,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  only  on  three 
.  occasions,  and  in  all  those  three  I  do  not  think  they 
killed  more  than   1,200  or  1,-500  seals,  including  pups.     If  any  others 
had  efiected  a  landing  we  should  have  known  it,  for  the  rookeries  were 
constantly  watched  and  the  natives  are  very  keen  in  this  matter. 
During  the  summer  moriths  fogs  envelop  the  seal  islands  or  cover 
ciiniato.  the  sca  a  short  distance  from  them  a  considerable  por- 

tion of  the  time. 
Sealing  vessels  are  enabled  thereby  to  carry  on  their  work  without 
T,   , ., ...        .., .     detection  at  almost  any  point,  and  could  and  would,  I 

Proliibitimi    within     ,      ,.  i  "^  i  i-  -i      j.        •     i  ^  i         i 

.1  zone  about  islands   bcheve,  cross  any  boundary  line  that  miglit  be  drawn 
iucffeetive.  about  the  islands  and  catch  seals  at  Avill  inside  of  it. 

I  do  not  thiidv  sealing  can  be  permitted,  with  safety 

tin™'.o!!.r,r^"'''''''  to  the  rockeries,  in  anv  part  of  the  sea.     If  the  sealers 

are  given  an  inch  they  wdl  take  an  ell  and  destroy  them. 

Hahry  N.  Clark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  this  lOth  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1892,  before  me. 

[SEAL.]  E.  HiLDEBRANDT, 

Notary  ruhlic. 


DepodtJon  of  Sannid  FaJconn',  as.sistant  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  St' 

George  Island. 

VVAVAIA)V   ISLANDS. 

District  of  CoLiT:\reiA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Samuel  Falconer,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes   and  says:    I  am  CA 

j,^  ^^^.^  ^  years  of  age,  and  am  now  a  wool-grower  by  occupation. 

.xpeneiice.  ^^^  rcsideuce  is   Falconer,   McLean  County,  State  of 

North  Dakota.     In    1870,   in    the    month  of  October,   having  been 


RELATING    TO    ST.    GEOEGE    ISLAND.  161 

appointed  assistant  Treasury  agent  for  the  seal  island.^  in  Berinq 
Sea,  I  proceeded  to  said  islands,  and  from  that  time  until  August,  1<S7»>, 
I  remained  constantly  in  charge  of  St.  George  Island,  excepting  during 
the  winter  of  LSTt-'TS.  For  a  few  days  dnring  each  one  of  these  years 
I  visited  St.  Paul  Island,  never  remaining  tliere  for  any  length  of  time, 
however.  Each  season  while  I  Avas  located  at  the  islands  I  made  a 
careful  examination  of  the  breeding  giouuds  on  St.  George  Island,  not- 
ing particularly  the  areas  covered  by  them.  The  result  of  my  obser- 
vations was  that   there  was  marked  increase  in  these      ^  •     ,      , 

r  1  or--i    i       ^nr-n  1  -1  1  Iiuroasc    lu     breed- 

areas  from  18^1  to  18 (b,  and  necessarily  a  correspond-   ms:    sromids   iiom 
ing  increase  iu  seal  life,  for  no  matter  whether  the  seals  ^«7i-i876. 
are  few  or  many  in  number  they  always  crov:d  together  on  the  breed- 
ing grounds  as  closely  as  possible.     In  my  judgment  this  increase  was 
fully  25  per  cent.     One  fact  alone  proved  conclusively  that  there  had 
been  a  considerable  increase,  for  in  1871  1  noticed  passages  left  by  the 
old  bulls  through  the  breeding  grounds  for  the  bachelors  to  pass  to 
and  from  the  hauling  grounds  located  back  of  the  breeding   grounds. 
In  subsequent  years  these  passages  were  entirely  blocked  up  by  the 
breeders.     There  was  always  during  these  six  years  an 
excess  of  adult,  vigorous  bulls,  for  breeding  purposes, 
and  large  numbers  of  these  hauled  up  back  of  and  about  the  breeding 
grounds  awaiting  an  opportunity  to  take  the  place  of  some  wounded 
or  aged  bull  unable  longer  to  maintain  a  harem. 

In  1873  I  assisted  Prof.  Henry  W.  Elliott  in  making  his  measure- 
ments and  estimates  of  the  number  of  seals  on  St. 
George  Island.  We  set  up  stakes  at  some  distance  esUmlted!'"'^""  ''"" 
from  the  breeding  rookeries  while  they  were  occupied. 
Then  when  the  seals  were  gone  we  sighted  along  these  stakes  to  de- 
termine t\\^  back  lines  of  the  rookeries  and  measured  the  areas  thus 
deternuned  with  a  tape  line,  using  our  judgment  by  observing  the 
imture  of  the  ground  to  determine  the  curvature  of  these  areas.  We 
then  calculated  from  our  observations  three  seals  to  a  square  yard,  and 
multiplying  the  yards  in  the  areas  measured  by  three  made  our  estimate. 
I  think  the  measurements  were  made  as  accurately  as  could  be  done 
by  the  means  and  instruments  employed;  however,  I  am  convinced 
that  no  estimate  of  any  kind,  no  matter  how  accurately  the  measure- 
ments are  made,  would  give  even  api)roximately  the  number  of  seals 
on  the  island,  for  the  animals  are  constantly  in  motion,  coming  and 
going,  and  there  seems  to  be  almost  as  immy  in  the  water  as  on  land. 
It  is  as  impossible  to  estimate  them  as  it  is  to  estimate  a  swarm  of  bees. 
But  accurate  measurements  would  show  conclusively,  if  made  froni 
year  to  year,  whether  or  not  the  seals  were  increasing  or  decreasing. 

I  have  no  recollection  of  ever  having  seen  a  dead  pup  on  the  breeding 
grouiids,  but  I  have  seen  a  considerable  num  her  of  silver 
gray  imps — that  is,  those  that  have  learned  to  swim —  roolferlcsy*  ^'"^"'  "" 
which  had  been  killed  by  being  dashed  against  the 
rocks  by  the  surf. 

While  1  was  on  the  island  1  became  familiar  with  the  methods  of 
driving  and  handling  the  badielor  seals  pursued  by  the 
natives,  who  were  the  only  persons  who  ever  drove,   aih'in.t""  '"'"^  '"'*^^' 
handled,  or  killed  these  seals.     I  am  positi\e  the  meth- 
ods can  not  be  improxcd  ujion,  and  that  if  no  other  agency  is  at  work  in 
destroving  seal  life  101), 000  bachelor  seals  can  be  taken    „ 
irom  the  Pribilol  Islands  yearly  tor  an  indehiiite  peiiod, 
provided  the  rookeries  were  in  the  sanu'  condition  tiie\'  were  in  1871. 
Of  this  I  am  convinced  from  the  fact  that  the  seals  continued  to  increase 
271G— VOL  II 11 


162  TESTIMONY 

during  all  tlie  tiine  I  was  upon  tlie  islands,  wlion  100,000  were  killed 
every  year,  except  one,  when  on^OOO  were  taken.  Tlie  breeding  rook- 
eries weie  never  disturbed  in  anyway,  and  most  stringent  regulations 
were  enforced  to  jirevent  tlieir  being  molested.  A  female  seal  was  sel- 
dom driven,  not  more  than  two  a  season  on  St.  George,  and  I  tliink 
they  were  in  all  cases  barren  cows,  which  had,  because  of  their  barren- 
ness, hauled  up  with  the  bachelors. 

Tlie  greatest  care  was  always  taken  not  to  overheat  the  seals  in  driv- 
ing them,  and  when  a  seal  was  by  accident  smothered  the  skin  was  re- 
u'.oved  and  counted  in  th.e  number  allowed  to  be  taken  by  the  lessees. 
There  Avere  not,  to  the  best  of  my  recollection,  twenty-live  seals  killed 
during  any  one  season  on  St.  Cleorge  by  overdriving. 

Whenever  the  sun  came  out  while  a  "drive"  was  in  progress  the 
driving  at  once  ceased,  so  great  was  the  care  taken  not  to  overheat  the 
seals. 

I  never  saw  or  heard  of  a  case  where  a  male  seal  was  seriously  in- 
jured by  driving  or  redriving.  Certainly  the  reproductive  powers  were 
never  in  the  slightest  degree  impaired  by  these  means.  When  we  con- 
sider that  the  bulls,  while  battling  on  the  rookeries  to  maintain  their 
positions,  cut  great  gashes  in  the  Hesh  of  their  necks  and  bodies,  are 
covered  with  gaping  wounds,  lose  great  quantities  of 
^'  blood,  fast  on  the  islands  for  three  or  four  months,  and 

then  leave  the  islands  lean  and  covered  with  scars,  to  return  the  fol- 
lowing season  tat,  healthy,  and  full  of  vigor,  to  go  through  again  the 
same  mutilation,  and  re])catiiig  this  year  after  year,  the  idea  that  driv- 
ing or  redriving,  which  can  not  possibly  be  as  severe  as  their  exertions 
during  a  combat,  can  affect  such  unequaled  vigor  and  virility,  is  utterly 
preposterous  and  ridiculous.  To  show  the  wonderful  vitality  of  the 
male  seal,  I  will  give  one  instance  winch  came  under  my  own  observa- 
tion: A  drive' of  about  3,000  bachelors  had  been  made,  and  after  going 
a  short  distance  was  left  in  charge  of  a  boy';  by  his  negligence  they 
escaped  from  his  control,  and  the  wliole  number  plunged  over  a  cliif, 
falling  00  feet  upon  broken  stones  and  rocks  along  the  shore.  Out  of 
the  whole  number  only  seven  were  killed,  the  renminder  taking  to  the 
water;  and  these  seven  met  death,  I  believe,  from  being  the  tirst  to  go 
over  and  the  others  falling  upon  them  smothered  them. 

As  long  as  a  seal  is  not  overheated  in  driving  he  could  be  driven  any 
number  of  successive  days  without  in  any  way  impairing  or  aftecting 
in  the  slightest  degree  his  procreative  powers,  of  course  always  pro- 
vided the  natives  use  the  same  methods  in  driving  that  they  always 
have  done.  Seal  life  I  am  positive  was  never  atfected  in  this  manner 
on  the  Pribilof  Islands, 

JJuriug  the  time  I  was  on  St.  George  Island  there  never  was  a  raid 
„      .,         ,    .     on  the  rookeries  to  my  knowledge,  and  I  never  heard 

No  raid  on  rookeries.       ,.  -  .  -  «'-  .  ,     r  i 

ot  any  such  raul  ever  having  taken  place. 
I  am  of  the  opinion,  from  Avhat  I   know  of  the  habits  and  nature 
,,   ,.,...  of  tlie  fur  seal  and  what   I  have  learned  of  oiien-sea 

rroliiliitioniicecsfar.v.         ,.  ..      .      ^i         r,     t     t    l'  i    i         i       i         i  i     i 

sealing,  that  the  Pribilot  seal  herd  should  be  pro- 
te<'ted  in  all  waters  which  they  frequent.  Otherwise  it  is  only  a  matter 
of  a  very  short  time  before  they  will  be  exterminated. 

During  the  six  years  I  was  on  the  islands  the  condition  of  the  natives 
was  wondertullv  improved.    AVhen  I  came  there  they 
oA'Ktivcs'.''''^'"""   ^^■♦■i"^  partially  dressed  in  skins,  living  in  filthy,  un- 
wholesome turf  huts,  which  were  heated  by  fires  with 
blubber  as  fuel;  they  were  ignorant  and  extremely  dirty.     When  I  left 
they  had  exchaiigeil  their  skin  garments  for  well  made  warm  woolen 


i 


;li!i:;':H 


I 


^ 


i 


^''!l8^^m\*m^ 


hL^,. 


KELATING    TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND.  1G3 

clotlies;  they  lived  in  substautiiil  frame  bouses  heated  l)y  coal  stoves; 
they  had  become  cleanly,  and  the  children  were  attending*-  school  eijiht 
months  in  the  year.  They  were  theii  as  well  off  as  well-to-do  working- 
men  in  the  Uidted  States,  and  received  much  ]ari>er  wages.  Ko  man 
was  compelled  to  work,  but  received  pay  through  liis  chief  for  the  work 
accomplished  l)y  him.  A  native  could  at  any  time  leave  the  islands, 
but  their  easy  life  and  love  for  their  home  detained  them.  When  I  lirst 
went  there  the  women  did  a  good  share  of  manual  labor,  but  when  1 
came  away  all  the  hard  work  was  done  by  the  men.  I  do  not  recall  a 
single  instance  in  liistory  where  there  has  been  such  a  marked  change 
for  the  better  by  any  people  in  such  a  short  time  as  there  has  l)een  in 
the  Pribilof  Islanders  since  the  United  States  Government  took  control 
of  these  islands.  If  the  seals  became  extinct,  1  can  not  conceive  what 
these  natives  would  do  for  a  livelihood;  they  know  no  other  occui)ation 
save  seal  driving,  which  has  been  pursued  by  them  and  their  ancestors 
for  a  century.  The  destruction  of  the  seal  herd  would 
result  in  removing  their  sole  means  of  sustenance  and      Extinction  of  schI 

,,.-■•  1  I'j.  i.  1  111  means    starvation    or 

in  their  being  plunged  into  poverty,  and  probable  re-   barbaiisui  lomutivo. 
turn  to  barl>arism.     The  only  way  to  kec])  them  from 
starvation  would  be  to  remove  them  from  the  islands,  and  for  the  Gov- 
ernment to  sui)port  them. 

Samuel  Falconer. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notarv  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  U.  S.  A.,  this  I'Jth  day  of  April,  1892. 

Seyellojn  a.  Brown. 


Deposition  of  Samuel  Falconer^  Assiftfanf  Treasunj  A(jent  in  charge  of  St. 

George  Island. 

HABITS. 

District  or  Colitmbia, 

City  of  Washnnjton^  ss: 
.    Samuel  Falconer,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  01  years 
of    age,  and    am    now  a  woolgrower   l)y   occu])atioii.  . 

My  residence  is  Falconer,  McLean   County,  State  of      '-'^i"'"'^"'*- 
Kortli  Dakota.   •  In  18<)S,  during  the  month  of  October  I  went  to  Sitka, 
being  located  thei  e  as  deputy  collector  of  customs,  in  which  ]>osition 
I  remained  until  Sei)tember,  18(1!). 

I  then  was  em])loye<l  until  Septembei',  t87(),  as  ]>uiser  on  board  the 
steamer  Constantine,  plying  monthly  between  I'ort  Townsend  and  Sitka. 
In  October,  187(»,  having  l)een  ai)pointed  assistant  Treasury  Agent  for 
the  Seal  Islands,  I  jjioceeded  to  said  islands,  and  from  that  time  until 
August,  187(1,  I  remained  constantly  in  charge  of  St.  George  Island, 
excepting  during  the  winter  of  1874-'7r).  For  a  few  days  during  eacli 
one  of  these  years  I  visited  the  Island  of  St.  Paul,  never  remaining 
there  for  any  length  ol"  time,  however.  It  was  necessary,  in  order  that 
I  might  fuliill  the  duties  of  my  office  as  agent  to  make  a  very  careful 
and  lull  itudy  of  seal  life;  my  obsei  vations  being,  of  course,  con tincd 
to  St.  George  Island,  and  I  therefore  examined  the  rookeries  and  their 
occupants  v.ith  the  particular  purpose  of  accpiainting  myself  with  the 
luibits  and  i)eculiarities  of  the  Alaska  fur  seal,  and  J  endeavoied  to 
verify  all  my  obhcrvations  by  ])arti(Ularly  interrogating  the  natives  on 
the  islands  as  to  each  diuibtful  point. 


164  tp:stimony 

Tlie  fui-scal  only  lands  n])oii  tlic  Piihilof  Group  of  islaiuls.     Oftliis 

fact  I  am  thoronglily  coiiviiiced  from  carefully  qnes- 

ii.?i-Tla,uK'""^"^'   tioiiiug-  natives  of  Alaska  and  the  Aleutian  Islands, 

and  also  from  luy  coasting  experience  as  purser  on 

board  the  Constantinc.     In  all  the  years  I  passed  in  these  localities  I 

never  heard  of  a  seal  landing  anywhere  except  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

This  seal  herd  is  migratory,  leaving  the  islands  in  the  fall  or  early 

winter  and  returning  again  the  following  spring;  and 

Migration.  it  is  my  opiuiou  that  the  adult  males,  called  "bulls," 

return  as  near  as  they  are  able  to  the  same  place  on 

the  same  rookery  year  after  year.     In  fact  the  natives  pointed  out  to 

me  one  old  bull  who  had  returned  to  the  same  rock  for  five  years 

successively. 

The  reason  the  seals  have  chosen  these  islands  for  their  home  is  be- 
cause the  Pribilof  Group  lies  in  a  belt  of  fog,  occa- 
why  seals  ciioose  j^jo^ed  bv  the  Avatcrs  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  coming  down 
from  the  north  aisd  the  waimer  waters  of  the  Pacific 
flowing  north  and  meeting  at  about  this  point  in  Bering  Sea.     It  is 
necessary  that  the  seals  should  have  a  misty  or  foggy  atmosphere  of 
this  kind  while  on  land,  as  sunshine  has  a  very  injurious  eftect  upon 
them.    Then  too,  the  islands  are  so  isolated  that  the  seal,  which  is  a 
very  timid  animal,  remains  here  undisturbed,  as  every  precaution  is 
taken  not  to  disturb  the  animals  while  they  are  on  the  rookeries.     The 
mean  temperature  of  the  islands  is  during  the  winter 
Temperaiiarc.  ^^^^^^  ^^.^  ^  ^  .^^^^^  -^^  summcr  about  43°.     I  kuow  of  uo 

other  locality  which  posseSvSes  these  peculiarities  of  moisture  ami  tem- 
perature. The  grounds  occupied  by  the  seals  for  breeding  purposes  are 
along  the  coast,  extending  from  high-water  mark  back  to  the  clifis, 
which  alxuind  on  St.  George  Island.     The  young  males  or  "bachelors," 

not  being  allowed  to  land  on  these  breeding  places,  lie 

back  ot  and  around  these  breeding  grounds  on  areas 
designated  "hauling  grounds." 

Ayoung  seal  or  "pup"  when  first  born  weights  from  6  to  S  pounds, 

is  almost  black  in  color,  and  is  covered  with  a  short 
"''■''■  hair,  which  changes  to  silver  gray  hair  when  the  pup 

learns  to  swim. 

.  Tlie  place  of  birth  is  on  the  breeding  grounds,  which  takes  place  soon 
after  the  female  lands,  generally  within  two  days.  When  first  born  a 
pup  can  not  swim,  and  does  not  learn  so  to  do  until  it  is  six  or  eight 
Aveeks  of  age.     It  is  therefore  utterly  impossible  for  a  pup  to  be  born 

in  the  water  and  live.     I  have  noticed  that  when  a  pup 

]i(.s'iv.k''    ''""'  ""    *^^  ^^^^^  ^8"^  ^s  P^^^  "^  ^^^  water  it  seemed  to  have  no 
idea  of  the  use  of  its  flijipers,  and  was  very  much  ter- 
rified.    A  pup  is  certainly  for  the  first  six  or  eight  weeks  of  its  ILUe  a 
land  animal,  and  is  in  no  sense  amphibious.     During 
an^>?iniio"™  ^"'''*""'    this  ])eriod  also  a  pup  moves  very  much  like  a  young- 
kitten, usingits  hindfli])pers  as  feet,  xlmother  seal  will 
at  oncere(;ogni/>eher  pup  by  its  cry,  hobbling  over  a  thousand  bleating 
])ups  to  rea(;li  her  own,  and  every  otlier  a]>pi()acliing  her  save  this  one 
little  animal  she  will  <liive  away.     From  this  fact  it  is  my  opinion  that 
if  a  pup  lost  its  mother  l)y  anv  accident  it  would  cer- 
stavvation'.'"^'" '^'' "'    ^aiuly  die  of  slarvati(ui,  for  it  would  not  be  allowed  to 
derive  nourishment  from  any  other  female.     A  ])up, 
however,  seems  not  to  distinguish  its  mother  from  the  other  females 
abcmt  it.     When  six  or  eight  weeks  of  ago  the  older  seals,  generally  the 
mothers,  force  the  young  seals  into  the  water  and  teach  tliem  to  swim. 


RELATING    TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND.  165 

I  liave  seen  a  motlier  seal  carry  lier  ])U])  out  a  little  way  into  tlie 
M'ater  and  force  the  little  animal  to  use  its  liii)pers. 
Finally,  alter  repeated  trials,  the  pup  learns  to  swim,     i^^'-'^'-g  to  swim. 
aiul  from  that  time  on  spends  a  good  deal  of  time  in  the  water;  but 
still  the  greater  portion  of  these  first  months  of  its  life  are  spent  on 
land  sleeping  and  nursing. 

A  good  many  imi^s  are  killed  at  this  period  of  life  by  being  dashed 
against  the  rocks  by  the  surf,  which  is  particularly  violent  about  these 
islands. 

The  only  means  of  sustenance  for  a  pup  while  it  remains  on  the  island 
]s  nursing,  which  it  continues  till  it  takes  its  departure  ^,    ^ 

,  .       ^'.       -KT  1  1         1      i.     1        •  Susteuaiico  of  pups. 

sometime  in  November,  as  a  rule;  but  during  one  ex- 
ceptionally warm  winter  some  seals  remained  about  the  island  during 
the  whole  winter.  During  this  first  summer  of  their  existence,  after 
the  breeding  grounds  have  been  broken  up,  it  is  possible  to  take  posses- 
sion of  every  pup  on  the  islands  and  mark  them  so  they  could  be  reciog- 
luzed  in  the  future.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that,  provided  the  weather 
remained  the  same  the  year  round  as  it  is  in  the  summer,  that  tlie  seal 
Lerd  would  stay  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  during  the 
entire  year,  for  the  seal  evidently  considers  these  islands  its  sole  home. 
Tlie  cause  of  leaving  is,  as  I  believe,  the  approach  of  .      . 

cold  weather,  with  snow  and  ice,  and  perhaps  a  lack  of  '^"**^°  migiation. 
food  supply.  On  leaving  the  islartd  the  pup  goes  southward  with  his 
mother  and  companions  through  the  Aleutian  passes  into  the  Pacific 
Ocean.  While  I  was  acting  as  purser  on  the  steamer  ConstanUne  I  ob- 
served during  the  months  of  January,  February,  and  March  numerous 
seals  in  the  inland  waters  or  along  the  coast  between  Port  Townsend 
and  Sitka.  Never  a  day  passed  but  on  looking  over  the  rail  seal  could 
be  seen  sleeping  on  or  disporting  in  the  waters.  One  day  in  the  bay  of 
Sitka  I  saw  several  hundred  seals  asleep  in  the  water,  but  at  the  splash 
of  an  oar  they  immediately  disappear.  These  seals  were  in  all  cases 
much  more  timid  than  about  their  island  home,  Avhere  they  evidently 
realize  they  are  practically  safe. 

During  June  and  the  first  part  of  July  the  females  and  pups  go 
through  the  Passes,  and,  entering  Bering  Sea.  again  seek  the  islands. 
During  their  second  summer  the  young  seals  herd  together,  the  females 
not  going  upon  the  breeding  grounds.  Again  in  the  fall  they  leave 
their  home  on  the  approach  of  cold  v\^eather  and  make  the  second  mi- 
gration south.  After  this  migration  the  females,  now  "two  year-olds" 
or  "  virgin  cows,"  goon  the  breeding  rookeries,  and  the  young  males  on 
the  hauling  grounds.  The  temale  this  season  is  probably  fertilized.  As  a 
general  rule  the  impregnation  is  by  the  bull,  to  whose  harem  she  belongs, 
tind  not  by  the  young  males,  as  has  sometimes  been  stated.  These  young 
males  always  pursue  a  female  when  she  is  allowed  to  leave  the  harem 
and  go  in  the  water,  but  she  refuses  them.  I  am  posi- 
tive from  my  observations  that  copulation  in  the  water  possible?  ""''*^'^^™' 
could  not  be  effectual,  and  would  be  a  most  unnatural 
occurrence. 

After  this  season  and  the  migration  following,  the  three-year-old  cow 
lands  again  on  the  breeding  rookery  and  gives  birth  to  „  . 
one  pni);  two  at  a  birth  is  as  rare  an  occurrence  as  a 
cow  bringing  forth  two  calves,  and  during  my  entire  exi)erience  I  never 
heard  of  this  happening  but  once.  The  cow  after  bringing  forth  her 
young  remains  on  the  rookery  until  again  fertilized  by  the  bull,  which 
is,  1  believe,  within  two  weeks.  After  the  fertilization  she  is  allowed 
to  go  to  and  fi'om  the  water  at  will,  iu  .s^'arch  of  food,  which  she  must 


166  TESTIMONY 

obtain  so  slio  can  nurse  liev  ])iip.  She  goes  on  tliese  feeding  excursions 
soniciinics,  1  belicNC,  10  orniorejniles  from  tlic  islands,  and  as  slie  swims 
Avith  great  rai)idity,  covers  the  distance  in  a  short  time.  She  may  go 
much  farther,  for  I  liave  known  a  cow  to  be  absent  from 
her  \)\\\)  tor  two  (hiys,  h'aviug  it  without  nourishment 
for  this  period.  Tliis  shows  how  tena.ions  of  life  a  young  seal  is,  and 
how  long  it  can  live  without  sust-enaiice  of  any  sort.  The  three-year-old 
male  has  meanwhile  landed  on  the  hauling  grounds  and  is  now  of  the 
most  available  age  to  kill  for  his  pelt. 

When  the  male  reaches  the  age  of  seven  or  eight  years  he  seeks  the 

jj^jj  rookeries,  and  is  then  able  to  maiutain  his  position 

against  his  fellows.     He  has  come  earlier  than  formerly 

to  the  islands,  having  arrived  in  May,  and  after  a  little  investigation 

^^^.^^^^  has  landed  upon  the  breeding  grounds,  giving  battle  to 

all  who  endeavor  to  usurp  his   x>l'it;e.     I  have  seen 

twenty  cows  or  more  about  a  bull,  but  of  course  the  exact  number  in  a 

harem  is  a  matter  of  conjecture,  as  many  cows  are  absent  in  the  water 

at  all  times  after  the  season  has  fairly  commenced.     I  am  of  the  opinion 

a  bull  can  easily  and  effectively  serve  fifty  or  more  cows  in  a  season, 

and  I  think  at  first  he  will  fertilize  six  to  eight  a  day.     From  their 

arrival   in  May  for  three  or  four  months  the  bulls  remain  constantly 

upon  the  rookeries,  never  leaving  their  positions  and  never  eating  or 

drinking,  and  sleeping  very  little.     When  they  arrive  they  are  enor- 

nnmsly  fat,  weighing  from  500  to  700  pounds,  but  when  they  depart  in 

August  or  September  they  are  very  lean  and  lank. 

The  principal  food  of  the  fur  seal  is  fish,  which  abound  in  all  parts 

of  Bering  Sea,  except  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Pribi- 

lof  Islands  during  the  season  the  seals  are  on  land.     I 

have  seen  a  fish  in  the  mouth  of  a  seal  in  the  water,  and  have  also  seen 

tish  in  their  stomachs  when  cut  open.     It  is  my  belief  they  eat  some 

kclj)  also 

The  above  facts  in  relation  to  the  habits  of  the  fur  seals  are  from  my 
own  observations,  which  have  in  all  cases  l)een  corroborated  by  the 
natives  on  the  island  of  St.  George,  with  whom  I  had  many  conver- 
sations in  relation  to  these  matters. 

Samuel  Falconer. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  U.  S.  A.,  this  19th  day  of  April,  ISOli. 

Sevellon  a.  Brown. 


Deposition  of  Samuel  Falconer,  assistant  Treasury  agent  in  charge  of  St. 

George  Island. 

PRiBiLor  rookeries. 

District  of  Columbia, 

at}/  of  ^\  ashinglon  ss: 

Samuel  Falconer,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  Gl  years 
of  age  and  am  now  a  wool  grower  by  occupation.     My 

•  spBiRiice.  ^  residence  is  Falconer,  McLean  County,  State  of  North 

Dakota.  In  October,  1870,  having  been  appointed  assistant  Treas- 
ury agent  for  the  seal  islands  in  Bering  Sea,  I  proceeded  to  said 
islands  and  from  that  time  until  An, Mist,  ].S7<5,  I  remained  con- 
stantly in  charge  of  St.  George  Island,  excepting  during  the  winter  of 


RELATING    TO    8T.    GEORGE    ISLAND. 


167 


1874:-'75.  For  a  few  days  cliiriiig  each  one  of  tliese  years  I  visited  St. 
Paul  Island,  never  remaining-  there  for  any  length  of  time,  however. 
Each  season  while  1  was  located  on  the  islands  I  made  a  careful  ex- 
amination of  the  breeding'  grounds  on  St.  George  Island,  noting  particu- 
larly the  areas  covered  by  them  ;  audi  now  recollect  the  condition  of 
said  rookeries  and  tlic  api)roxiniate  area  which  each  of  them  covered  in 
the  year  1874.     I  have  carefully  examined  tlie  lines  ■«.  +• 

drawn  by  Thomas  F.  ]\Iorgan  on  exhibits  signed  bv  him  ciiaTV.s  ^mal'u   bv 
and  marked  Exhibits  H,  I,  J,  and  K;  that  the' lines  ^'urcwJcti.!^"'""""' 
in  red  on  said  exhibits  practically  represent  the  areas 
so  covered  in  1874;  but   I   think  that  in   some  instances,   hereafter 
stated,  Mr.  Morgan  has  been  a  little  too  conservative  in  his  estimates. 

On  Starry  Arteal  Rookery  (Exhibit  H)  the  line  should  be  extended 
along  the  sbore  to  the  eastern  limit  of  the  pond,  shown  on  said  Exhibit, 
and  should  extend  nearly  as  far  again  up  the  hillside. 

On  North  Rookery  (Exhibit  J)  the  line  does  not,  in  my  judgment, 
extend  as  tar  back  from  the  shore  as  it  should,  as  there  had  been  a  great 
increase  since  1871  on  this  particular  rookery. 

1  would  further  state  that  there  was  a  j)erceptible  in- 
crease in  all  these  areas  from  1871  to  1874. 

I  would  also  state  that  the  spaces  indicated  as  areas 
over  which  seals  have  at  various  times  hauled,  on  said   stanieyBmwn'; 
Exhibits,  by  J.  Stanley  Brown  (as  I  am  informed  and 
believe),  are,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  correctly  desig- 
nated. 

Samuel  Falconer. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  U.  S.  A.,  this  2(>th  day  of  April,  1802. 
II.  s.I  Sevellon  a.  Brown. 


Increase. 


Verifies  charts  of  J. 


Deposition  of  Max  HcUhronner,  scerefary  of  the  AIa.sl-<(  Commercial  Com- 
pany. 

sealskin    record    of    ST.    GEORGE     ISLAND,    ALASKA,    1871    TO   1889, 

INCLUSIVE. 

Sliow'uig  the  dates,  the  I'ooleries  front  which  the  seals  were  driren,  and  the  ninnher  lilled 

from  each  drove. 


J(ine    4. 

6. 
8. 

Near  rookery 

Northeast 

Near          

123 
98 
G9 

9. 
13. 

Southwest 

Starrie  Arteel 

277 
322 

15. 
17. 

20. 
22. 

Southwest 

Northern 

Southwest 

Northeast 

301 
434 
172 
.518 

24. 
26. 

Starrie  Arteel 

Southwest 

594 

29<S 

27. 

Northeast 

402 

28. 

July    1. 

3. 

Starrie  Arteel 

Northern 

571 
875 

South  west 

303 

5. 

8. 

Stai'rie  Arteel 

Southwe.st 

518 
612 

July  10.  Northern 1,  769 

12.  Northern 1,021 

14.  Soutliwest 491 

15.  Northern 1,038 

18.  Nortliern 1,  264 

20.  Scmthwest 484 

21 .  Northern 945 

23.  Southwest 542 

25.  Northern 792 

27.  Northern 1,  054 

28.  Southwest 730 

30.  Starrie  Arteel 1 ,  270 

31.  Northern 893 

After  August  1 237 

19,  077 


168 


TESTIMONY 


1873. 


June    4.  Southwest 110 

r>.  Ts'ear ::  G 

8.  Xortheast 49 

10.  Soutlnvost Ifi2 

11.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  2;">6 

12.  Northeast 61 

14.  Southwest 98 

15.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  828 

17.  Northeast 405 

19.  Northern  and  southwest.  773 

21.  Northeast 860 

22.  Starry  Arteel  and  near . .  1,  056 

24.  Southwest  and  northeast  890 

25.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  837 

27.  Northeast 805 

28.  Starry  Arteel  and  near. .  9G0 

29.  Southwest 643 

J  ul  /    1 .  Northeast 981 

2.  Starry  Arteel  and  near. .  885 

3.  Southwest 245 

4.  Northeast 641 

5.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  574 


Jnlv    6.  Southwest 574 

7.  Northeast 718 

9.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  667 

10.  Nortlieast 610 

11.  Soutliwest 1,412 

12.  Near 482 

14.  Nortlieast 1,  332 

15.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  1,  183 

17.  Northeast 770 

18.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  575 
20.  Northeast 400 

20.  Southwest 1, 171 

21.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  920 

23.  Northeast 703 

25.  Northeast 400 

25.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  552 

27.  Southwest 227 

27.  Starry  Arteel  and  near..  285 

27.  Northeast 350 


25,  000 


1873. 


Jme    4.  Near 198 

5.  Starrie  Arteel 240 

6.  Southwest 285 

9.  Starrie  Arteel  and  cast. .  190 

10.  Southwest 275 

12.  Northern 300 

13.  South/,  est 521 

16.  Northern 378 

17.  Southwest 174 

19.  Northeast 313 

21.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  596 

21.  Southwest 870 

23.  Northeast 180 

24.  Southwest 499 

25.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  195 

26.  Northeast 241 

27.  Southwest 301 

29.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  493 

30.  Southwest 310 

30.  Northeast 168 

July    2.  Starrie  Arteel 332 

3.  Southwest 564 

4.  Northeast 592 


July     5.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  517 

8.  Southwest 743 

8.  Northeast 6' 6 

9.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  690 
11.  Northeast 974 

11.  Southwest 602 

12.  Starrie  Arteel 474 

13.  Northeast 345 

13.  Southwest 337 

16.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  480 

17.  Northeast 1,  097 

18.  Southwest 913 

20.  Starrie  Arteel  aud  near.  I.;i59 

21.  Northeast 1,  810 

23.  Starrie  Arteel 889 

23.  Southwest 513 

24.  Northeast 1,  710 

26.  Southwest 600 

26.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  588 

28.  Northeast  and  near 1,  528 


25,  000 


18'74. 


Killed  for  food 

June    1.  Northern 

8.  Northern 

11.  East 

12.  Starrie  Arteel  and  nortli . 

14.  Southwest 

16.  East 

18.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north . 

22.  Northeast 

23.  Starrie  Arteel  aud  near. 

27.  Southwest 

29.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near. 

July    1.  Northeast 


1'>8 

July    3. 

8. 

9. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
18. 
19. 
22. 
24. 

Northern 

792 

56 

Northeast 

641 

81 
116 
154 
'^50 

Northern 

Near  and  northeast. .. 
Near  and  northeast. . . 
Starrie  Arteel 

548 
263 
534 
5(8 

170 
354 
178 

Southwest 

Northeast 

Northern 

411 

871 
778 

378 

Northern 

(J68 

800 

10,000 

RELATING    TO    ST.    GEOEGE    ISLAND. 


1G9 


1875. 


Killed  for  food 252 

June   1.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  50 

9.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  256 

11.  Northeast 177 

14.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  307 

16.  Northeast 358 

18.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  334 

19.  Southwest 1,  294 

23.  Northeast 666 

24.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  540 


June  28.  Northeast G92 

30.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  1,412 

July    5.  Northeast 717 

7.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  1,019 

12.  Northeast 1,073 

14.  Northern 676 

17.  Northern 177 


10, 000 


1876. 


Killed   for    food    during 

fall  and  winter 307 

Junfl    1.  Northern 108 

8.  Starrie  Arteel 372 

12.  Northeast 388 

12.  Southw^est 599 

15.  Stai-rie  Arteel  and  near.  784 

22.  Northeast 581 


June  24. 
27. 
28. 

3. 

6. 

7. 


July 


Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  2,  067 

Northeast 1, 168 

Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  1,023 

Northeast 1,  259 

Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  1,  027 

Northeast 317 


10, 000 


1877. 


Killed  for  food  in  fall  and 

winter 256 

June    1.  Northeast 198 

1 1 .  Sta  rri  e  Arteel 702 

13.  Northeast 578 

14.  Southwest 1,  389 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern   1,154 

Northeast 838 

Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  871 


18. 


20. 
22. 


June  23.  Northeast 

26.  Starrie  Arteel 

29.  Northeast 

July    3.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near 

6.  Northeast 

9.  Northern , 


10.  Northeast. 


552 

1 

860 

1 

589 

1 

669 

9 

164 

300 

880 

15,  000 


is: 

Killed  for  food  in  fall  and  [ 

winter 405  1 

Juno  10.  Northeast 385 

14.  Southwest 1,  07 1  | 

17.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern    858 

19.  Southwest 717 

22.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  570 

25.  Northeast 324 

27.  Southwest 851 

28.  Southwest 517 

July    1.  Northeast.' 644 


'8. 

July    2.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  930 

4.  Southwest 1,433 

8.  Northeast 793 

9.  Starrie  Arteel 1,  333 

12.  Southwest 328 

13.  Southwest 1,025 

15.  Northeast 1.892 

17.  Northern 1.  290 

19.  Starrie  Arteel 1.  577 

21.  Northeast 1,  114 


18,  000 


1879. 


June    3. 

Killed  for  food  in  fall  and 

winter 

Near 

811 
69 
415 
105 
413 
372 
445 
498 

755 
4  HO 
473 
515 

574 
882 

June 
July 

25. 
27. 
27. 
30. 

3. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

7. 

9. 
14. 
15. 
16. 

Southwest 

Southwest 

Starrie  Arteel 

Northeast 

Starrie  Arteel 

Southwest 

Southwest 

Northeast 

Northern 

522 
....        286 

1  176 

10. 
11. 

Northeast 

Southwest .     ... 

1,584 

1  412 

12. 

13. 
16. 
17. 

Starrie  Arteel  and  near. 

Southwest 

Northeast 

Southwest 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern   

Southwest 

Northeast 

849 

351 
....         535 
1. 738 

19. 

20. 

Starrie  Arteel 

Northeast 

Northern 

1.261 

....     1,636 
863 

20. 

Southwest 

800 

23. 
23. 
25. 

Starrie  Arteel  and  near. 

Southwest 

Northeast 

20,  000 

170 


TESTIMONY 


ISSO. 


Killed  for  food  in  fall  and 

winter 1.  169 


Jniie    o.  North 

8.  Norllienst 

11.   Starrie  Arteel 

14.  Northeast 

15.  Southwest , 

17.  Starrie  Arteel   

17.  Zapadnie 

19.  Zapaduie 

19.  Northeast 

21.  Starrie  Arteel  and  near, 

21 .  Southwest 

23.  Northeast 


81 
333 
51)2 
351 
731 
557 
254 
223 
596 
182 
618 
811  i 


June  25.   Southwest 8.33 

25.  Starri,e  Artec] 1,320 

28.  Northeast. 1,  764 

28.  Southwest 843 

SO.  Starrie  Arteel 808 

July     1.  Northeast 392 

2.  S()uthwe.st 961 

2.  Northern 954 

5.  Starrie  Arteel 515 

6.  Northeast 1,481 

7.  Southwest 1,810 

9.  Northeast 948 


20,000 


1S81. 


Killed  for  food  in  fall  and 

winter 640 

June    9.  Northern 611 

13.  Northern 916 

15.  Southwest 494 

16.  Starrie  Arteel 615 

20.  Starrie  Aiteel 445 

21.  Northeast 575 

21.  Soutlnvest 447 

23.  Southwest 227 

23.  Starrie  Arteel 288 

24.  Northeast 553 

27.  Starrie  Arteel 814 

28.  Northeast 744 

28.  Southwest 373 

30.  Southwest 324 


June  .SO.  Starrie  Arteel 707 

July     1.  Northeast 1,371 

4.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern   1,179 

6.  Southwest 476 

7.  Northeast 1,  350 

8.  Starrie  Arteel 362 

11.  Northeast 1,  300 

12.  Starrie  Arleel 498 

12.  Southwest 769 

14.  Southwest 590 

13.  Northeast 1,  705 

15.  Northern 1,  627 


20,  000 


1S.S2. 


Killed  for  fottd  in  fall  and  winter. 
June    6.  Northeiu 

12.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   

16.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   

19.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east  

22.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east  

24.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east  

26.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east  

29.  Starrie  Aiteel  and  north- 
east   

July  1.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east  


Killed  for  food  in  fall  and  winter. 
June  12.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
eastern   

15.  Starrie  Artceland  north- 
eastern   

19.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
eastern   

22.  Starrie  Arteel  and  iu)rth- 
eastern  

25.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
eastern   


534 

July 

3. 

26 

4. 

508 

7. 

887 

10. 

926 

11. 

13. 

■    847 

14. 
15. 

1,192 

16. 

18. 

1,  040 

19. 
20. 

1,273 

1.063 

18 

83. 

403 

Juuf 

28. 

139 

30. 

283 

July 

2. 

61 

4. 

379 

7. 

684 

9. 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   910 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   1,382 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east    1, 946 

Northeastern 1,  368 

Starrie  Arteel  and  near.  1, 104 

Northeastern 1,  074 

Starrie  Arteel 524 

Northeastern 643 

Starrie  Arteel  ami  near  .  1,  015 

Northeastern 1,  083 

Northern 510 

Northeastern 145 


20,000 


Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
eastern           442 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
eastern           608 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
eastern           340 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
eastern           287 

Starrie  Arteel  aud  north- 
eastern           645 

Southwest 1,333 


RELATING   TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND. 


171 


1883— Contiuued. 


July  10  Sontli west 507 

10.  Northeast 306 

11 .  Starrie  Arteel 260 

12.  Northeast 546 

13.  Starrie  Arteel 321 

16.  Northeast 775 

16.  Southwest 1,015  i  An 

17.  Starrie  Arteel 130 

18.  Northeast 467 

18.  Southwest 1,  216 

20.  Northeast 280 


July  20.  Southwest 

23.  Starrie  Arteel 

25.  Northeast 

27.  Northern 

30.  Starrie  Arteel  and  uorlli- 

<'ast 

6    Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   

13.  Northeast 


1, 150 

766 

77 

606 

501 

379 
94 


15,  000 


1884. 


Killod  for  food  in  foil  and  winter.  380 

June    3.  Northeast Ill 

10.  Southwest 1,  222 

12.  Starrie  Arteel 690 

16.  Southwest 581 

18.  Starrie  Arteel  and  nortli- 

east 552 

21.  Southwest 582 

23.  Starrie  Arteel 598 

26.  Southwest 556 

28.  Starrie  Arteel  and  nortli- 

east 486 

July     1.  Southwest 298 

3.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   71 


July     7.  Southwest 87 

9.  Starrie  Arteel  and  nortii- 

east 1,260 

12.  Southwest 971 

14.  Nortlieast 29.S 

15.  Northern 465 

16.  Southwest 7l6 

17.  Nortlieast 990 

18.  Starrie  Arteel 501) 

23.  Southwest 795 

23.  Starrie  Arteel 744 

25.  North  east 595 

26.  Soutli west 572 

30.  Starrie  Arteel 610 

Aug.    4.  Northeast 224 


15,  000 


1885. 


Killed  for  food  in  fall  and  winter.  196 

June    1.   Northeast 118 

10.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east    780 

15.  Southwest  . . : 775 

17.  Starrie  Arteel 802 

18.  Northeast 825 

22.  Southwest 414 

27.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   1,775 

29.  Southwest 401 


July     1.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   2,287 

6.  Soutli  west 789 

10.  Starrie  Arteel  ami  iioitli- 

east 2, 156 

13.  Southwest 1.011 

16.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   2,218 

20.  Southwest 483 


15,  000 


1886. 


Killed  for  food  in  fall  and  winter.  370 
June    9.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   1.428 

14.  Southwest 831 

16.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   1,436 

21.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   742 

21.  Southwest 843 

23.  Northeast 343 

24.  South  west 306 

28.  Southwest 288 

29.  Starrie  Arteel 632 

July     1.  Northeast 481 


July    5.  Southwest 620 

5.  Starrie  Arteel 499 

0.  Northeast 648 

9    Starrie  Arteel 865 

12.  Southwest 745 

13.  Northeast 888 

15.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east   707 

19.  Soutliwest 663 

20.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 

east   ],.371 

23.  Northeast 294 


15,  000 


172 


TESTIMONY 


iBsr. 


Killed  for  food  in  fall  and  winter. 
June    8.  Northeast 

13.  Ts'or theast 

15.  Southwest 

20.  Southwest 

20.  Starrie  Arteel 

24.  Northeast 

27.  Southwest 

27.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
east  

29.  Northeast 

July     1.  Starrie  Arteel 

4.  Southwest 


Killed  for  food  in  fall  and  winter. 
June  6.  Northeast  

11.  Southwest 

11.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern   

15.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern   

18.  Southwest 

18.  Starrie  Arteel 

22.  Starrie  Arteel 

25.  South  west 

26.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 

ern   

27.  Northeast 

29.  Starrie  Arteel 

July   2.  Southwest 

3.  Northeast 

4.  Starrie  Arteel 

6.  Northeast 

9.  Southwest 


Killed  for  food  in  fall  and  winter. 
June    4.  Northeast 

Southwest  

Southwest  

Starrie  Arteel 

Northeast 


Julv 


10. 
17. 
18. 
21. 
22.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north 

ern 

20.  Southwest 

25.  Northeast 

27.  Southwest  

29.  Starrie  Arteel 

30.  Southwest 

July    2.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern   

4.  Starrie  Arteel  and  nor  tli- 

ern 

7.  Southwest  

9.  Starrie  Arteel 

11.  Southwest  

13.  Starrie  Arteel  and  U'Uth- 
ern 


282 
383 
465 
427 
261 
974 
533 
599 

816 
409 
100 

883 


18S8. 

418 
121 

272 

4.55 

227 
427 
324 
764 

908 

894 
438 
341 
341 
530 
503 
648 
389 

1S89. 


6.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 

ern    1,321 

7.  Northeast 421 

10.  Southwest 7C1 

1 1 .  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 

ern    1.296: 

13.  Northeast 1,509 

1 8.  Southwest 1,  077 

18.  Starrie  Arteel 894 

20.  Northeast 1, 130 

22.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern    489 


15,  000 


Julv  10. 

Starrie  Arteel 

1,169 

11. 

Northeast 

810 

13. 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 

ern   

508 

16. 

Southwest 

694 

17. 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 

ern   

1,  090 

19. 

Southwest 

366 

20. 

Starrie  Arteel  and  nor  th- 

ern 

550 

23. 

Southwest 

179 

24. 

Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 

ern   

405 

25. 

Southwest 

159 

26. 

Starrie  Arteel  andnor  th- 

ern 

520 

27. 

Southwest 

142 

27. 

Starrie  Aiteel  

407 

1,  293 
156 
275 
244 
773 
176 

284 
596 
496 
223 
429 
167 

275 

418 
229 
269 
192 

667 


July  15.  Southwest 

16.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern  

18.  Southwest  

19.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 

ern   

22.  Southwest 

22.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern   

24.  Southwest  

25.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 

ern   

27.  Starrie  Arteel  and  north- 
ern   

27.  Southwest 

29.  Starrie  Arteel  andnorth- 
ern 


15, 000 


371 

1,028 
439 

1,140 

500 

628 
279 

1,450 

942 
568 

613 

15,  000 


BecnpiiuJatlon  of  seals  killed  for  iheir  skhis  on  the  St.  George  Island,  Alaska,  from  1S71 

to  1S89,  iitclttsirc. 


1871 19,077 

1872 2.5,000 

1873 25,000 

1874 10.000 

1875 10,000 


1876 10,000 

1877 15.  000 

1878 18,000 

1879 20,  0(X) 

1880 20,000 


1881 20,000 

1882 20,000 

1883 15,000 

1884 15,000 

1885 15,000 


1886 15,000 

1887 15,000 

1888 15,000 

1889 15,000 


RELATING    TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND.  173 

I,  Max  Heilbroiuier,  secretary  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  CoDipaiiy, 
of  Sail  Francisco,  do  solemnly  swear  that  the  forej>oing  "sealskin 
record  of  St.  George  Island,  Alaska,  1871  to  1S80,  inclnsive,"  is  formn- 
lated  and  compiled  from  the  books  of  said  company  kept  on  said  is- 
land, n.ow  in  my  custody,  and  is  correct  and  true  according  to  my  best 
knowledge  and  belief. 

Max  Heilbronner, 
Secretary  Alaska  Commercial  Company. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  flay  of  May,  A.  D.  1802. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fnhlic. 


J)eposition  of  Loins  Kimmel,  assistant   Treasury  agent  on   St.    George 

Island. 

nABITS. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Louis  Kimmel,  being  duly  sw(n'n,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  resident 
of  La  Fayette,  Indian'a,  and  am  G3  years  of  age.     L>ur-      y^^^^^^,.,^^^ 
ing  the  years  1882  and  1883  was  the  assistant  Treas- 
lu-y  Agent  located  on  St.  George  Island  of  the  l*ril)ilof  Group.     I  ar- 
rived on  the  island   May  31,  1882,  and  remained  there   continuously 
until  the  latter  i)art  of  July,  1883. 

While  on  the  island  I  studied  the  habits  of  the  fur  seals  in  order 
that  I  might  be  abh^  to  perform  my  ofhcial  duty.  The  Anivai  of  biiiis. 
bulls  (males  G  years  old  and  upwards)  began  to  come  '^•^^^«'  i^arbeiors. 
to  the  island  the  first  part  of  May.  The  cows  did  not  come  till  the  latter 
part  of  the  month  and  the  first  part  of  June.  The  bachelors,  or  young 
males,  began  to  arrive  about  the  same  time  as  the  cows.  The  bachelors 
try  to  land  on  the  breeding  rookeries  occupied  by  the  bulls,  but  are 
driven  off  by  the  older  males  and  are  compelled  to  herd  together  by 
themselves  separately  from  the  bulls  and  cows.  A  male  seal  is  over  5 
years  of  age  before  he  is  able  to  maintain  himself  on  the  breeding 
rookeries  against  the  attacks  of  his  fellows.     The  breed-      ,,  ,    .,     „      , 

P  T    ,        1       T   •  1       J.1  Maturity  of   males. 

mg  rookeries  are  never  distnrbed  m  any  way  by  the  em- 
ployes on  the  island  and  the  most  stringent  rules  are  enforced  against 
the  use  of  firearms,  allowing  dogs  upon  the  islands, 
or  distvnbing  the  seals  in  any  manner.    The  bachelors        '"i'j;w""i  • 
are  the  seals  which  are  killed  by  the  lessees  of  the  islands,  the  killable 
age  being  from  two  to  five  years ;  all  seals  which  are  not      i^jiji,,,^. 
males  or  which  are  not  of  the  correct  age  are  separated 
from  those  to  be  killed  and  allowed  to  return  to  the  water.     Under  no 
circumstances  is  it  allowable  to  kill  a  female  of  any  age.     The  killable 
seals,  after  being  separated  from  the  remainder  of  the  herd,  are  driven 
by  the  natives  to  the  killing  grounds.     After   every      pj-i^jj,,, 
"drive"  that  took  place  while  I  Avas  on  the  island  I 
went  back  over  the  ground  along  which  the  seals  had  been  driven  to 
see  if  any  seals  had  been  killed  by  overdriving.     The      ovrninvinn-. 
entire  number  of  seals  killed  in  all  these  "drives"  did 
not  exceed  one  hundred,  and  the  majority  of  them  were  killed  by  the 
large  seals  crushing  the  smaller  ones  to  death.     In  every  case  of  a  seal 
being  killed  on  the  "drive,"  1,  as  Government  agent,  imposed  a  fine  in 
order  that  they  might  be  more  careful  in  the  future. 


174  TESTIMONY 

A  cow  never  suckles  any  bnt  liei-  own  i)n]).     When  a  strange  pnp  ap- 

l)roa('lics  a  cow  she  will  drive  it  aw  av  i'vou\  her;  and 
hefownpuiK '''"""'■'    «i^t  of  thousands  of  pui.s  liuddled  together  she  will 

single   her  o^^'n,     Jt  is  my  opinion  that  if  a  mother  is 

killed  her  oflfsi^ring  dies  of  starvation.     In  perforndng  my  oiiicial  duty 

T.    ,  I  frequentlv  visited  the  breeding  rookeries,  and  dniing 

my  entire  stay  on  the  island  1  never  sawuioie  than  iOO 
dead  pups  on  all  the  rookeries.     A  new-born  pnp  seal  is  unable  to  swim 

and  is  airaid  of  the  water.  I  have  seen  a  cow  seal  push 
BNvii'ir  ^'^""""'^  *"  her  pup  from  a  rock  into  the  water  Avhere  it  floundered 

about  in  a  helpless  manner  until  the  mother  would  go 
in,  take  it  in  her  mouth  as  a  cat  cai  ries  kittens,  and  bring  it  again  ashoie, 
only  to  again  push  it  off  the  rock  into  the  water.     JMy  observation  has 

been  that  apu)»  is  generall  v  about  two  months  old  before 

Pelacic birth  iinpus-     •,  •  tj.   •"  '■     ■         ^.^      4.  1  •      j-i 

sibic.  it  can  swim.     It  is  my  opinion  that  a  pup  born  in  the 

water  would  drown  in  a  \ery  few  minutes. 
A  bull  never  leaves  the  breeding  rookery  during  the  entire  breeding- 
season,  which  is  a  peiiod  of  from  two  to  three  months.     Soon  after  a  cow 
,     .,    ,.  brings  forth  her  young  she  goes  into  the  water  to  get 

food.  I  know  from  actual  observation  that  they  go  at 
least  20  miles  from  the  islands,  but  how  much  farther  I  am  unable  to 
state. 

Louis  Kimmel. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2r)th  day  of  March,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Sevellon  a.  Brown, 

Notary  rublic  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columhia,  U.  S.  A. 


Dejw.sition  of  Thomas  F.  Ixi/an,  assistant  Treasury  agent  on  St.  George 

Isla)id. 

habits,  management,  pelagic  sealing. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  \Vashi)i{/to)i,  ss: 
Thomas  F.  IJyan,  Iteing  duly  sworn,  (lei)oses  and  says:  lam  a  resident 
of  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  and  am  51  years  old.     During 
the   years   I880   and    1880  1  was  Assistant   ircasury 
Agent,   residing  on    St.  George  Island,   one  of  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
1  arrived  there  about  the  Lst  of  May,  1885,  and  remained  there  un- 
til August  0,  1880.     In  order  to  perform  my  duty  as  agent  1  made  a 
careful  study  of  seal  life  on  the  island,  and  examined 
Amvaiois.ais.        ^^  ^.^^^  .^^  j  ^^.,^^  ^^^^j^  -^^^^  ^j^^  hulnt^  of  thc  fur  scal. 

The  bulls  generallj'  begin  to  arrive   on  the  island  during  the  tirst 

part  of  the  month  of  May.    The  cows  begin  to  apjiear  about  Juiie 

1,  and  the  young  males,   or   bachelor   seals,  about  the   same  time. 

The    seals   which    are   "driven"  and    killed   are    bacheh)rs    between 

the  age  of  2  years  and  5  years.     No  females  are  al- 

Xdeniaifskiiiidcn   lowcd  to  bc  drivcu  CH'  killed..     The  breeding  rookeries 

*"'*""'■'•  are  never  disturbed  in  anyway.     The  rule  that '-the 

Finaniisiorbid.icn.   ^^sc  of  lirearuis  is  forbidden  between  May  1  and  De- 

ciMiibcr  1,  exce])t  as  permitted  by  the  (Tovernment  ofli- 

cer,"  was  enlbrced  while  I  was  on  the  island.     jSTo  dogs  are  ever  allowed 

upon  the  islands.     The  cow  gives  birth  to  her  ])ni)  soon 

isiiti.  ofpups.  .^^•^^^.  .^.j-iyii^o-  on  the  breeding  rookeries,  and  I  think  a 


RELATING    TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND.  175 

COW  never  ffives  suck  to  any  pup  save  her  own ;  I  jnds^e  „  Females  nm-se  onij 

^    .      „  '^  ,  r-  »  1  '        '         P        their  own  iiiiiis. 

this  from  my  own  observation.     A  pup  does  not  sm  im 
when  first  born,  and  is  oenerally  two  montlis  old  before     ^'"^^  swi.nn.ing. 
it  goes  into  the  water.     I  have  seen  the  stoinaclis  of  several  seals  after 
they  were  killed  and  they  contained  only  pieces  offish,  which  seemed 
to  be  their  sole  food.     I  do  not  know  whether  they  cat  kelp  or  not. 

The  bulls  do  not  eat  at  all  while  on  the  bveediny  rookeries.     The 
cows,  however,  eat  and  sometimes  go  00  miles  to  get 
food,  and  perhaps  farther.     Old  experienced  poachers  „,^i"'\e!iin""'   ^''' 
informed  me  that  they  remained  that  distance  from  the         *  '  ' '  "" 
islands  to  cai>ture  the  seals  when  they  came  to  feed.     I  estimate  that 
the  seals  killed  by  pelagic  hunters  are  at  least  90  per 
cent  females;  this  estimate  is  based  on  the  great  num-   (.^j^^^^/f  P,'^^  ^'^■"' 
ber  of  motherless  pups  I  have  observed  on  the  rook- 
eries, and  also  on  statements  made  to  me  by  many  engaged  in  pelagic 
sealing  Avhoin  I  met  and  conversed  with  at  Unalaska. 
There  was  but  one  successful  raid  on  the  rookeries  while       '"^  ^  °"  inlands. 
I  was  upon  the  island,  and  but  ll*5  seals  were  killed.     I  do  not  consider 
that  raids  on  the  rookeries  have  anything  to  do  with 
the  decrease  of  the  number  of  seals.     I  am  further     nnving  lu.t  iiijmi- 
satisfied  after  my  two  years'  experience  that  the  driv- 
ing of  male  seals  to  the  killing  grounds  by  the  natives  could  bo  of  no 
possible  injnry  to  seal  life  on  the  islands.     I  think  the 
seals  ought  to'^be  protected  both  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  ^..^j;'™**''*'''"    "'^''"■ 
North  Pacific  Ocean,  and  pelagic  sealing  entirely  pro-  *"""^' 
bibited  in  those  waters,  or  else  a  close  season  estab- 
lished, beginning  March  1  and  ending  either  Septeni-   „oasra"'''*'""  "'^'^'''"' 
ber  1  or  October  1.     Ln  case  the  seals  are  not  protected 
in  this  manner,  I  believe  that  they  will  be  exteruiinated  within  five 
years. 

T.    F.    llYAN. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2t)th  day  of  jNIarch,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Sevellon  a.  Brown, 

Xotarij  Fiiblic  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  U.  ^.  A. 


Deposition  of  ^V.  B.  Taylor^  assistant  Trcasurij  agent  on  St.  Geor(;e  I.sland. 

MANAGEMENT;    IlAlilTS;    PELAUiC    DEALING. 
DiSTIlICT    OF    COLUMEIA, 

City  of  \Vashiii(/ton,  ss: 
W.  ]i.  Taylor,  of  Omaha,  Nebr.,  bein  g  d  nly  sworn ,  deposes  and  says :  I  am 
41  years  of  age,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  G  lobe  Loan  and  Trust  Com- 
pany, of  Omaha,  Nebraska,  and  am  not  and  never  have  been  in  anyway 
connected  with  any  com]>any  engaged  in  the  seal-skin  industry,  lii  the 
year  1.S81 1  was  Assistant  Treasury  Agent  for  the  seal  islands,  i  arrived 
on  the  islands  in  the  lattei-  part  of  May  of  that  year,  and  after  a  week's 
stay  on  St.  Paul  Island  was  detailed  to  St.  George,  remaining  there  until 
the  latter  part  of  August.  Since  then  I  have;  not  been  on  the  islands. 
While  on  St.  George  I  was  on  the  killing  grounds  every  . 

day  during  the  season,  and  visited  the  rookei'ies  almost       '^'" 
daily,  both  in  connection  with  my  oliicial  duties  and  for  the  purpose 


176  TESTIMONY 

of  studying  seal  life.     From  cnrefully  observiDg  the  gronnds  formerly 
occupied  by  breeding  seals,  as  pointed  out  to  me  by  the  natives,  and 
from  statements  made  me  by  those  on  the  island,  I  believe  there  were 
more  seals  on  the  islands  in  1881  than  in  any  year 
^jeaia  numerous  in  preyious  to  that  time.     I  believe  that  the  increase  and 
decrease  of  seal  life  can  be  certaiidy  told  from  accurate 
measurements  of  the  breeding  grounds,  because  the  seals  herd  to- 
gether as  closely  as  possible,  whether  there  are  few  or  many  of  them. 
But  the  number  of  seals  can  not  be  estimated  with  even  approximate 
accurac}^  because  of  the  roughness  and  unevenness  of  the  ground,  aiid 
,    ,   ,.  because  during  the  height  of  the  season  a  maioritv  t>f 

FemaU's  feeding.         j.a        r>  ■,        ,       ■,-,     i  \  j.      x  -i>       t  i    "• 

the  females  (called  cows)  are  out  at  sea  leedmg,  being 
often  ol)liged  to  go  30  or  more  miles  fjom  the  islands  for  this  purpose, 
and  not  returning  till  late  at  night.  I  think  the  number  of  seals  here- 
tofore estimated  has  been  largely  exaggerated,  and  no  dependence  can 
be  placed  on  any  estimate  as  to  their  numbers. 
During  the  year  I  was  on  the  Island  of  St.  George  1  did  not  see  to 

exceed  twenty-five  dead  pups  on  the  rookeries,  and  the 
^  Jew  dead  pups  in  i^^j^^j^g  ^^f  ^^^^'^^  ^^-p^,^  j^^,^  emaciated,  but  had  evidently 

been  killed  by  the  old  bulls  climbing  over  them  in  their 
combats.     'From  my  observations  1    am  convinced  a  puj>  must  be  G 
or  8  weeks  old  before  it  can  swim,  and  that  a  fe- 
jnvs   icannng  tu  ^^^^^j^  generally  teaches  her  own  pup  the  use  of  his  flip- 
pers.   Birth  in  the  water  would  mean  immediate  death 
to  the  pup,  both  because  of  the  fact  last  stated  and  from  the  further 
fact  that  for  a  day  or  two  after  birth  a  pup  is  entirely  helpless.     In  my 
judgment,  then,  a  seal  pup  for  the  first  few  weeks  of  its 
^^eais  land  quadra-   jj^^,  -^  ^  j.^^^^l  quadrupcd  aiid  iu  uo  scusc  au  amphibian. 

I  believe  that  a  seal  is  naturally  a  land  animal,  as  all 
copulation,  birth,  and  nursing  takes  place  on  shore,  and  the  only  reason 

I  think  the  seals  seek  the  water  is  because  they  are 
jeek  water  only  for  compelled  SO  to  do  iu  ordcr  to  obtain  food.     This  is 

veritied  from  the  fact  that  the  seals  remain  on  land  as 
long  as  possible,  until  the  need  of  food  and  severity  of  the  weather 
compel  them  to  take  to  the  sea.     A  female  when  she  returns  from  the 

feeding  grounds  will  alwavs  select  her  own  pup  from 
ti.dr  ownVupT  °°^-'   i'll  those  Oil  thc  rookcrics,  and  will  give  suck  to  no  other. 

It  is  therefore  myo[)iiiioii  that  if  a  mother  seal  is  killed 
the  pup  will  certainly  die  of  starvation. 

1  made  a  very  particular  examination  and  study  of  the  methods  em- 
.  ^  ployed  by  the  natives  in  dii\  iiig  ai.d  killing  the  young 

"^'"^'  males,  or  l)a(;helors,  and  in  my  opinion  these  methods 

are  the  very  best  that  could  be  adopted,  and  1  can  conceive  of  no  other 
way  which  could  be  einxdoyed  and  preserve  seal  life  so  efi'ectually.  In 
starting  a  drive  the  bachelors  are  driven  from  the  hauling  grounds, 
which  are  separated  from  the  breeding  grounds.     Great  care  was  always 

taken  not  to  disturb  the  breeders;  no  one  was  ever  al- 
reec  iiigpro  ec  e( .   1^^^^^^^^  ^^  g.^^  ^^j^  ^j^^  i)i'eeding  gTOuuds  diiriug  theruttirg 

season,  all  observations  as  to  the  habits  being  made  from  overhanging 

clitfs  or  some  elevation  in  the  vicinity  of  the  harems.     I  never  saw  but 

one  female  kilh-dout  of  the  20,000  taken  on  St.  George 

Females  not  killed   l^].^^^^l  j^   iss  1 ,  aiul  that  was  accidental.     A  drive  is 

on  islands.  '  »  ,  ,    t       ,      •        ,  i 

always  made  between  2  and  U  o  clock  in  the  morning, 

when  the  weather  is  cool  and  there  is  less  liability  of  overheating  theseals. 

Seals  are  driven  as  slowlv  as  is  possible  and  still  keep 

^ooverdiivxiis.        ^^^^^^  .^^  motiou.    1  do  uot  tliiult  that  there  were  fifty 


RELATING   TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND.  177 

seals  killed  dining'  the  season  by  overheating  and  smothering,  and  in 
all  cases  the  skins  of  these  were  taken  and  counted  with  the  other 
skins  transported  to  the  salt  houses.  I  never  saAv  or  heard  of  the  gen- 
erative organs  of  a  male  seal  being  injured  by  redriving,  and  it  seems 
to  me  to  be  utterly  absurd  that  anyone  could  think  that  an  animal 
with  such  wonderful  vitality  as  is  possessed  by  the  male  seal  could  be 
injured  or  his  reproductive  powers  impaired  by  driving  or  redriving. 
If  such  a  thing  should  occur  it  would  be  at  once  noticeable,  for  the  im- 
potent bull  would  certainly  haul  up  with  the  bachelors,  having  no  in- 
clination and  vigor  to  maintain  hinjself  on  the  rookeries. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  a  bull  is  able  to  serve  from  three  to  live  cows  a 
day,  and  certainly  over  a  hundred  in  a  season.     I  have 
seen  over  forty  cows  at  one  time  in  a  harem,  and  the  of  buUs^.^'**^'"^'  ^'"^^**'^ 
bull  who  possessed  this  harem  was  continually  striving     Harems 
to  obtain  more  cows.    There  was  but  one  raid  on  the 
rookeries  while  I  was  there,  and  that  took  place  on  Otter  Island,  about 
sixty  skins  being  taken.    After  that  raid  the  Government  kept  a  man 
on  Otter  Island  during  the  entire  summer  to  protect  it  from  marauders. 
Eaids  on  the  islands  never  affected  seal  life  to  any  ex- 
tent.    Since  my  residence  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  I     ^'''ids  on  islands. 
have  kept  a  very  careful  watch  of  the  progress  of  events  there,  and 
have  interviewed  a  great  many  connected  with  the  seal  industry.     I 
am  of  the  conviction  that  the  reported  decrease  in  seal 
life  on  these  islands  can  be  attributed  to  no  other  cause  peUi^Tc'^seaiin-"*'    *" 
save  pelagic  sealing.    While  I  was  located  at  St.  George 
Island  in  1881  pelagic  sealing  was  then  and  previous  to  that  time  had 
been  of  very  little  consequence,  having  very  slight  effect  upon  seal  life. 
IS'ot  more  than  four  or  five  vessels  were  engaged  in  pelagic  sealijig  in 
1881  in  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea,  and  prior  to  that  time  a  still  fewer 
number  were  so  engaged.     But  since  1881  this  industry     ^,    ,       ,.     , 

1  liM  ij-111  1  iSTumber  of  pelarric 

has  grown  yearly  until  now  about  a  hundred  vessels  are  sealers. 
destroying  the  seals  in  great  numbers,  and,  as  I  am  in-      ^^^^^    females  ta- 
formed  and  believe,  the  great  majority  of  those  killed  ken.     ^  ^^'^  '^^ 
are  females.     Then  too,  large  numbers  are  killed  in  this      waste  of  ufe. 
way  which  are  never  recovered  or  reported.    It  is,  there- 
fore, in  my  opinion,  necessary  that  the  seals  should  be  sa^.*'**^''*'''''    °''''®^' 
protected,  and  all  killing  in  the  water  prohibited  in  all  .       . 

waters  which  the  seal  herd  frequents,  and  especially  in  ingl^a'au/Areutian 
Bering  Sea  and  while  the  herd   are  en  route  to  and  Passes. 
from  the  islands  through  the  Aleutian  passes. 

W.  B.  Taylor. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  F.  S.  A.,  this  2Gth  day  of  April,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Sevellon  a.  Brown. 


Deposition  of  George  Wardman,  assistant  Treasury  agent  on  St.  George 

Island. 

habits 5  management;  pelagic  sealing. 

District  oe  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 
George  Wardman,  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  being  duly  sworn,  de- 
poses and  says :   I  am  50  years  of  age,  and  editor  of  the  Pittsburg  Press. 
In  1879  as  a  journalist  I  made  a  trip  to  Alaska  on  the  United  States  reve- 
nue steamer  Bush,  diuing  her  summer  cruise.     On  that  trip  I  stoi)ped  at 

271G— VOL  II 12 


178  TESTIMONY 

many  points  along  the  northwest  coast,  the  Alaskan  coast,  and  the  Aleu- 
tian chain,  and  also  visited  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  St. 
Exporience.  Midiael,  going  as  far  north  as  Bering  Straits.    On  April 

4, 1881, 1  was  appointed  Assistant  Special  Treasnry  Agent  for  the  Seal 
Islands,  and  immediately  after  such  appointment  proceeded  to  San  Fran- 
cisco and  sailed  for  the  islands,  arriving  there  in  the  latter  part  of  May.  I 
was  then  detailed  by  Colonel  Otis,  Si^ecial  Treasury  Agent  for  the  Seal 
Islands,  to  the  Island  of  St.  George,  and  until  May  29, 1885,  I  remained 
in  charge  of  that  Island.  During  that  time  I  returned  but  twice  to  the 
United  States.  I  made  careful  examination  of  the  rookeries  each  year, 
and  after  the  first  year  I  comi)ared  my  yearly  observations,  so  that  I 
might  arrive  at  some  conclusion  as  to  whether  it  was  possible  and  ex- 
pedient to  increase  our  portion  of  the  quota  of  skins  to  be  taken  on 
St.  George  Island  without  injuriously  affecting  seal  life  there.  I  am 
satisfied  irom  my  observations  that  the  breeding  grounds  on  St.  George 
covered  greater  areas  in  1881  than  in  1881,  and  that 
luciease,  i88i-'84.  ^^^j  jj^^  materially  increased  between  those  dates;  and 
this  fact  was  verified  by  all  the  natives  on  the  island.  In  foct  there 
was  no  disagreement  by  anyone  located  on  the  islands  as  to  that  point. 
I  am  further  satisfied  that  during  this  time  there  was 
rienty  of  males.  always  a  Sufficient  number  of  males  to  fertihze  the  cows 
on  the  rookeries;  otherwise  there  could  have  been  no  increase  in  the 
breeding  grounds. 

While  I  was  on  the  island  I  never  saw  more  than  twenty- five  dead 

pups  on  the  rookeries  during  any  one  season,    I  have  seen  occasionally  a 

dead  one  among  the  bowlders  along  the  shore,  which  had  probably  been 

killed  by  the  surf;  but  these  dead  pups  were  in  no  instance  emaciated. 

A  cow  will  not  suckle  any  pup  but  her  own.     Of  this  I 

tbffr^own^p'upT  ""^"^  ^^  couviuced,  becausc  I  have  seen  cows  drive  off  other 

pups  when  they  approached  them,  and  wait  until  they 

appeared  to  recognize  their  own.     I  further  think  that  if  a  mother  were 

killed  her  pup  would  starve  to  death,  for  she  suckles  the  pui)  dnring 

the  time  it  remains  on  the  island,  and  it  has  no  other  means  of  subsist- 

males  feedin        Guce.     During  tiie  rutting  season  the  bulls  generallj^ 

ema  es  ee  ing.      yguja^jj,  ^pou  land,  whilc  tlic  fcmalcs  are  constantly 

Pups  learning  to  going  to  and  from  the  water,  feeding  and  bathing,  and 

^^'"''  teaching  their  pups  to  swim,  as  I  believe,  which  the 

pups  are  unable  to  do  for  the  first  six  weeks  of  their  existence.     In 

fact,  a  pup  is  afraid  of  the  water  during  these  six  weeks  and  needs 

a  good  deal  of  coaxing  at  first  to  get  him  to  go  into  it.    Young  pups 

can  not  be  driven  into  the  water  by  men,  and  when  I  tried  to  drive 

them  in  before  they  had  learned  to  swim  they  would  invariably  run 

M  na  ement  ^^ck  froui  the  wutcr.     While  located  on  St.  George  I 

anagemen  .  bccauic  thoroughly   acquainted  Avith  the  methods  of 

driving,  handling,  and  killing  the  bachelor  seals  by  the  natives.    I 

believe  those  methods  are  the  very  best  that  could  be  adopted  for  the 

preservation  of  the  rookeries  and  conservation  of  seal  life. 

A  female  was  never  killed  while  I  was  on  St.  George,  except  by  acci- 

•     dent.     Seals  were  rarely  killed  by  overdriving;  but 

on'^isiafuis!'^^^  ^"^^^'^  whcii  sucli  an  accident  occurred  the  skin  was  taken  off 

and  included  m  the  quota.     Often  after  the  drive  I 

Avent  over  the  ground  where  the  seals  had  been  driven  and  counted 

those  left  on  the  road.     They  were  very  few  in  number  and  did  not 

afleet  seal  hfe  in  general  on  the  island.    The  only  injury  I  ever  noticed 

,..,,.,.  Irom  redriving  was  that  the  hind  flippers  of  yearlings 

iving.       ^liieii  liad  been  driven  several  times  would  be  slightly 


RELATING    TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND.  179 

abraded.  They  were  footsore,  you  might  say,  but  there  was  no  in- 
jury to  the  reproductive  organs  of  the  males  driven.  I  am  satisfied 
the  natives  would  have  noticed  it  and  spoken  to  the  Government 
agents  about  it  if  we  had  overlooked  the  fact.  My  attention  was  never 
called  to  anything  of  this  kind,  and  in  all  my  experience  I  never  heard 
of  a  male  being  so  injured.  Even  if  a  male  were  driven  once  a  day  for 
ten  successive  days,  I  am  certain  that  such  driving  would  not  impair 
his  future  usefulness  as  a  ])rogenitor  of  his  species. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  all  killing  of  seals  in  the 
water  should  be  prevented,  both  in,  Bering  Sea  and  the  sary!*  ^^  ^°^  oeces- 
North  Pacific,  because  the  seals  thus  killed  are  slaugh- 
tered without  discrimination  as  to  age  or  sex.     In  case  .^inf^isciiminateidu. 
such  killing  be  prevented  in  the  Avater,  such  regulations 
can  be  enforced  ujion  the  islands  that  the  Pribilof  seal  herd  will  yield 
a  supply  of  skins  for  an  indefinite  period  without  reducing  the  size  of 
the  herd.     If,  however,  the  killing  of  seals  in  the  water  is  not  ine- 
vented,  all  calculations  looking  toward  the  lireservation  of  them  on  the 
islands  by  the  Government  and  the  lessees  will  be  of  no  avail,  and  the 
Alaska  seal  will  be  exterminated.     As  seals  are  found  in  large  numbers 
over  100  miles  from  the  islands  during  the  entire  sum- 
mer, a  zone  30  or  40  miles  about  the  islands  in  which 
open-sea  sealing  were  prevented,  if  such  could  be  done,  would  be  of 
comparatively  little  protection  to  seal  life. 

Geo.  Wardman. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  this  15th  day  of  April,  1S92. 

Chas.  L.  Hughes, 

Xotary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  Daniel  Webster,  agent  of  lessees  on  i^t.  George  Island. 

MANAGEMENT   AND   HABITS. 

ST.  GEORGE  ISLAND,  PriUlof  Group,  ALASKA,  U.  S.  A.,  ss: 

Daniel  Webster,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  GO  years 
of  age,  and  am  a  resident  of  Oakland,  Cal. ;  my  occui)ation  is  that  of  local 
agent  for  the  North  American  Commercial  Company,  and  at  j)resent  I  am 
stationed  on  St.  George  Island,  of  the  Pribilof  Group,  ^^  erience 
Alaska.  I  have  been  in  Alaskan  waters  every  year  but  xpenence. 
two  since  I  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  I  first  went  to  Behring  Sea  in 
1845  on  a  whaling  voyage,  and  annually  visited  those  waters  in 
that  pursuit  until  1808,  at  which  time  the  purchase  and  transfer  of 
Alaska  was  made  to  the  United  States;  since  that  time  I  have  been 
engaged  in  the  taking  of  fur  seals  for  their  skins.  In  1870  I  entered 
the  employ  of  the  lessees  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  have  been  so  en- 
gaged ever  since,  and  for  the  last  thirteen  years  have  been  the  (com- 
pany's local  agent  on  St.  George  Island,  and  during  the  sealing  season 
have,  a  part  of  the  time,  gone  to  St.  Paul  Island  and  took  charge  of  the 
killing  at  Northeast  I'oint,  which  is  known  to  be  the  largest  fur  seal 
rookery  in  the  world.  For  ten  years  prior  to  1878  I  resided  most  of  the 
time  at  Northeast  Point,  having  landed  and  taken  seals  there  in  1808. 
I  have  had  twenty-four  years'  experience  in  the  fur-seal  industry  as  it 
exists  in  the  waters  of  the  North  Pacific  and  Behring  Sea,  and  have 
made  a  very  careful  study  of  the  habits  and  conditions  of  this  useful 


180  TESTIMONY 

aiiiinal.  Duriiij?  tliis  period  it  lias  been  my  duty  as  a  trusted  employ^ 
of  tlie  lessees  to  observe  aiul  report,  eacli  year,  the  conditiou  of  the 
rookeries.  My  instructions  "svere  exi)lieit  and  emphatic  to  never  per- 
mit, under  any  circumstances,  any  practices  to  obtaiu  that  would  result 
in  injury  to  the  herds.  These  instructions  have  been  faithfully  carried 
out  by  myself  and  other  employes  of  the  lessees  of  the  Islands,  and 
the  laws  and  regulations  governing  the  perpetuation  of  seal  life  have 
been  rigidly  enforced  by  all  the  Government  Agents  in  charge  of  the 
Islands. 
In  my  twenty-thi*ee  years'  experienee  as  a  whaler  in  Behring  Sea  and 

the  ZSTorth  Pacific,  during  which  time  I  visited  every 

^^^^^^-  part  of  the  coast  surrounding  these  waters,  and  my 

subsequent  twenty-four  years'  exi)erience  on  the  seal  islands  in  Berhing 

and  Okhotsk  seas,  I  have  never  known  or  heard  of  any 
Aiasiviiii  seal  breeds  placc  whcre  thc  Alaskau  fur  seals  breed  except  on  the 
iTuL.''"  Pribiloff  Group  in  Bering  Sea.    These  islands  are  iso- 

lated and  seem  to  possess  the  necessary  climatic  con- 
ditions to  make  them  the  favorite  breeding  grounds  of  the  Alaskan  fur 
seals,  and  it  is  here  they  congregate  during  the  summer  months  of  each 

year  to  bring  forth  and  rear  their  young.     Leaving  the 
Migration.  islauds  late  in  the  fall  or  in  early  winter,  on  account  of 

the  inclemency  of  the  weather  they  journey  southward  through  the 
passes  of  the  Aleutian  Archipelago  to  the  coast  of  California,  Oregon, 
and  Washington,  and,  gradually  working  their  way  back  to  Bering 
Sea,  they  again  come  up  on  the  rookeries  soon  after  the  ice  disapi)ears 
from  the  shores  of  the  islauds;  and  my  observation  leads  me  to  believe 
that  they  select,  as  near  as  possible,  the  places  they  occupied  the  year 

before.     The  young  seals  are  born  on  the  breeding 
^"^^'  rookeries  in  June  and  July.     The  head  constitutes  the 

greater  part  of  this  animal  at  this  time,  and  they  are  clumsy  and  awk- 
ward in  all  their  movements,  and  if  swept  into  the  water  by  accident 
or  otherwise  would  perish  from  inability  to  swim — a  fact  that  I  have 
often  observed,  and  one  which  is  well  known  to  all  who  have  paid  any 
attentiini  to  the  subject.  Practically  they  remain  in  this  lieli)less 
condition,  though  taking  on  fat  rapidly,  until  they  are  from  G  to  7 

weeks  old,  when  they  commence  to  go  into  the  shal- 

Learmng  to  s^vlm.   j^^  ^^ater,  and,  after  repeated  trials,  learn  to  swim; 

but  even  then  they  spend  most  of  their  time  on  laud  until  they  leave 

the  islands  late  in  jSTovember,    During  the  first  few  weeks  after  their 

birth  they  are  not  amphibious,  and  land  is  a  necessity  to  their  exist- 

.  ence.    The  mother  seals  go  out  to  sea  to  feed  soon  after 

ec  mg.      giving  birth  to  their  young,  and  return  at  intervals  of 

from  a  few  hours  to  several  days  to  suckle  ai^d  uourish  their  young. 

The  mother  seal  readily  distinguishes  her  own  offspring  from  that  of 
others,  nor  will  she  permit  the  young  of  any  other  seal  to  suckle  her. 
I  have  noti(;ed  in  tlie  killing  of  young  seals  (pups)  for  food,  in  Novem- 
ber, that  their  stomachs  were  full  of  milk,  although  apj)arently  the 
mothers  had  not  been  on  the  islands  for  several  days  previous.  1  have 
observed  that  the  male  seals  taken  in  the  forepart  of  the  season,  or 
within  a  few  days  after  their  arrival  at  the  islands,  are  fat  and  their 
stomachs  contain  quantities  of  undigested  fish  (mostly  cod),  while  the 
stomachs  of  those  killed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  season  are  empty; 
and  they  diminish  in  flesh  until  they  k>ave  the  islands  late  in  the  season. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  while  the  female  often  goes 
isi^'/s?oi'fo?d  '*'*'''  ^^"S"  distances  to  feed  while  gi\nng  nourishment  to  her 

young,  the  male  seals  of  two  years  old  and  over  seldom, 


-H 


RELATING    TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND.  181 

if  ever,  leave  the  islands  for  that  purpose  until  they  start  on  their 
migration  southward.  When  the  seals  are  on  the  breeding  grounds 
they  are  not  easily  friglitened  unless  they  are  too  nearly  approached, 
and  even  then  they  will  go  but  a  short  distance  if  the  cause  of  their 
ffight  becomes  stationary. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  with  any  sort  of  accuracy  the  number  of 
seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  because  of  the  seals  being     ^        ., ,   ^ 

.        ,-,      .  ..  1  1       '  J.1      1  T  J  Impossible  to  esd- 

constantly  m  motion,  and  because  the  breeding  grounds  mate  number  of  seals 
are  so  covered  with  broken  rocks  of  all  sizes  that  the  °°  islands. 
density  varies.     I  think  all  estimates  heretofore  made  are  unreliable, 
and  in  the  case  of  Elliot  and  others  who  have  endeavored  to  make  a 
census  of  seal  life,  the  numbers  are,  in  my  opinion,  exaggerated.    Meas- 
urements of  the  breeding  grounds,  however,  show  an  increase  or  de- 
crease of  the  number  of  seals,  because  the  harems  are  alwaj^s  crowded 
together  as  closely  as  the  nature  of  the  ground  and  temper  of  the  old 
bulls  will  permit.    My  observation  has  been  that  there  was  an  expan- 
sion of  the  rookeries  from  1870  up  to  at  least  1879, 
which  fact  I  attribute  to  the  careful  management  of  the  evkitiomtsiolJis^' 
Islands  by  the  United  Btates  Government.    In  the  year 
1880  I  thought  I  began  to  notice  a  falling  off  from  the  year  previous  of 
the  number  of  seals  on  Northeast  Point  rookery,  but 
this  decrease  was  so  very  slight  that  probably  it  would  ^^f^^'^^^^^'  '^*'*'<^'='^  ^^ 
not  have  beeu  observed  by  one  less  familiar  with  seal 
life  and  its  conditions  than  I;  but  I  could  not  discover  or  learn  that  it 
showed  itself  on  any  of  the  other  rookeiies.     In  1884 
and  1885  I  noticed  a  decrease,  and  it  became  i<o  marked  jg^"*^  '"^  ^^^^  ""'^ 
in  1886  that  everyone  on  tlie  islands  saw  it.    This 
marked  decrease  in  1886  showed  itself  on  all  the  rookeries  on  both 
islands. 

Until  1887  or  1888,  however,  the  decrease  was  not  felt  in  obtaining 
skins,  at  which  time  the  standard  was  lowered  from  6 
and  7  pound  skins  to  5  and  4J  pounds.     The  hauling   ard  of  sS  uxkeu  "^' 
grounds  of  ISTortheast  Point  kept   up    the    standard 
longer  than  the  other  rookeries,  because,  as  I  believe,  the  latter  rook- 
eries had  felt  the  drain  of  open-sea  sealing  during  1885  and  188G  more 
than  Northeast  Point,  the  cows  from  the  other  rookeries  having  gone 
to  the  southward  to  feed,  where  the  majority  of  the  sealing  schooners 
were  engaged  in  taking  seal.    There  was  never  while  I     ,,  ,   ,    ,,  „ 
have  been  u^ion  the  Islands   any  scarcity  of  vigorous 
bulls,  there  always  being  a  sufficientnumber  to  fertilize  all  the  cows  com- 
ing to  the  Islands.    It  was  always  borne  in  mind  by  those  on  the  Islands 
that  a  sufficient  number  of  males  must  be  preserved  for  breeding  pur- 
poses, and  this  accounts  partly  for  the  lowering  of  the  standard  weight 
of  skins  in  1888.   The  season  of  181)1  showxdthat  male  seals  had  certainly 
been  in  sulficient  number  the  5^ear  before,  because  the  pups  on  tlie 
rookeries  were  as  many  as  should  be  for  the  number  of  cows  landing, 
the  ratio  being  the  same  as  in  former  years.    Then,  too,  there  was  a 
surplus  of  vigorous  bulls  in  1891  who  could  obtain  no     y.  ,•  „ 
cows.   Everycare  is  taken  in  driving  the  seals  from  the        "«^mg. 
hauling  to  the  killing  grounds,  and,  during  the  regular  killing  season  of 
June  and  July,  there  are  no  females  driven  because,  at  this  season,  they 
are  on  the  breeding  rookeries  and  do  not  intermingle  with  the  young  males. 
If  occasionally  one  does  happen  to  be  in  the  drive  great  care  is  taken 
not  to  injure  her;  the  law  prohibiting  the  killing  of  the  female  seal  is 
well  understood  by  the  natives,  and  they  are  thoroughly  in  sympathy 
with  it.     Even  were  I  to  request  them  to  kill  a  female  seal  they  would 


182  TESTIMONY 

refuse  to  do  it,  ami  would  iiuinediately  report  me  to  the  Government 
Agent.  I  have  known  an  occasional  one  to  be  killed  by 
by^a^ideiit'^'''^'^  "°''^  accident  during  the  food  drives  late  in  tlie  season  wlien 
the  males  and  females  intermingle  on  the  hauling 
grounds,  but  the  clubber  was  always  severely  rebuked  by  the  chief  for 
his  carelessness  as  well  as  by  the  Government  and  Company  Officers. 

My  observation  is  that  the  number  of  female  seals  killed  on  the 

Islands  from  all  causes  is  too  insiguilicantly  small  to  be  noticed.     The 

Lencrtii  of  the  drives    longest  drivcs  uuide  on  St.  George  Island  are  from 

ng.  o     e  lives,  u g^j^j^iy  ^^gg} >?  j^,,(j  "Great  Eastern"  rookeries,  and 

they  are  less  than  3  miles  long.  Drives  from  these  rookeries  require 
from  four  to  sis  hours,  according  to  the  weather.  At  Zax)adnie  rook- 
ery, on  St.  George,  the  drive  to  the  killing  grounds  is  less  than  a  mile, 
the  seals  are  now  being  killed  there  instead  of  being  driven  across  the 
Island  as  they  were  prior  to  1878,  when  it  took  three  days  to  make  the 
jonrney.  There  is  now  a  salt  hons^e  at  Zapadnie,  at  which  the  skins  are 
salted  as  soon  as  taken.  The  killing  grounds  on  both  Islands  are  all 
situated  within  a  very  short  distance  from  the  shore,  and  seals  not  suit- 
able to  be  killed,  or  that  are  turned  out  for  any  cause,  immediately  go 
into  the  water,  and,  after  sporting  around  for  an  hour  or  two,  they  re- 
turn to  the  hauling  grounds,  and  to  all  api^earances  they  are  as  uncon- 
cerned and  careless  of  the  presence  of  man  as  they  were  before  they 
were  driven  to  the  killing  grounds.  I  have  often  observed  that  the  seals 
when  on  the  Islands  do  not  take  fright  easily  at  the  pres- 
seais'"^"'^^^  ^^  ^^'^  ence  of  man;  and  the  natives  go  among  them  with  im- 
punity. They  will  go  into  a  herd  of  seals  on  the  haul- 
ing grounds  and  quietly  separate  tliem  into  as  many  divisions  and  sub- 
divisions as  is  necessary  before  driving  them  to  the  killing  grounds.  At 
the  killing  grounds  they  are  again  divided  into  bunches  or  "pods"  of 
twenty  or  thirty  each  more  readily  than  the  same  number  of  domestic 
animals  could  be  handled  under  the  same  circumstances. 

The  bulls  on  the  rookeries  will  not  only  stand  their  ground  against 
the  a])proach  of  man,  but  will  become  the  aggressors  if  disturbed. 
Pups  are  tame  and  very  playful  when  young,  and,  previous  to  1891, 
when  it  was  the  practice  to  kill  three  or  four  thousand  for  natives'  food 
in  IsTovember,  thousands  of  them  were  picked  up  and  handled  to  deter- 
mine the  sex,  for  only  the  males  were  allowed  to  be  killed.  Hair  seal 
and  sea  lions  haul  out  on  the  Islands  and  are  seldom  disturbed,  yet 
they  will  plunge  into  the  water  at  once  should  they  discover  anyone 
upon  their  rookeries,  but  it  is  not  so  with  the  fur-seal.  They  seem  at 
home  on  the  rookeries  and  hauling  grounds,  and  they  show  a  degree  of 
domestication  seldom  found  among  similar  animals.      At  Northeast 

Eeduction  of  length  Poiiit  rookcry  ou  St.  Paul  Islaiul  the  longest  drive  is 
ofdrivea.  2  milcs.     lu  former  tiiucs  the  Eussians  used  to  drive 

from  this  rookery  to  St.  Paul  village,  a  distance  of  12i  miles.  Seals 
turned  away  from  the  killing  grounds  return  to  the  rookery  from  which 
they  were  driven,  therefore  a  male  seal  is  not  redriven  day  after  day, 
because  a  hauling  ground  is  always  given  several  days  rest  before  being 

No  injury  from  re-  drivcu  from  agaiu.     I  never  saw  or  heard  of  the  gen- 
driving.  crative  organs  of  a  male  seal  being  injured  by  driving 

or  by  rcdriving,  and  if  such  a  thing  had  taken  place,  even  in  excep- 
tional cases,  the  natives  would  have  noticed  and  reported  it,  which 
they  nev^er  did.  I  have  seen  a  seal's  iiippers  made  sore  by  driving,  but 
I  never  saw  one  that  was  seriously  injuietl  by  driving.  I  do  not  believe 
that  a  male  seal's  x)owers  of  reproduction  were  ever  affected  by  driving 
or  rediiving. 


KELATING   TO    ST.    GEORGE   ISLAND.  183 

The  bulls  maintain  their  positions  on  the  rookeries  from  the  time 
they  arrive  till  the  cows  come  by  most  bloody  battles,  and  after  the 
cows  commence  arriving  they  are  continually  contending'  for  their  pos- 
sessions. During  these  conflicts  they  are  often  seriously  wounded,  and 
their  exertions  are  far  more  violent  than  any  effort  made  by  a  young 
male  during  a  "  drive."  Then,  too,  the  male  seal  must  have  great  vi- 
tality to  remain  on  the  rookeries  for  three  months  without  eating  or 
drinking  and  with  very  little  sleep.  In  spite  of  this  drain  on  his  vital 
force  he  is  able  to  fertilize  all  the  cows  which  he  can  get  possession  of, 
and  a  barren  cow  is  a  rarity.  I  believe  that  a  bull  can  serve  one  hun- 
dred or  more  cows,  and  it  is  an  absurdity  to  think  that 
an  animal  possessing  such  remarkable  vigor  could  be  'gorofbuiis. 
made  impotent  by  being  driven  or  redriven  when  a  "  Bachelor."  An 
impotent  bull  would  have  neither  the  inclination  or  vigor  to  maintain 
himself  on  the  rookeries  against  the  lierce  and  vigorous  possessors  of 
harems.  The  only  bulls  hauling  up  away  from  the  breeding  rookeries 
are  those  whose  extreme  old  age  and  long  service  have  made  them  impo- 
tent and  useless,  and  I  have  never  seen  or  heard  tell  of  anything  that 
would  make  an  exception  to  this  rule.  The  methods 
employed  in  taking  the  skins  are,  in  my  opinion,  the  ^''^^°s- 
best  that  can  be  adopted.  The  killing  grounds  are  situated  as  near  the 
rookeries  and  hauling  grounds  as  is  possible  without  having  the  breed- 
ers or  bachelors  disturbed  by  the  smell  of  blood  or  putrefaction,  and 
most  stringent  regulations  have  always  been  enforced  to  prevent  dis- 
turbing or  frightening  the  breeding  seals. 

I  am  convinced  that  if  open-sea  sealing  had  never  been  indulged  in 
to  the  extent  it  has  since  1885  or  perhaps  a  year  or  two 
earlier,  100,000  male  skins  could  have  been  taken  an-    I'ecreasecanseaeniy 

-,■,',.'  „  /T        -r^    •-,■-,     n  -r  t        -.  •    ,  ■■         uv  pclagic  Sealing. 

nually  torever  from  the  Pribilof  Islands  without  de- 
creasing the  seal  herd  below  its  normal  size  and  condition.    The  cause 
of  the  decrease  which  has  taken  place  can  be  accounted  for  only  by 
open-sea  sealing;  for,  until  that  means  of  destruction  to  seal  life  grew 
to  be  of  such  propor(:ions  as  to  alarm  those  interested  in  the  seals,  the 
seal  herd  increased,  and  since  that  time  the  decrease  of  the  number 
of  seals  has  been  ^proportionate  to  the  increase  in  the  number  of  those 
engaged  in  open-sea  sealing.     The  majority  of  seals  killed  in  the  water 
are  females,  and  all  the  females  killed  in  Behring  Sea  are  mothers  Avho 
have  left  their  pups  on  the  rookeries  and  gone  some  distance  from  the 
Islands  in  search  of  food.     The  death  of  every  such  mother  seal  at  sea 
means  the  death  of  her  pup  on  shore,  because  it  is  absolutely  and  en- 
tirely dependent  on  her  for  its  daily  sustenance.     I 
never  heard  of  any  disease  among  the  seal  herd,  nor  of  cuSase""*  ^"^■'''''' '" 
an  epidemic  of  any  sort  or  at  any  time  in  the  history 
of  the  Islands.     I  do  not  remember  the  precise  date  of  the  first  success- 
ful raid  upon  the  rookeries  by  sealing  schooners,  but  I     p^^.^^^ 
do  know  that  for  the  past  ten  years  there  hav^e  been 
many  such  raids  attempted,  and  a  few  of  them  successfully  carried  out, 
and  that  as  the  number  of  schooners  increased  annmd  the  Islands,  the 
attempted  raids  increased  in  proportion,  and  it  has  been  deemed  neces- 
sary to  keep  armed  guards  near  the  rookeries  to  repel  such  attacks. 
Although  a  few  of  the  raids  were  successful,  and  a  few  hundred  seals 
killed  and  carried  off,  from  time  to  time  during  the  past  ten  years,  the 
aggregate  of  all  the  seals  thus  destroyed  is  too  small  to  be  mentioned 
when  considering  the  cause  of  the  sudden  decline  of  seal  life  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands. 
Twenty-four  years  of  my  life  have  been  devoted  to  the  sealing  in- 


184  TESTIMONY    RELATING   TO    ST.    GEORGE    ISLAND. 

dustry  in  all  of  its  details  as  it  is  pursued  upon  tlie  Pribilof  Islands,  and 
it  is  but  natural  that  1  should  become  deeply  interested  in  the  subject 

of  seal  life.     My  experience  has  been  practical  rather 
low    up  o       .  ^j^j^jj  theoretical.     1  have  seen  the  herds  grow  and  mul- 
tiply under  careful  management  until  their  numbers  were  millions,  as 

was  the  case  in  1880.     From  1884  to  1891  I  saw  their 
^Decrease  from  1884  unmbcrs  dccline,  Under  the  same  careful  management, 

until  in  the  latter  year  there  was  not  more  than  one- 
fourth  of  their  numbers  coming  to  the  Islands.     In  my  judgment  there 

is  but  one  cause  for  that  decline  and  the  present  con- 
peS^'sSraione'  (litiou  of  the  rookcrics,  and  that  is  the  shotgun  and 

rifle  of  the  pelagic  hunter,  and  it  is  my  opinion  that  if 

the  lessees  had  not  taken  a  seal  on  the  Islands  for  the  last  ten  years  we 

would  still  find  the  breeding  grounds  in  about  the  same  condition  as 

they  are  to-day,  so  destructive  to  seal  life  are  the  methods  adopted  by 

fiif  these  hunters.     I  believe  the  number  they  secure  is 

small  as  compared  wi  th  the  number  they  destroy.  Were 
it  males  only  that  they  killecl  the  damage  would  be  temporary,  but  it  is 
mostly  females  that  they  kill  in  the  open  waters,  and  it  is  plain  to  any- 
one familiar  with  this  animal  that  extermination  must  soon  follow  un- 
less some  restrictive  measures  are  adopted  without  delay. 
N.  B. — The  foregoing  is  substantially  the  same  statement  that  I 
statement    to  the  ^ade  to  the  commissiouers  who  visited  the  islands  in 

commissionersinlSW.    1891. 

Daniel  Webster. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  an  officer  empowered  to  admin- 
ister oaths  under  section  197G,  Kevised  Statutes  of  tlie  United  States, 
on  this  the  11th  day  of  June,  1892,  at  St.  George  Island,  Alaska. 

Wm.  II.  Williams, 
Treasury  Agent  in  charge  of  tSail  Islands. 


TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO  SEIZURES  IN  BERING  SEA. 


Deposition  of  Charles  A.  Abbey,  captain,   U.  8.  E.  M. 

PELAaiC   SEALING. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Charles  A.  Abbey,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  51 
j^ears  of  age,  and  am  captain  in  the  Eevenue  Marine     ^^  ^orience 
of  the  United  States,  and  have  been  in  the  service  for        M^enence. 
nearly  twenty-eight  years.     From  June,  1886,  until  the  latter  part  of 
August,  1886,  I  was  in  charge  of  the  revenue  steamer 
Corwin,  cruising  m  Bering  Sea  tor  the  purpose  oi  pro- 
tecting seal  life,  the  fur-seal  industry,  and  the  Government  interests  in 
Alaska  generally.     On  June  10,  1886,  I  left  the  Columbia  Elver,  ju'o- 
ceeding  to  Unalaska,  and  thence  on  the  27th  day  of  June  into  Bering 
Sea,  my  destination  being  the  Pribilof,  or  Seal,  Islands.     Soon  after 
leaving  Unalaska  we  began  to  see  seals  in  the  water  about  the  steamer. 
Within  seven  hours  after  leaving  Unalaska  I  sighted      ^^^^.^.^  ^^^^ 
the  schooner  Sierra,  of  and  Irom  San  Francisco,  with 
her  boats  out  sealing,  in  latitude  54°  20'  north,  longitude  166°  35'  west. 
Before  I  could  overhaul  her  her  boats  were  called  in  and  all  evidences 
of  sealing  were  out  of  sight.     There  were  seal  skins  in  her  hold,  but  as 
there  was  no  evidence  that  any  had  been  taken  in  Bering  Sea,  I  dis- 
armed her,  she  being  without  a  permit  for  use  of  arms  and  ammuni. 
tiou,  and  let  her  go.     The  next  morning  siglited  the        .         ■     m 
schooner  City  of  Sail  Diego,  of  San  Francisco,  in  lati-   iggo'^  "-^    ""     ''^''' 
tilde  55°  52'  north,  longitude  168^  25'  west.    As  she 
also  had  no  permit  for  arms  and  ammunition,  I  disarmed  her. 

I  then  called  at  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  cruised  about  them  for 
some  days  without  seeing  any  vessels  of  any  kind.  On  the  3d  day  of 
July  cruised  northward,  returning  to  St.  Paul  on  the  10th;  it  was  very 
difficult  to  find  the  island  because  of  the  dense  fog.  On  the  13th  went 
south  and  west.  Eeached  Atka  Island  on  the  15tli;  thence  went 
easterly  along  the  Aleutian  Islands.  On  the  17th  seized 
the  schooner  San  Dier/o,  of  and  from  San  Francisco,  in  jgfo""  ^''^^  ''''"^' 
latitude  54°  4'  north  and  longitude  166°  46'  west.  She 
had  577  seal  skins  on  board,  and  the  captain  confessed  to  having  taken 
seals  in  Bering  Sea.     I  took  her  into  Unalaska  that  night. 

On  the  26th  of  July  I  was  again  off  St.  Paul  Island,  and  the  agent  of 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  came  on  board  and 
informed  me  the  sealing  season  on  the  island  was  ended,   J^^^  mgseahon, 
and  the  day  before  the  agent  at  St,  George  Island  had 
informed  me  of  the  same  fact  in  relation  to  that  island.     On  August  1st 
I  seized  a  boat  containin  g  three  men  and  eight  dead  seals.     Proc<'.eding 
southeasterly,  seized  another  boat  with  men  and  several    r^h^ynton  seized.isse. 
dead  seals  on  board.     Seized  the  schooner  Thornton,  of 

185 


186  TESTIMONY 

and  from  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  in  latitude  55°  45'  north  and  lon- 
gitude 1G8°  25'  west.     The  two  boats  seized  belonged  to  the  Thornton. 
The  same  evening  seized  the  schooner  CaroJena.  of  Yic- 
Caroienasei2eA  1886.  j.^^.-,^^  British  Columbia,  in  about  the  same  locality. 
Half  an  hour  later  seized  four  boats  belonging  to  the  Garolena  with  dead 
seals  on  board.    That  night  spoke  schooner  Twilujht, 
r.t,atp/.«8poken,i886.  ^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  captaiu  stated  they  had  taken  no  seals 

in  Bering  Sea,  and  on  account  of  the  schooners  I  had  in  tow  I  was 
unable  to  overhaul  her. 

The  next  morning  at  4:10  sighted  a  schooner,  evidently  a  sealer,  but 
was  unable  to  pursue  her,  owing  to  the  fact  of  having  the  Thornton  and 
Garolena  in  tow.    At  4:40  a.  m.  spoke  the  schooner  Omvard,  of  Vic- 
toria, British  Columbia,  in  latitude  55°  10'  north  and 
Onward  seized.  1S8G.  lougitudc  107°   40'  wcst.     The  master  acknowledged 

he  iiad  been  sealing  in  Bering  Sea.  Boarding  her  and 
finding  seal  skins  and  unskinned  dead  seals  on  board,  1  seized  her  and 
took  her  also  in  tow.  At  7 :20  a.  m.  sighted  another  schooner,  but  she 
fled,  and  outsailed  us.  At  11  a.  m.,  sighted  a  schooner  under  shortened 
sail.     She  at  once  changed  her  course  and  made  all  sail  southeast  and 

escaped.  Beached  Unalaska  that  night.  The  Thornton 
i88g'^'^^°°*  seized,   j^j^^j  q^  board  four  rifles  and  six  shotguns;  the  Omvard, 

one  rifle  and  thirteen  shotguns;  the  Garolena,  four 
rifles,  one  musket,  and  five  shotguns.     Altogether,  the  vessels  I  seized 

had  over  2,000  seal  skins.    My  orders  made  no  dis- 

skins  seized.  tiuctiou  as  to  sciziug  English  or  American  vessels,  and 

each  vessel  seized  received  the  same  treatment  without  relation  to  the 

nationality  of  its   crew  or  owner.     Fogs  are  almost 
Weather.  constant  lu  Bering  Sea  in  the  summer  time.    During 

the  fifty-eight  days  I  cruised  in  those  waters  fifty-four  days  were  foggy 
or  rainy,  the  other  four  days  being  partly  clear.  On  this  account  it  is 
most  difticult  to  seize  vessels  in  Bering  Sea.  The  reports  of  the  guns 
of  the  hunters  might  often  be  heard  when  no  vessel  could  be  seen. 

For  fifteen  or  twenty  days  at  a  time  1  did  not  see  the  sun,  and  never 
while  in  Bering  Sea  did  I  see  a  star,  the  night  being  continually  over- 
cast or  foggy.  Our  position  was  in  nearly  all  cases  determined  by  dead 
reckoning  or  bearing  of  the  laud.  The  following  statements  here  made 
in  relation  to  open-sea  sealing  are  based  upon  my  own  observation,  and 
also  upon  information  I  received  from  conversations  with  forty  or  fifty 

men  engaged  in  open-sea  sealing  in  Bering  Sea.  Tlie 
aud^outfi"^'  ^'""^  ^^'   averagesizeof  the  sealing  vessels  is  from  25  to  50  tons, 

and  the  number  of  the  crew  varies  from  10  to  20  or 
25.  A  vessel  is  fitted  out  with  about  4  to  G  boats,  or  6  or  8  canoes. 
The  white  hunters  used  either  a  Winchester  rifle  or  a  double-barreled 
shotgun,  and  a  gaff  with  a  shaft  4  or  5  feet  long.  The  Indians  use  a 
j.^_^  toggle-headed  spear,  with  a  shaft  7  or  8  feet  in  length, 
e  agio  sea  ing.  ^^^^.^i  boat  has  a  rowcr  and  one  or  two  hunters,  and  is 
also  provided  with  a  compass,  small  amount  of  provisions,  ammunition 
locker,  seal  knives,  and  a  short  club.  The  boats,  on  being  lowered  from 
the  vessel,  jjrovided  the  water  is  fairly  smooth,  go  toward  all  points  of 
the  compass,  and  1  have  found  them  as  far  as  6  miles  from  the 
schooner. 

The  white  hunter  in  a  boat,  when  a  seal  api)ears  on  the  surface,  if 

within  50  yards,  fires  at  it.     If  killed  outright,  the  seal 

Waste  of  hte.  immediately  sinks,  and  the  boat  is  rowed  for  the  place 

where  it  sank ;  but  I  do  not  think  they  recover  many  seals  thus  killed,  and 

every  sealer  stated  that  they  seldom  expected  to  get  a  seal  when  killed 


RELATING    TO    SEIZURES    IN    BERING    SEA.  187 

outriglit.  It  is  almost  impracticable  to  take  a  seal  in  the  water  unless 
it  is  wounded  so  that  it  is  stunned,  when  it  goes  into  a  "flurry,"  simi- 
lar to  that  of  a  whale  when  wounded.  Tlie  boat  then  being-  pulled 
alongside,  the  seal  is  gaffed  and  dragged  into  it.  The  skill  of  the 
hunter  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  number  of  seals  secured  of 
those  killed  or  wounded,  but  the  most  expert  does  not  tit 

get  more  than  half  he  hits  and  the  average  for  hunt-  '**^°'" 
ers  in  general  would  be  about  three  in  ten.  It  is  impossible  to  distin- 
guish the  sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water,  unless  it  is  an  old  bull.  I  am  un- 
able to  state  anything  as  to  the  proportion  of  females  taken,  but  the 
seal-hunter  shoots  every  kind  of  seal  he  sees.  In  my  opinion  open-sea 
sealing  is  very  destructive,  and  unless  prohibited  will 
result  in  the  extermiuation  of  the  species  at  no  very 
distant  day.  I  also  believe  that  it  would  be  utterly 
useless  lo  protect  the  rookeries  on  the  seal  islands  and  not  protect  the 
seal  herd  while  in  Bering  Sea. 

C.  A.  Abbey. 

Subscribed  ami  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Sevellon  a.  Brown, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  U.  8.  A. 


Proliibilion    neces- 
sary. 


Deposition  of  L.  G.  Shepard,  captain  U.  S.  Revenue  Marine. 

pelagic  seizure. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss  : 
L.  G.  Shepard,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  15  years 
of  age;  a  resident  of  Washington,  D.  0.,  and  am  cap- 
tain in  the  U.  S.  Eevenue  Marine  Service,  chief  of  divi-      Exporieuce. 
sion  Revenue  Marine,  Treasury  Department.     In  com- 
mand of  the  revenue  steamer  Eush,  I  made  three  cruises      Cruises  in  Bering 
to  Bering  Sea  in  the  years  1887,  1888,  and  1889  for 
the  purpose  of  enforcing  existing  law  for  protection  of  seal  life  in 
Alaska  and  the  waters  thereof,  and  also  to  protect  other  Government 
interests  in  Alaska.    Pursuant  to  orders  received  from  the  Treasury 
Department,  I  sailed  from  San  Francisco  June  4, 1887,  arriving  at  Una- 
laska  on  the  15th  of  that  month.     On  the  18th  I  commenced  cruising 
in  Bering  Sea.     I  hereby  append  to  and  make  a  part  of  this  affidavit  a 
table,  marked  A,  giving  the  names  of  the  vessels  seized      „  .         „ 

7  7  c?  o  Seizur©  01  vessels. 

by  me  in  Bering  Sea  while  violating  the  laAv  of  the 
United  States  in  relation  to  the  taking  of  fur-bearing  animals  (all  these 
vessels  so  seized  were  unmistakably  engaged  in  seahng),  together  with 
the  date  of  the  seizure  in  each  (;ase,  the  nationality,  rig,  tonnage,  hail- 
ing port,  master,  and  managing  owner  of  each  vessel,  the  longitude  and 
latitude  in  which  each  vessel  was  seized,  the  white  men,  Indians,  and 
Chinamen  on  board  at  the  time  of  seizure,  the  number 
of  sealskins  and  the  weaxjons  on  each  vessel.     In  the  leng^^^nnfjie^k.'w'. 
cases  of  the  Challenge,  Anna  Bed;    W.   P.  Sayn'ard,   r.  Sayivard,  i)oii>hin. 
Dolphin,  Lilly  L.,  Grace,  and  San  Jose  the  vessels  were  j^osl mi!^'^"^^' 
towed  to  Unalaska,  and  their  sealskins  and  arms  were        -^nT&ofFAien  ai- 
taken  from  them,  and  they  were  sent  to  Sitka.     The  hen  Adamx,''  Annie, 
FAlen,  Albert  Adams,  Annie,  Alpha,  -Ami  the  Kate  and  l'f,f^' i;^?/''"'"'"'^ 
Anna  were  disarmed  and  the  sealskins  taken  on  board 


188  TESTIMONY 

tlie  Rush  at  tlie  time  and  place  of  seizure,  and  tliey  too  were  sent  to  Sitka. 
All  these  vessels  reported  tliere,  except  tlie  Ullen  and  San  Jose,  going 
to  San  Francisco,  and  tlie  Albert  Adams,  to  Victoria,  British  Coluinbia. 
I  again  sailed  from  San  Francisco,  the  3rd  of  Jnly,  1888,  and  entered 
^  ^     ,  „   .    „       Bering  Sea  about  the  Kith  of  the  same  month.     Owing 

Entered licring Sea.     .       ,i       i  ,  ,.  ,  .        ,   .      -,^^_  ,.    " 

to  the  large  number  oi  vessels  seized  m  188/,  very  fcM' 

sealing  vessels  entered  Bering  Sea  to  take  seals  in  1888,  and  I  made 

.   ,„^„    no  seizures.     I  only  saw  two  vessels  in  the  sea  during 

No  seizures  in  1888.     ,-,      ,  /.        i  •    i       j-i  -r  • ,  ..   ^^-    ,       ■ 

that  season,  one  oi  which,  the  Juaniia,  oi    victoria, 
British  Columbia,  was  engaged  in  taking  seal  at  the  time  we  sighted 
juanita  ^®^'  which  was  Aiigust  5,  in  latitude  54°  38"  north, 

longitude  IGGo  54"  west.  In  1889  I  again  sailed  from 
San  Francisco  for  Bering  Sea  on  June  1,  and  arrived  at  Unalaska 
thine  16.  Began  cruising  in  the  sea  eight  days  later.  I  hereby  ap- 
pend to  and  make  a  jiart  of  this  aftidavit  a  table  marked  B,  giving 
the  names  of  the  vessels  seized  by  me  in  Bering  Sea  while  violating 
the  laws  of  the  United  States  in  relation  to  the  taking  of  fur-bearing 
animals,  together  with  the  date  of  seizure,  nationality,  rig,  tonnage, 
hailing  i)ort,  master,  managing  owner,  latitude  and  longitude  in  which 
seized,  and  the  white  men  and  Indians  on  board  at  the  time  of  seizure, 
the  number  of  sealskins  and  weapons  on  each  vessel  seized.  In  nearly 
every  case  of  those  vessels  named  in  Table  B,  they  had  boats  out  en- 
gaged in  sealing.  All  of  them  were  ordered  to  go  to  Sitka,  but  none  of 
them  reported  there,  all  goingto  their  homeiiorts.  The  Blade  Diamond, 
the  Minnie,  and  the  Fathjinder Viere  each  placed  in 
Black  Diamond.  charge  of  a  spdcial  United  States  ofldcer,  who  iirotested 
Miomie.  in  vaiu  against  the  noncompliance  with  the  instruc- 

Pathfinder.  tioiis  giveii  to  procccd  to  Sitka.     The  Minnie  in  spite 

of  the  ofiieer  on  board  continued  sailing  in  Bering  Sea 
until  August  17,  and  secured  during  that  time  478  sealskins. 

I  hereby  ai^pend  to  and  make  part  of  this  affidavit  the  number  and 
.     ,  names  of  vessels  fitted  out  for  sealing  boarded  and  ex- 

eizure-smih  .  amiucd  by  me  iu  Bering  Sea  or  the  waters  of  Alaska 
Territory  during  the  sealing  season  of  1889,  together  with  the  date  of 
such  boarding,  iiati(mality  of  the  vessel,  rig,  tonnage,  hailing  port, 
master,  owner,  latitude  and  longitude,  white  men  and  Indians  on  board, 
seal  skins  and  weapons  found.  The  last  three  columns  of  said  table  are 
incomplete,  from  the  fact  that  the  officers  boarding  failed  to  get  definite 
statements  on  these  iwints.  They  were  not  seized,  because  evidence 
was  wanting  as  to  their  having  actually  sealed  in  Bering  Sea.  During 
these  three  years  I  had  frequent  conversations  with  the  masters  and 
crews  of  sealing  vessels  in  relation  to  open-sea  sealing.  From  these 
conversations,  and  also  fi^om  my  own  observations,  I  make  the  follow- 
ing statement  in  relation  to  pelagic  sealing:  The  weapons  used  by  seal 
hunters  are  rifles,  shotguns,  and  spears.  The  Indians 
eapons.  ^^^  spcars,  and  a  canoe  contains  two  Indians,  the  fore- 

most thus  armed.     The  white  hunters  use  principally  shotguns,  but  in 
some  cases  the  rifle.    A  boat  contains  a  hunter  and  a  rower  and  a 
steerer.     Whenever  a   seal   comes   within  gunshot  range,   the  white 
hunter  fires  at  it.    If  killed  outright,  the  seal  sinks  almost  immediately 
and  in  nearly  every  case  is  lost.    When  so  wounded 
Sea  am  si    i  e( .    ^^^^^  ^^  ^^  uuable  to  divc,  it  gocs  iuto  a  "  flurry,"  and 
the  boat  being  pulled  up  rapidly,  it  is  gafted  and  dragged  on  board.    Tlie 
gaff  used  by  seal  hunters  is  about  5  feet  in  length. 
It  is  very  hard  to  estimate  tlie  number  lost  of  those  shot,  but  I  should 
judge  an  expert  hunter  would  lose  certainly  from  40 
"*^°    '**■  to  CO  per  cent,  and  a  hunter  not  particularly  expert 


RELATING   TO    SEIZURES    IN   BERING    SEA.  189 

would  lose  from  80  to  85  per  cent.    I  examined  the  skins  taken  from  seal- 
ins?  vessels  seized  in  1887  and  1889,  over  12,000  skins,  and 
of*" these  at  least  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  were  the  li'tS.^" '"'''*  ^^' 
skins  of  females.     Of  the  females  taken  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and  early  in  the  season  in  Bering  Sea,  nearly  all  are  heavy  with 
young,  and  the  death  of  the  female  necessarily  causes  the  death  of  the 
unborn  j)up  seal;  in  fact,  I  have  seen  on  nearly  every  vessel  seized  the 
pelts  of  unborn  pups,  which  had  been  taken  from  their  mothers.     Of 
the  females  taken  in  Bering  Sea  nearly  all  are  in  milk,  and  I  have  seen 
the  milk  come  from  the  carcasses  of  dead  females  lying  on  the  decks  of 
sealing  vessels  which  Avere  more  than    100  miles  from  the   Pribilof 
Islands.     From  this  fact,  and  from  the  further  fact  that  I  have  seen 
seals  in    the  water  over  150  miles  from  the  islands 
during  the  summer,  I  am  convinced  that  the  female,   „m®"1?'®^  feea  iso 

„         ''..  i-j,,i  ji  1-  miles  Irom  islands. 

after  giving  birth  to  her  young  on  the  rookeries,  goes 

at  least  150  miles,  in  many  cases,  from  the  islands  in  search  of  food.    It 

is  impossible  to  distinguish  a  male  from  a  female  seal 

in  the  water,  except  in  the  case  of  a  very  old  bull,  bielnwfter"'""'^'^^ 

when  his  size  distinguishes  him.     Therefore  open-sea 

sealing  is  entirely  indiscriminate  as  to  sex  or  age.     I   .  indiscriminate  kiii- 

consider  it  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  seal  ^"^" 

herd  which  resorts  to  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  for  the  prevention  of 

their  early  extermination,  that  pelagic  sealing  should 

cease  in  all  waters  which  they  frequent.  tionnecessarj^'° 

I  do  not  know  and  I  never  heard  of  any  other  place  along  the^  Ameri- 
can coast  or  islands  where  the  fur-seals  haul  up,  and  it 
is  my  opinion  that  the  fur-seal  pup  of  the  Alaskan  lands'!    °°  ^  °^  ^^' 
herd  is  born  nowhere  else  but  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
It  is  my  belief  that  a  pup  born  in  the  water  would  lands!^  "^^  ^^"™  °"  '^' 
drown,  for  I  am  convinced  from  statements  made  me 
by  the  natives  and  those  thoroughly  familiar  with  seal  habits  that  a 
pup  for  the  first  weeks  of  its  life  is  unable  to  swim.     It 
is  my  opinion  that  should  pelagic  seahng  be  prohibited  8\^m!°°  ^^"^^  cannot 
in  a  zone  30,  10,  or  50  miles  about  the  Pribilof  Islands 
it  would  be  utterly  useless  as  a  protection  to  seal  life,  because  female 
seals  go  much  farther  than  that  in  search  of  food,  and 
because  fogs  are  so  prevalent  about  those  islands  that       ^^'^  ^^^  ^^^' 
it  would  be  imiDOSsible  to  enforce  any  such  i)rohibition. 

L;  G.  Shepard, 
Captain  U.  IS.  Revenue  Ilarine, 
Chief  of  Division,  Bevenue  Marine. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  U.  S.  A.,  this  27th  day  of  April,  1892. 
[L.  s.]  Geo.  Y.  Coffin, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


190 


TESTIMONY 


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RELATING   TO    SEIZURES    IN    SEEING    SEA. 


191 


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TESTIMONY    RELATING    TO    SEIZURES    IN    BERING    SEA. 


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TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO  THE  RUSSIAN  SEAL  ISLANDS. 


Deposition  of  John  G.  Blair,  master  of  the  Leon,  now  in  service  of  lius- 
sian  Sealslcin  Company. 

pelagic  sealing  and  russian  islands. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
John  G.  Blair,  of  Sau  Francisco,  having  been  dnly  sworn,  deposes 
and  says:  I  am  57  years  old,  and  an  American  citizen,  and  am  now 
and  have  been  for  the  past  14  years,  until  recently,  master  of  the 
schooner  Leon,  formerly  in  the  service  of  Hutchinson,  Cole,  Philipeus 
&  Co.,  and  now    employed  by  the  Eussian  Sealskin 
Company.     During  all  this  time  I  have  been  constantly       xpenence. 
engaged  in  the  fur-sealing  industry,  and  am  familiar  with  the  habits 
of  these  animals  both  on  the  land  and  in  tlie  water.     I  was  in  charge 
of  and  attended  to  the  killing  of  seals  upon  Eobben 
Island  for  the   lessees  from  1878  to  1885,  inclusive,  b/jfisilmfis^lJss." 
taking  from  one  to  four  thousand  seals  per  annum  in 
each  of  these  years  for  their  skins,  and  have  visited  the  islands  in  the 
Leon  every  year  except  two  since  1885  to  the  present  date.     During  the 
two  years  excepted  I  was  sealing  on  the  Commander  Islands.     In  1870, 
as  I  am  told  by  Capt.  Daniel  Webster,  who  was  familiar  with  the  facts 
and  interested  in  the  expedition,  the  island  was  occupied  by  the  crew 
of  the  bark  Manna  Loa,  who  killed  every  seal  that 
could  be  reached,  taking  about  10,000  skins.    A  sufifi-   ,  Raid  on  Eobben  is- 

.  ,,'  °  T.ij_  11  land    m  18/0  by  the 

cient  number,  however,  escaped,  so  that  several  liun-  MaunaLoa. 
dred  appeared  in  the  following  year.     They  were  not, 
I  believe,  again  molested  until  1873,  when  a  few  hundred  per  year  were 
killed  in  that  and  each  of  the  following  years  until  1885.     It  was  esti- 
mated that  12,000  seals  were  born  upon  or  visited  the  islands  in  1881, 
previous  to  which  there  had  been  no  poaching.     Since  1885  a  Russian 
officer  and  guard  has  been  kept  there  during  the  sealing  season,  and  no 
seals  permitted  to  be  killed,  but  nearly  every  year  since 
1885,  late  in  the  season,  after  the  guard  had  been  with- 
drawn, poachers  have  visited  the  islands  and  killed  all  that  could  be  found 
at  that  season  of  the  year.    They  secured  in  this  way  4,700  skins  in  1800, 
and  left  the  carcasses  lying  on  the  beach.     Five  hundred  and  forty  seals 
were  killed  last  year,  and  it  was  estimated  that  some  5,000  of  all  ages  came 
to  the  islands,  including  the  pups  born  during  the  season,  or  about  one- 
half  the  number  found  there  in  1880.     I  am  told  and  be-      difference  between 
iieve  that  the  Kol)l)en  Island  seals  (;an  be  distinguished  iiobben  and  com- 
by  experts  from  those  on  the  Commander  Islands,  and  ^anderseais. 
am  satisfied  that  they  do  not  mingle  with  them,  and  are      ^^  ""*  mhigie. 
a  separate  and  distinct  herd.     They  remain  on  and  about  the  islands  in 
2710— VOL  II 13  193 


194  TESTIMONY 

large  uunibcrs  until  late  in  the  fall.  I  have  been  accustomed  to  leave 
in  October  or  early  in  November,  and  seals  were  always  plentiful  at 
tliat  time.  I  am  of  o])inion  that  they  do  not  migrate 
di^lSue!*^  *° "°  ^^'^'^^  t^  '^^^y  8'1'^'^t  distance  from  the  island  during  the  win- 
ter. A  few  hundred  young-  pups  are  caught  every 
winter  by  the  Japanese  in  nets  oft"  the  north  end  of  Yesso  Ishind. 

I  have  made  32  voyages  between  tlie  Aleutian  Archipelago  and 
the  Commander  Islands,  but  have  never   seen  seals  between  about 
longitude  170  west  and  105  east.    I  am  satisfied  the 
ri.w  scarjcio  udt  min-  ^biska  scals  do  uot  mix  with  those  of  Siberia.     I  have 
giu-  seen  seals  in  winter  and  known  of  their  being  caught 

upon  tlie  Asiatic  side  as  far  south  as  30  north  latitude. 
Eobben  Island  is  very  small,  being  1,900  feet  long  by  175  feet  wide, 
Eobbin  isiaud         '^^^^  ^^^  placcs  40  fcct  high.     Of  ncccssity  the  quarters 
of  the  seal  hunters  and  guards,  as  well  as  the  killing- 
grounds,  are  very  near  the  rookeries,  being  not  more  than  75  feet  dis- 
tant from  them,  yet  the  seals  appear  to  take  no  alarm  from  the  close 
X^roximity  of  the  men,  paying  very  little  attention  to  i)ersons  passing 
and  repassing  a  .short  distance  from  them.     If  none  of  them  were  killed, 
or  if  the  killing  were  properly  restricted  to  the  males, 
ue^essary'f'^  killing  j  ^j^jjj^  ^j^^jy  ^ould  iucrcasc  vcry  rapidly  and  be  as 
closely  subject  to  control  as  the  cattle  upon  the  great 
open  pastures  of  the  liocky  Mountain  regions.     There  would  be  little 
trouble  in  catcliing  all  the  young  seals  and  branding  or  marking  them. 
During  my  connection  with  the  business  several  marauding  vessel.^, 
Seizure  of  Henri-  ^^^^^  British  and  American,  have  been  captured  and 
etia,    1884;    Selena,   coufiscatcd  by  Kussiau  autlioritics  for  illegally  killing 
fames  ^jiam'iiton  seals  iu  watcrs  adjacent  to  Eobben  and  Commander 
Leiais,  1SS9,  ami  Hose,   islands.     Auioug  thcsc  wcre  the  American  schooner 
^^^^'  Henrietta,  and  the  German  schooner  Helena,  in  1881; 

.  the  British  schooner  Anrania.,  and  the  American  schooner  «7aw6'S  Ham- 
ilton Letvis,  in  1889;  and  the  British  schooner  Hose,  in  1890;  but  I  have 
never  heard  of  any  protest  against  these  captures,  nor  of  attemx^ts  to 
recover  the  property. 

Eeturn  of  seals  to'      ^s  proviug  tluit  the  scals  rcturu  to  the  islands,  I  put 
isi'iuds.  a  canvas  collar  upon  a  pup  in  1880,  and  he  came  back 

to  the  same  rookery  in  the  following  year  still  wearing  the  collar. 

John  G.  Blair„ 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2Sth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Kotary  FuhUc. 


Depositio7i  of  C.  F.  Emil  Erehs,  agent  of  lessees  of  Commander  Islands, 
and  in  charge  of  Copper  Island. 

copper  island,  managejient. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  Sa7i  Francisco,  ss  : 
C.  F.  Emil  Krebs,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a 
native  of  Libau,  Kussia,  49  years  old,  and  an  American  citizen,  duly 
naturalized,  and  a  resident  of  San  Francisco,   Cal. 
xpeneuce.  j  ^^^^  wcut  to  Alaska  in  1809  for  the  American  Rus- 

sian Commercial  Company,  of  San  Francisco,  and  was  stationed  at 
Atka  as  a  fur-trader,  where  I  remained  two  j^ears.     In  1871  I  entered 


RELATING    TO    THE    RUSSIAN    SEAL  ISLANDS.  195 

the  service  of  Hutch iuson,  Kohl  &  Co.,  lessees  from  Eiissia  of  the  right 
to  take  seals  upon  the  Comiiunider  Islands,  and  was  i)laced  in  charge 
of  Copper  Island,  of  this  gTouj),  and  so  remained  constantly  for  ten  years, 
until  1881,  without  once  leaving  my  post  of  duty.  In  this  position  the 
habits  of  the  seals,  the  condition  of  the  rookeries,  the  best  methods  of 
obtaining  seal-skins  for  market,  and,  in  general,  everything  in  and  about 
the  business  of  my  employers  on  the  island,  received  my  careful  and 
constant  attention. 

The  management  of  the  sealeries  upon  Copper  Island,  under  Eussian 
occupation,  was  left  wholly  to  the  native  chiefs  and  ignorant  laborers 
of  the  Russian- American  Comi3any.     The  work  of  kill- 
ing the  seals  and  curing  the  skins  was  done  by  them  in  cu^nVr"kinT^^^  ^^^ 
a  very  unsystematic,  careless  way;  but  even  then  it  was 
understood  that,  as  the  seals  are  jiolygamous,  the  surest  way  to  secure  an 
increase  of  the  herd  was  to  kill  off  surplus  males  and  spare  the  females, 
and  this  was  systematically  practiced,  resulting,  as  far  as  I  am  aware, 
most  satisfactorily.     After  the  exinration  of  the  fi'anchise  of  the  Eus- 
sian American  Company,  in  1867 1  think  it  was,  and  their  abandonment 
of  the  island  and  the  execution  of  the  lease  to  Hutchinson,  Kohl  &  Co., 
in  1871,  several  different  parties  visited  the  island, 
killed  seals  inj  adiciously,  and  inflicted  great  inj  ury  upon  and^'sri'^*^*'''*'''"  ^^"^ 
the  rookeries.     They  were  restrained  to  some  extent  by 
the  natives  from  indiscrinunate  slaughter,  but  I  have  no  doubt  they  killed 
more  male  seals  than  they  ought  to  have  done,  and  perhaps  also  some 
females.     Upon  my  arrival  at  the  island,  in  1871,  the  na- 
tive chief  told  me  that  the  seals  were  not  as  plentiful  as     ^^<'^'^^^"«'' "i'  *"  i^^^- 
they  had  been  formerly.     I  announced  that  we  intended  to  secure  6,000 
skins  that  year.     They  protested  that  it  was  too  many,  and  begged  that 
a  smaller  number  be  killed  for  one  year  at  least.     We,  however,  got  the 
6,000  skins  as  proposed,  and  an  almost  constantly  in- 
creasing number  in  every  subsequent  year  as  long  as  I  ^gf]'"'*'   secured  in 
stayed  on  the  islands,  until  in  1880  the  rookeries  had  so 
develoi)ed  that  about  30,000  skins  were  taken,  without  in  the  least  in- 
juring them.    This  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  the  in- 
crease for  the  next  ten  years  allowed  still  larger  num-  t.,ken  ?^' to  isoo™^'''^ 
bers  to  be  killed,  amounting,  I  think,  in  one  of  the 
years  of  the  second  decade  of  the  lease  to  about  40,000  skins. 

In  order  to  secure  uniformity  in  the  methods  pursued,  respectively, 
upon  the  Pribilof  Group  and  Commander  Islands  the  Tjniformity iu nuth- 
respective  lessees  of  the  two  interests  sent  Capt.  Dan-  oris  on  rribiiof  -.md 
iel  Webster,  an  expert  sealer  of  many  years'  experience  Commamier  islands. 
in  the  business,  and  who  was  at  the  time  in  the  service  of  the  Alaska 
Commercial  Company  at  St.  Paul  Island,  to  assist  and  instrnct  me 
through  the  summer  of  1871  in  the  best  manner  of  handling  seal  droves, 
salting  skins,  and,  generally,  in  the  conduct  of  the  bnsiness.  In  work- 
ing under  his  direction  I  found  that  the  methods  pursued  by  the  re- 
spective parties  upon  the  differerent  sealeries  did  not  differ  in  any 
essential  feature.  The  main  object  in  both  places  was  to  select  good 
skins  for  market  and  spare  all  female  seals  and  en(mgh  vigorous  bulls 
to  serve  them.  When  the  supply  of  bulls  is  more  than  enough  I  have 
no  doubt  the  number  of  offspring  is  diminished.  The 
bulls,  when  overnumerous,  fight  savagely  for  the  pos-  i-^f^or.^^  "^  ^"^^*'  *'^' 
session  of  the  cow  seals  and  unintentionally  destroy 
many  young  in  their  conflicts.  'The  healthiest  condition  of  a  rookery 
is,  no  doubt,  when,  under  the  laws  of  polygamous  reproduction  for  this 
si)ecies,  the  proi)ortion  of  the  sexes  is  propei  ly  balanced.    I  believe  one 


196 


TESTIMONY 


Driving 
driviii!?. 


and 


bull  capable  of  serving  at  least  fifteen  or  twenty  coavs  with  most  desir- 
able results. 

Tlie  best  metbods  of  managing  seal  rookeries  are  as  well  understood 
and  as  earefiilly  practiced  as  any  other  branch  of  husbandry,  and  the 
same  methods  have  been  pursued  with  such  excellent  results  through  a 
long  series  of  years  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  about  their  correctness. 
Copper  Island  is  some  30  miles  long  and  from  1  to  3  miles  wide. 
The  rookeries  lie  on  the  easterly  and  the  village  and 
lan.rSTorof!'" '""  killing   grounds  on  the  westerly  side  of  the  islaud. 
Between  the  rookeries  and  the  killing  grounds  a  con- 
tinuous ridge,  ranging  from  a  fewhmidred  to  !3,000  feet  in  height,  runs 
the  whole  length  of  the  island.     Over  this  ridge,  at  a  point  where  it 
reaches  about  000  or  700  feet  in  height,  all  the  seals 
are  driven  5  the  journey  requiring  from  five  to  twenty- 
four  hours,  depending  upon  the  weather.    The  practice 
of  thus  driving  them  has  been  pursued  ever  since  the  earliest  history 
of  the  business.    Many  of  the  seals  are  repeatedly  driven  and  redriveu 
over  this  trail  in  a  single  summer,  but  I  have  never  seen 
any  injury  to  them  from  the  exertion  to  which  they  are 
in  this  way  subjected.   The  statement  of  an  expert  that 
the  virility  of  the  seal  is  sapped  and  his  powers  of  reproduction  in  any 
way  weakened  by  such  rediiving  is  not  borne  out  by  the  facts.    On 
the  contrary,  the  steady  and  rapid  increase  of  tlie  herd  at  Copper  Is- 
laud, already  pointed  out,  again  proves  the  old  adage  that  in  this  mat- 
ter, as  in  others,  "  theory  is  everywhere  good  except  in  i)ractice." 
I  append  hereto  a  statement  showing  the  number  of  seals  killed  an- 
nually upon  Copper  Island  fiom  1871  to  1880,  inclusive. 
This  statement  shows  that  3,658  skins  were  taken  in 
1871.    This  number  were  shii)ped  that  year,  but  the 
number  actually  killed  was  in  fact  more  than  6,000. 

C.  F.  Emll  Keees. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2d  day  of  May,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlie. 


No  injury  from  re- 
(Irivinff. 


jS^umber  of  seals 
killed  on  island  from 
1871  to  18SU. 


The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  fur-seals  taken  for  their  skins 
on  Copper  Island,  of  the  Commander  group,  from  1871  to  1880, inclusive, 
under  the  direction  of  C.  F.  E.  Krebs,  for  Hutchinson,  Kohl  &  Co. : 


1871 3,658 

1872 14, 964 

1873 14,661 

1874 15,480 

1875 •- 20,  440 

1876 15,  074 


1877 11,  392 

1878 20,  070 

1879 25, 166 

1880 30,  014 


Total 170,919 


Note. — There  w^ere  in  fact  about  6,000  killed  in  1871,  of  which  only 
the  numbers  as  above  stated  were  shi])ped.  In  1876  and  1877  more 
could  have  been  taken,  but  the  seal-skin  market  was  depressed  and 
they  were  not  wanted. 

I  certify  that  the  above  table  is  the  one  referred  to  in  the  foregoing 
deposition  of  C.  E.  E.  Krebs. 

[l.  s-l  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlie. 


RELATING   TO    THE    RUSSIAN    SEAL  ISLANDS.  197 

Affidavit  of  John  MaloivaiisJcy,  cKjent  of  lessees  of  Commander  Islands, 

management;   PELAGIC   SEALING. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

John  Malowausky,  being'  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  resi- 
dent of  San  Francisco,  CaL,  and  an  American  citizen,  tliougii  a  Eus- 
sian  by  birth.  I  am  a  merchant  by  profession,  and  ain  agent  for  the 
Eussian  Sealskin  Company,  and  was  formerly,  for  many  years,  the 
agent  for  Hntchinsou,  Kohl,  Phillipens  &  Co.,  the  former  lessees  of  the 
Enssian  seal  islands. 

During  the  years  18G9,  1870,  and  1871  I  resided  on  the  Commander 
Islands,  in  the  pursuit  of  the  sealing  business,  of  which 
I  had  charge.     I  was  there  again  in  1887  as  the  agent       ^penence. 
of  the  company.      1  formerly  lived  in  Kamchatka,  and  frequently  vis- 
ited the  Commander  Islands  between  1871  and  1887.     I  have  also  been 
a  dealer  in  fnrs.     I  am  well  acquainted,  from  long  experience  and  ob- 
servation, with  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  sealing  business  and  tlie 
present  condition  of  the  fur-seal  trade,  especially  on  the  Eussian  side 
of  the  Bering  Sea.     When  our  lease  of  the  Commander  Islands  took 
effect  in  1870,  the  annual  catch  of  seals  would  not  exceed  15,000  without 
injury  to  the  herd.     There  was  no  maximum  limit  in  our  lease  as  to  tlie 
number  we  were  allowed  to  kill,  but  under  the  method  adopted  by  the 
com])any  in  taking  seals,  only  young  males  with  mer- 
chantable-sized skins  were  killed.  Under  this  Sytem  the      increase   on   Com- 
seals  increased  so  rapidly  that  in  1887  we  had  no  trouble  in  StS'Io'issI?"'^"  ^'""' 
obtaining  45,000  skins  per  annum  without  injury  to  the 
herd.    In  1887  I  began  to  notice  a  diminution  in  the     -^  •      ,00^ 

,  „  ,  p.  ,,,.11  i-i  1  Decrnase  since  1887. 

number  ot  seals  arrivmg  at  the  islands,  which  was  due 

to  the  indiscriminate  killing  by  sealing  vessels  in  the  open  sea,  some 

50  or  GO  miles  distant. 

While  we  still  obtain  about  the  usual  number  of  skins,  many  are 
taken  from  the  younger  animals  than  formerly,  and  gjuaiier  skins  taken 
consequently  are  somcAvhat  inferior  in  quality. 

It  is  often  difficult  to  entirely  prevent  poaching  on  the  islands,  al- 
though in  my  judgment  it  has  not  been  of  sufficient      poaciiin<^ 
importance  on  the  Coujinander  Islands  to  have  any 
perceptible  influence  in  the  diminuition  of  the  herd. 

In  1891  the  schooner  J.  H.  Lewis  was  caught  near  the  islands  by  the 
Eussian  gunboat  Aleut  and  found  to  have  410  skins  on     gpjj,,,,.^.  of  the  j  // 
board.    1  made  a  i^ersonal  examination  of  these  skins,  xewu'inissi. 
and  found  that  from  90  to  95  j)er  cent  were  those  of  ^^ 

female  seals.  I  called  the  attention  of  the  English  cent  of  skins^on  hoard 
commissioners,  Sir  George  Baden-Powell  and  Dr.  G.  t^^^se  of  females. 
M.  Dawson,  to  this  fact  when  they  visited  the  islands  caiicd  attention  of 
in  1891,  showing  them  the  skins.  I  opened  a  few  bun-  British  commission- 
dies  of  the  skins  for  their  inspection  and  offered  to  show 
all  of  them,  but  they  said  they  were  satisfied  witliout  looking  at  any 
more  than  those  already  opened.  I  remember  that  a  schooner  from  X'w- 
toria  was  also  seized  at  the  islands  about  three  years  ago  by  the  Eus- 
sian authorities  with  33  skins  on  board,  which  were  nearly  all  taken 
from  female  seals.  ; 

I  have  no  doubt  that  in  ol»taining  the  skins  found  on  the  J.  IT.  Leu-is 
the  poachers  must  have  killed  iVom  1,500  to  2,00(»  seals,      ^v.l^tc  of  ufe. 
as  when  vitally  shot  seals  will  usually  sink  befoj-e.  it  is 
possible  to  capture  them. 


198  TESTIMONY 

I  have  frequently  noticed  in  the  liailior  of  retropaulowsky  thattlie 
natives  in  killing-  Laii-iseals  aie  (inly  able  to  obtain  one  animal  out  of 
every  four  or  five  of  those  killed,  and  that  they  Irequently  wait  about 
four  days  for  the  bodies  to  be  washed  ashore. 

During  the  killing  season  on  the  Commander  Islands  we  frequently 
find  in  the  bodies  both  bullets  and  shot, 

I  know  it  to  be  the  custom  of  seal  hunters  to  shoot  seals  at  sea  when 
they  are  at  rest  upon  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  that  those  generally 
obtained  are  females  and  constitute  but  a  very  small  portion  of  those 
killed  and  lost. 

Sealing  on  Eobben  IvSland,  in  the  Eussian  group,  was  prohibited  for  a 
period  of  five  years  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  the 
ben7siMJtL*'"*'"^°^    increase  of  the  herd,  but  their  i^ropagation  was  inter- 
rupted by  the  frequent  attempts  of  poachers  to  raid  the 
rookeries,  and  I  believe  that  4,U()0  or  5,000  seals  were  killed  by  the 
p.^.^^^  marauders  while  we  were  attempting  to  promote  the 

growth  of  the  herd. 
There  are  many  fines  imposed  at  the  Commander  Islands  for  killing 
„  .  .        ,, ....       female  seals,  even  by  accident,  and  I  am  quite  certain 

Driving  ana  killing.    .,.,,        -,       '  •       ,-,  -i  r-  i,i 

tiiat  the  decrease  n\  the  nmnber  ot  seals  thereon  is  not 
owing  to  the  methods  emj)loyed  in  killing.  When  a  female  is  discov- 
ered in  a  herd  while  being  driven  to  the  killing  ground  she  is  carefully 
turned  back  and  slowly  clriven  to  the  water's  edge,  sometimes  the  work 
of  several  hours. 

Special  precautions  are  taken  not  to  frighten  or  molest  the  animals 
on  the  rookeries.  Even  fires  are  not  permitted  to  be  made  where  it  is 
thought  their  light  or  sight  of  the  smoke  might  alarm  them. 

My  observation  has  also  been  that  while  male  seals  are  sometimes 

timid  about  coming  ashore,  the  females  being  about 
^_peiagic birth  im,H,8.  y(..^(\j  to  pup,  liaul  up  ou  the  land,  even  in  spite  of 

unusual  or  unfavorable  conditions.  Pups  if  born  in 
the  water  are  sure  to  drown.     It  is  a  matter  of  actual  observation  that 

they  must  first  learn  to  swim,  and  do  not  leave  the 
Pupa    learning  to  ghorc  uutil  they  are  four  or  five  months  old.     I  have 

swim 

often  seen  the  mother  seals  push  their  pups,  when 
several  weeks  old,  into  the  water  and  watched  them  flounder  about  awk- 
wardly and  scramble  ashore,  seeming  delighted  to  get  back. 

The  seals  of  the  Commantler  Islands  are  of  a  different  variety  from 

those  of  the  Pribilofs.     Their  fur  is  not  so  thick  and 

aifrMenuvomthoPri-  bright  and  is  of  a  somewhat  inferior  quality.    They 

^iiof.  form  a  distinct  herd  from  that  of  St.  Paul  and  St. 

George  and  in  my  o])inion  the  two  do  not  intermingle. 

I  was  present  as  interpr<^ter  when  the  English  Commissioners  were 

taking  testimony  on  Bering  Island.     They  examined 

Testifies  as  to  .state-  anioiig  otlicrs  wlicu  I  was  present,  Jefim    Suigerofi', 

inents  made  to  15iiti.«li       i   •     ,.  t>       •  t    i         n     i         i      •  j_i  N       j.     i 

Coniinissiouer  by  je-  cliiet  OU  Bering  Islaud,  he  being  the  person  selected 
cidef^'^*^'''^"^'  "'''''"  ^*y  them  there  from  which  to  procure  the  testimony 
relating  to  the  habits  and  killing  of  seals.  This  Snig- 
eroft' testified  that  he  had  lived  on  the  Pribilof  IsUmds  for  many  years 
and  knew  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  both  herds  (Commander 
and  Pribilof)  and  their  habits  and  that  he  removed  from  thence  to  Ber- 
ing Island.  He  ])ointed  out  tliat  the  two  herds  have  several  different 
characteristics  and  stated  Ihat  in  his  belief  they  do  not  intermingle. 

He  also  said  that  the  pu])S  could  live  on  land  at  least  seven  or  eight 
days  without  sustenance  and  that  those  born  in  the  water  would-imine- 
diately  tb-own.    He  further  stated  that  the  seals  had  rapidly  decreased 


RELATING    TO    THE    RUSSIAN    SEAL  ISLANDS.  199 

since  sealing  vessels  had  appeared,  but  tliat  before  tlie  inroads  of  these 
seal  hunters  there  was  no  trouble  in  obtaining  the  full  quota  of  the 
best  grades  of  skins,  as  the  herds  had  previous  to  that  time  been 
noticeably  increasing. 

The  driving  grounds  on  Copper  Island  are  very  rough  and  hilly  and 
much  more  ditticult'  to  drive  over  than  those  on  the      ^^-^^.^^^ 
Pribilof   Islands.      The   drives   are  always  carefully        '^'^'°°' 
made,  slow,  with  a  chance  to  rest,  and  foggy  days  are  selected.     I  have 
never  been  able  to  discover  any  injury  to  the  herds  from  these  drives, 
nor  do  I  believe  there  is  any.     The  killable  seals  herd  by  themselves, 
and  until  recently  we  did  not  drive  from  all  the  hauling  grounds,  but 
this  we  have  had  to  do  in  the  last  three  or  four  years,  because  the  seals 
were  getting  scarce  as  the  result  of  hunting  them  at  sea.     It  is  an  act- 
ual fact  beyond  dispute  that  female  seals  were  uuicli 
more  numerous  on  the  islands  in  1883  than  they  were  nlTiZ'tomr^'' 
in  1870.     The  increase  was  gradual  each  year  and  was 
so  marked  that  the  natives  often  spoke  of  it  to  me,  but  from  1885,  which 
was  about  the  time  the  sealers  appeared  in  the  Abaters, 
the  decrease  in  seal  life  was  rapid  and  the  natives  com-  sj^eisss!'^^    ^^^^^ 
menced  saying  "  no  females,"  "  no  females,"  until  now 
we  are  confronted  with  depleted  rookeries  and  probable  extermination. 

John  Malowansky. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  loth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


De;position  of  ]SF.  B.  Miller^  assistant  in  scientific  department  of  U.  8. 
Fish  -  Com  mission  steamer  A  Ibatross. 

ROOKERIES   ON   COMMANDER   ISLANDS. 

N,  B.  IMiller,  an  assistant  in  the  scientific  department  of  the  United 
States  Fish-Commission  steamer  J^/irt/ro.ss,  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  visited  the  Beef  rookery  '^pcihiko. 
and  Northeast  Point  rookery  on  St.  Paul  Island,  Pribilofs,  and 
the  Village  rookery  of  St.  George  Island,  Pribilofs,  and  took  a  number 
of  photographs  on  each.  On  June  1, 1892, 1  visited  the  IS^orth  rookery  of 
Bering  Island,  Commander  Islands,  where  I  also  took      ^   .      ^  ,    ,    , 

'  7  jloriii""    is  Ian  (I     no- 

a  number  of  photographs.  This  rookery  is  alow,  tlat,  sciiption  of  Nroih 
rocky  reef  extending  fr(un  the  base  of  a  bluff  about  40  ™"i««iy  <"'• 
feet  liigli,  seaward  to  a  distance  of  about  half  a  mile.  The  width  along 
the  bluft"  is  about  li  miles.  It  is  composed  of  loose  masses  of  rough 
volcanic  rock  from  1  to  15  feet  above  the  high -water  mark,  with  scat- 
tered shallow  pools  of  water  between  the  rock  ]»iles.  Kone  of  the  rocks 
appeared  to  be  worn,  as  from  the  action  of  seal  tli])]iers,  although  I  ex- 
amined some  of  them  with  that  idea  in  mind.  There  was  no  soil  on 
the  breeding  space  of  the  rookery,  which  occujues  the  greater  ])ortion 
of  the  wedge-shaped  point.  The  higher  masses  of  rock  are  mostly  at 
the  outer  end,  the  rookery  being  lower  towards  the  blnflf".  About  the 
center  of  it,  near  the  bluff,  are  three  or  four  shallow  lagoons  or  pools  of 
small  extent.  The  west  arm  of  the  rookery  is  a  long  and  (compara- 
tively smooth  sand  beach,  with  but  few  rocks  on  it,  over  which  the 
bachelors  are  said  to  haul.     Between  the  nearest  lagoon,  about  50  yards 


200  TESTIMONY 

distant  from  the  bhi  ff,  and  thebank  itself,  is  an  areaof  scant  soil,  on  which 
a  scatterin<>'  gTo^Ytll  of  vei:j;etation  lias  spin ng  up.  This  growth  ap- 
peared to  nie  to  be  of  comparatively  recent  origin — within  five  or  six 
years,  I  should  say.  I  believe  this  area  was  formerly  occupied  by  seals. 
On  June  1  I  estimated  the  total  number  of  seals  on  the  entire  rook- 
ery to  be  about  forty  5  three  of  them  bachelors,  one  cow,  and  the  remain- 
der bulls.  The  three  bachelors,  the  cow,  and  one  of  the  bulls  were 
killed  on  the  grassy  space  between  the  lagoon  and  the  base  of  the 
blulf,  where  they  were  driven.  A  young  pup,  unborn,  was  taken  from 
the  female  seal;  I  think  it  would  have  been  <lelivered  in  about  a  week's 
time.    The  North  rookery  of  IJering  Island  is  in  every  Avay  rougher 

than  any  I  observed  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  I  saw 
ro?kS.  *"™°'  ^°''"'  *^^  ^^  *'^^  drives  from  the  North  rookery.    One  of  the 

routes  leads  over  the  rough  rookery,  through  the  shal- 
low lagoon,  and  up  the  bluft'  at  a  place  where  the  angle  is  about  35° 
to  the  grassy  plain  in  front  of  the  temporary  dwellings  of  the  natives, 
a  distance  in  all  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile;  the  other  leads  up  the 
bluff  from  the  sand  beach  at  the  western  arm  of  the  rookery,  out  beyond 
and  back  of  the  settlement,  over  a  comparatively  level  but  marshy  and 
broken  couutiy,  to  a  distance  of  from  1^  to  2  miles.  I  consider  these 
drives  harder  and  rougher  than  those  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.  The 
killing  ground  at  the  terminus  of  the  sliorter  drive  is  small  and  did  not 

appear  to  be  used  to  any  extent.  On  June  4th,  1892,  I 
Copper  isiaiKi  de-  hiudcd  Oil  aiitl  pliotogiaidied  Polatka  rookery,  on  tlie 

Bcnption  of   Polatka  ,  j-i?vixi        i         mi  •       •  i      j 

Rookery  on.  wcstcrn  coast  of  Copi)er  Island.     This  is  somewhat 

similar  to  the  North  rookery  of  leering  Island,  but  is 
very  much  narrower,  and  instead  of  being  composed  of  loose  rock  heaps 
is  largely  of  great  tilted  masses  of  stratified  volcanic  rock  with  very 
sharp  and  jagged  edges.  It  is  less  than  a  mile  long  and  at  the  widest 
IDart,  including  the  outlying  rocks,  not  more  than  oOO  yards  in  width, 
measuring  right  up  to  the  base  of  the  bluffs.  It  lies  at  the  foot  of 
abrupt  cliffs  from  GOO  to  800  feet  iu  height  along  its  whole  length  with 
the  exception  of  one  jioiut.  This  is  about  the  center  of  the  rookery, 
where  there  is  a  small  hill  of  hard-packed  sandy  soil  about  00  feethigli, 
back  from  which  a  very  steep  ascending  ravine  leads  to  the  summit  of 
the  ridge,  an  elevation  of  about  700  feet. 

The  drive  from  Polatka  rookery  leads  up  over  this 
iaS'a\.l!lkIry^'°"'^°"  s^^'^  ^^^^  aud  tlirough  the  ravine;  over  the   ridge,  I 
was  informed,  the  rest  of  the  2  miles  is  on  a  descend- 
ing grade  to  the  other  side  of  the  island,  where  the  killing  ground  is 
located.     The  rocks  of  this  rookery  also  did  not  have  the  appearance 
of  being  tlipper-worn.     There  were  no  signs  of  vegetation  on  the  entire 
lookery,  and  no  soil  apparently,  except  on  the  sandy  hill  at  the  mouth 
of  the  ravine.     I  estimated  about  250  fur-seals  on  Polatka  rookery, 
about  30  of  them  bachelors.     I  saw  no  co\vs,  and  think  they  had  not 
yet  arrived,  as  40  codfish  were  landed  on  the  decks  of  the  Albatro.ss, 
where  she  lay  within  500  yards  from  the  shore,  in  an  hour.     I  think  if 
feeding  cows  had  been  about  the  rookery,  the  fish  would  not  have  been 
found  so  close  to  it.    From  an  elevated  position  on  Polatka,  I  obtained 
a  good  view  of  the  rookery  next  above  it,  called  Pest- 
Pestchanni  rookery  cliauni.     The  character  of  this  is  similar  to  Polatka, 
scriptionV^"™''^**'  but  has  a  sand  beach  adjacent  to  it  where  the  bache- 
lors doubtless  mostly  herd.     The  drive  from  here,  as  I 
was  shown  it,  leads  up  a  shallow  stream  a  short  distance,  and  then 
over  the  mountain  side  to  the  ridge,  a  height  of  fully  800  feet,  from 
■whence  it  continues  down  to  the  ojjijosite  side  of  the  island.    Both  of 


RELATING    TO    THE    RUSSIAN    SEAL  ISLANDS.  201 

tliese  drives  on  Copper  Island  are  exceedingly  hard  and  rough;  I  Icnow 
of  none  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  to  compare  with  them.  The  seals  of 
the  Commander  Islands  api)eared  to  me  slightly  diifer-      „  ,     .  ,    , 

,     „  ,,  n    -T   -1     ,-    .'  -I  mi  '  •  Commander  Islanil 

ent  from  the  Pribilot  lur-seals.  Ihev  are  grayer  m  seals  differ  puvsicaiiy 
color,  and  of  a  slighter  build  throughout  the  body,  -[of istndf  ^^'^  ^'"''' 
The  bulls  have  not  such  heavy  manes,  or  fur  capes,  the 
hair  on  the  shoulders  being  much  shorter,  and  not  nearly  so  thick. 
The  younger  seals  have  longer  and  more  slender  necks  apparently.  I 
noticed  this  diflerence  between  the  seals  at  once. 

iST.  B.  Miller. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  23d  dav  of  June,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieutenant- Commander,  U.  S.  Xary. 


Deposition  of  Thomas  F.  Morga^i,  agent  of  lessees  of  Commander  Islands. 

HABITS. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  WasMnyton,  ss: 
Thomas  F.  Morgan,  of  Groton,  Conn.,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and 
says:  During  the  season  of  1891  I  was  the  agent  of 
the  Eussian  Sealskin  Company,  of  St.  Petersburg;  Experience. 
that  I  was  on  Bering  Island  at  the  time  that  Sir  George  Baden- 
Powell  and  Dr.  George  M.  Dawson,  the  British  rei)resentatives 
of  the  Bering  Sea  Joint  Commission,  were  upon  said  island  investigat- 
ing the  Eussian  sealeries  upon  the  Komandorski  Islands;  that  I  was 
l)resent  at  an  examination,  which  said  Commissioners  held,  of  Sniegeroff, 
the  Chief  of  the  natives  on  Bering  Island,  who,  prior  to  the  cession  of 
the  Pribilof  Islands  by  Eussia  to  the  United  States,  had  resided  on 
St.  Paul,  one  of  said  Pribilof  Islands,  and  that  since  that  time  had 
been  a  resident  on  said  Bering  Island,  and  duiing  tlie  latter  part  of 
said  residence  had  occupied  tlie  position  of  native  chief  and  as  such 
superintended  the  taking  and  killing  of  fur-seals  oji  said  Bering  Island; 
that  during  said  examination  the  Commissioners,  through  an  interpreter, 
asked  said  Sniegeroff  if  there  was  any  difference  between  the  seals 
found  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  the  seals  found  on  the  Koman- 
dorski Islands;  that  said  Sniegeroff  at  once  replied  that  there  was 
difference  and  on  further  questioning  stated  that  such 
difference    consisted    in    the    fact    that  the    Koma-      Testifies  as  to  state- 

T,.^,,  T  ,.  •         1   •       ,-,  1       iiiciifs  made  to  British 

dorski  Island  seals  were  a  slimmer  animal  m  the  neck  connnissioners  by 
and  flank  than  the  Pribilof  Island  seals,  and  further  eutF'''"'  "''"^^ 
thatboth  the  hair  and  fur  of  the  Komandorski  Island 
seal  were  longer  than  the Pribil  of  Island  seal;  said  Commissioners 
asked  said  Sniegeroff  the  further  question,  whether  he  believed  that 
the  Pribilof  herd  and  Komandorski  herd  ever  mingled,  and  he  replied 
that  he  did  not. 

Thomas  P.  Morgan. 

« 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  5th  day  of  April,  1892. 
[L.  s.]  Sevellon  a.  Brown, 

Notary  Puhlic  in  and  for  the  District  of  Columbia,  U.  IS.  A. 


202  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Gusiave  Nichavm,  vice-president  of  Ahislca  Commercial 
Company  and  employe  and  partner  of  lessees  of  Commander  Islands. 

management. 

State  oe  Calteornia, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Gustave  Niebaum,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 

a  resident  of  San  Francisco,  oO  years  of  age,  and  an 
laifds*^'*'^    ^^^^    ^^  American  citizen,  becoming  so  by  reason  of  tlie  cession 

of  Alaska.  I  was  formerly  a  resident  of  that  Terri- 
tory and  shii)master  for  the  Eussian  American  Company  prior  to  the 
transfer  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States.     I  was  from  1880  until  1891 

vice-consul  of  Russia  at  the  port  of  San  Francisco,  and 

am  now,  and  have  been  tor  several  years  past,  vu'e- 
president  and  director  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  and  a  part- 
ner of  Hutchinson,  Kohl  &  Co.,  the  former  lessees  from  Eussia  of  the 
Commander  and  Eobben  islands. 

I  was  instrumental  in  Eussia  in  obtaining  the  lease  for  the  last-named 
company  and  had  familiarized  myself  with  the  sealeries  upon  tliese 
islands  in  this  connection.  In  1871  I  visited  the  islands  and  directed 
the  policy  and  practice  to  bepursued  under  the  lease.  In  this  pursuit  I 
of  course  became  conversant  witli  all  the  details  of  the  business.  Un- 
der the  Eussian  regime  upon  the  Commander  Islands 
pi^oMoisos.  '^''""^^  prior  to  1808  the  number  of  seals  taken  annually  did 

not  exceed  about  5,000,  the  skins  of  which  were  dried  for 
market.  Following  the  surrender  of  occupancy  of  these  islands  by  the 
Eussian  Ameri(;an  Company  in  1868,  the  sealeries  were  left  open  to  all 

parties  and  various  expeditions  visited  them  unre- 
^^catciiesiu  18G8,  to  gt^-ieted  by  any  Goveruuieutal  control.     Their  catclies 

amounted  in  1808  to  about  15,000,  in  1809  to  about 
20,000,  and  in  1870  to  about  30,000  skins. 

In  1871  the  Eussian  Government  executed  the  lease  to  Hutchinson, 

Kohl  &  Co.,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to  restrict  the 
Hutciiinsoii,  Kohl  &  killing  for  this  year  to  about  0,000  skins,  because  tlie 
^tr'ictionofkimn'-'*^'  rookcries  had  been  largely  depleted  by  the  excessive 

killing,  unwise  methods,  and  heedless  husbandry.  The 
result  of  improved  methods  showed  themselves  at  once,  and  the  rook- 
eries steadily  increased  in  size  and  number  of  occupants.     We  were 

thus  enabled  to  procure  an  almost  constantly  increas- 
o/seaiTou  ^siands!"''^  iiig  numbcr  of  skius  from  year  to  year  during  the  whole 

term  of  our  lease.  We  were  unrestricted  as  to  the 
numbers  to  be  taken,  and  after  the  first  two  years  of  the  lease  were 
urged  by  tlie  Eussian  authorities  upon  the  islands  to  take  more  than 
we  wanted  in  view  of  the  condition  of  the  sealskin  market. 

I  revisited  the  islands  on  various  occasions  subse(|Ucntto  1871,  and  my 

observations  confirmed  the  fact  that  we  were  moving  in 

the  right  direction  to  secure  an  increase  ot  the  rookeries. 
The  exi»erienceof  the  whole  term  of  the  lease  ])roves  conclusively  that  our 
policy  in  conducting  the  business  was  a  wise  one  and  that  our  manner 
(»f  handling,  managing,  and  killing  the  seals  was  in  ever^^  respect  what 
it  should  ha\e  been.  This  policy  was  predicated  upon  the  custom  of 
the  Eussian  American  Company  observed  during  many  years  and 
strengthened  by  my  own  actual  experience  in  conducting  the  business  of 
taking  seals  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  1807-'08  and  1809,  and  more 
particularly  during  the  season  of  1808,  when  there  was  unrestricted 


RELATING    TO    THE    RUSSIAN    SEAL  ISLANDS.  203 

sealing  done  by  various  parties  regardless  of  the  future  of  tlie  rookeries. 
The  pernicious  effects  of  the  methods  pursued  by  them  were  at  once 
observed,  and  measures  immediately  taken  by  me,  aided  by  the  natives, 
over  whom  I  had  complete  control,  to  correct  their  practices  and  bring 
them  within  the  reasonable  customs  already  jiroved  eflicacious  in  pre- 
serving the  rookeries  from  annihilation.     The  various  ht     f  is-s 
parties  took  that  year  about  230,000  seals,  of  which  about     "  '^"^ 
140,000  were  killed  under  my  direction.     Upon  the  CommanderTslands, 
as  I  have  already  said,  the  increase  iu  seal  life  was  constant  for  many 
years,  but  in  1890,  we  noticed  a  decided  disturbance  in 
the  rookeries  and  a  considerable  decrease  in  their  popu-   ig^u'?'^'''^''^®  noticed  m 
lation.     This  we  subsequently  attributed,   when  the 
facts  were  ascertained,  to  pelagic  sealing  in  the  adjacent  waters.     There 
were  occasional  raids  made  upon  the  islands  by  poachers      j^^.^j^ 
during  our  twenty  years'  lease,  but  they  were  generally 
unsuccessful  in  killing  any  considerable  number  of  seals,  and  their  raids 
had  no  appreciable  effect  upon  the  rookeries. 

My  first  ideas  of  the  areas  of  seal  rookeries  were  gathered  on  the  Prib- 
ilof  Islands.  Afterwards,  upon  going  to  the  Commander  Islands,  I 
was  struck  with  the  comparative  insignificance  of  the 
rookeries  upon  the  latter  group;  yet  we  have  been  able  of^rrokeries^  w  cw 
to  secure  the  catch,  as  shown  by  the  appended  state-  ]"f^^^^  ^^'^  Piibiiof 
ment,  not  only  without  detriment,  but,  as  1  believe, 
with  positive  benefit  to  the  rookeries.  I  cannot  think,  therefore,  that 
the  same  methods  pursued  under  my  direction  upon  the  Pribilof  group 
worked  any  other  result,  and  in  this  conclusion  I  am  borne  out  by  the 
testimony  of  every  one  conversant  with  the  matter. 

The  history  of  sealing  upon  Eobben  Island  substantiates  the  conclu- 
sion in  regard  to  the  other  groups.  From  information 
gathered  from  various  sonrces,  1  learn  that  the  Eobben  oy^Kobbm  isiaud^"''" 
Bank  was  first  visited  and  exploited  by  whalers  about 
1852  or  1853,  and  that  in  two  seasons  they  obtained  some  50,000  ro 
60,000  skins,  almost  completely  "cleaning  it  out."  I  understood  for 
severaJ  years  thereafter  the  occasional  vessel  which  touched  there  found 
the  rookeries  practically  deserted.  In  1870  the  expedition  in  the  bark 
Manna  Loa  went  to  the  island  and  secured  about  15,000  seals.  There 
was  at  this  time  no  restriction  upon  the  killing. 

In  1871,  in  Augnst,  I  think  it  was,  the  lease  being  already  in  force,  I 
visited  the  island  for  the  first  time,  having  previously  sent  a  guard 
ship  there  to  protect  the  rookeries.     It  is  an  insigniti-      s'lze  of  isi  ma 
cant  aftair,  being  only  about  2,000  feet  long  and  200 
feet  wide.    The  rookeries  were  also  very  small,  and  contained  at  that 
time  of  all  classes  about  800  seals,  as  I  ascertained  by  a  careful  count, 
and,  in  addition,  a  small  number  in  the  waters  adjacent.     I  prohib- 
ited all  killing  from  that  year  until  such  time  as  seemed  lorudcnt  to 
resume,  so  as  to  give  the  rookeries  opportunity  to  recuperate,  leaving 
strict  orders  to  the  guard  ship  to  ju-otect  them  against  molestation. 
Two  years  afterward  it  was  evident  that  the  rookeries  had  sufiiciently 
recovered  to  w^arrant  us  in  commencing  sealing  on  a  small  scale,  know- 
ing that  the  killing  of  the  useless  male  seals  would   accelerate  the 
increase  of  the  herd.    From  this  time  forward  the  herd  showed  a  steady 
and  healthy  growth,  enabling  us  to  secure  catches  as  per  ap])ende(l 
statement  until  1873,  when  our  guard  was  assaulted  by  the  combined 
force  of  eleven  marauding  schooners  and  diiven  away. 
The  rookeries  were  again   badly  depleted   by  these 
poachers.    The  following    year    the    Russian   Government  stationed 


204       TESTIMONY    RELATING    TO    THE    RUSSIAN    SEAL  ISLANDS. 

a  military  force  on  the  islands,  whicli  was  removed  every  fall,  but  so 
early  that  marauders  came  tliere  nearly  ever  year  after  it  Lad  left  and 
killed  all  the  seals  they  were  able  to  obtain,  so  nearly  destroying  the 
rookeries  that  we  found  it  inexpedient  to  continue  sealing  after  1884 
during  the  remainder  of  our  lease. 

I  am  satisfied  that  the  seal  herds   respectively  upon  the  Pribilof 
Kussian  and  Alas-  ^^oup,  the   Commandcr   Islands,   and   Eobben   Bank 
kan  herds  do  not  min-  havc  cacli  their  owu  distinctive  feeding  grounds  and 
^^*''  peculiar  rounds  of  migration.     No  doubt  they  are  of 

the  same  species,  but  there  is  a  marked  difierence  in  the  fur  of  the 
skins  fi'om  the  respective  places,  which  can  be  distin- 
guished by  experts. 

G.   KlEBAUM. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  29th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
]892. 
[L.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 

The  following  table  prepared  by  Hutchiuson,  Kohl,  Philipeus  &  Co., 
of  San  Francisco,  lessees  of  the  right  to  take  fur-seals  upon  the  Com- 
mander and  Eobben  Islands,  shows  the  number  of  seal  skins  secured 
annually  from  these  respective  islands  from  1871  to  1891: 


Difference  in  fur. 


Tear. 

Commander 
Islands. 

Eobben 
Islands. 

Total. 

1871 

3,G14 

3,614 

1872 

29, 356 

29.  356 

1873 

27, 710 

2,694 

30, 404 

1874 

28,886 

2,414 

31.300 

1875 

33, 152 

3, 127 

36,  279 

1876 

25, 432 

1,528 

26,  960 

1877 

18, 584 

2,949 

21,533 

1878 

28, 198 

3,142 

31,  340 

1879 

38,748 

4,002 

42.  750 

1880 

45, 174 

3,330 

48,  504 

1881 

39,  314 

4,207 

43,521 

1882 

40, 514 

4,106 

44, 620 

1883 

26,650 

2,049 

28,  699 

1884 

49, 444 

3,819. 

53, 263 

1885 

41,  737 

1,838 

43,  575 

188tj 

54,  591 

54,  591 

1887 

46.  347 

46,  347 

1888 

47,  362 

47,  362 

1889 

52, 859 

52.  859 

1800 

53, 780 

53,  780 

1891 

5,800 

5,800 

776,  467 

State  of  Caltforxia, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  Notary  Public  in  and  for  said  city  and  county, 
residing  therein,  duly  commissioned  and  sworn,  do  hereby  certify  that 
the  above  tabulated  statement  is  that  to  which  Gustave  Niebaum  refers 
in  his  aflidavit,  of  which  this  is  made  a  part. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affixed  my  offi- 
cial seal,  at  my  office  in  the  city  and  countv  of  San  Francisco,  State  of 
California,  this  29th  day  of  Apiil,  A.  D.  1892. 

(L.  S.J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO  THE  ALEUTIAN  ISLANDS. 

Deimsition  of  C.  H.  Anderson  (scaler),  Master. 

HABITS.      PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Ti'niEiTOEY  OF  Alaska, 

Butch  Harbor,  Unalaslca  Bay,  Aleutian  Islands,  ss: 

C.  H.  Anderson,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  of.  America,  forty- eii^lit 
(48) years  of  age,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  master- 
mariner  by  occupation,  and  reside  in  San  Francisco,  ^^  erience 
Cal.  I  have  been  sailing  in  Alaskan  waters  since  1880.  ^perience. 
For  (7)  seven  years  I  cruised  in  the  Unalaska  district,  which  embra(;es 
the  Shumagin  and  Sanuak  Islands,  the  Aleutian  chain,  the  Pribilofs, 
Bristol  -Bay,  and  the  eastern  coast  of  Bering  Sea  as  far  as  St.  Michaels. 
I  have  made  (4)  four  or  (5)  five  trips  from  Unalaska  to  Attn  and  return, 
and  (8)  eight  or  (9)  nine  between  Atka  and  Unalaska,  chiefly  in  spring 
and  fall  of  the  year.  The  main  herd  of  the  fur-seals  bound  for  the 
Pribilof  Islands  moves  through  the  passes  of  the  Fox  Mio-ration 
Islands  of  the  Aleutian  chain,  Unimak  Pass  being  the  ^"^^  ^°°' 
eastern  and  the  Four  Mountain  Islands  Pass  the  western  bounds 
through  which  the  seals  move  in  large  numbers.  A  few  occasionally 
go  through  Morzhovoi  Pass  on  their  way  north,  and  in  the  passage 
south  in  the  fall  gray  pups  often  stray  into  Unalaska  Bay  as  far  as 
Captains  Harbor,  doubtless  thinking  it  is  one  of  the  j^asses  through 
the  group.  I  never  saw  a  fur-seal  in  the  water  between  Atka  and  the 
island  Attn.  The  natives  along  the  northern  shores  of  Bristol  Bay 
have  no  knowledge  whatever  of  liir-seals,  nor  do  those  of  St.  Michaels 
appear  to  be  any  better  informed. 

The  seals  first  pass  into  Bering  Sea  early  in  May  and  keep  on  arriv- 
ing as  late  as  the  latter  part  of  July,  but  most  of  them  I  think  enter  the 
sea  during  the  latter  part  of  June  or  early  in  July.     I  do  not  know  at 
what  times  they  leave,  but  have  observed  that  it  depends  on  the  mild- 
ness of  the  winter  how  soon  they  begin  to  depart,    lean 
not  distinguish  the  sex  of  seals  in  the  water.   Neither  do  aWeTn  wa^lr!"*''"*'^' 
I  know  the  usual  times  of  the  arrival  and  departure  of 
the  various  categories  to  and  from  the  seal  islands.     Do  not  know 
through  which  passes  the  bulls,  bachelors,  and  females  usually  move; 
but  the  westernmost  passes  are  those  most  frequented  by  gray  pups  in 
the  fall  on  the  way  south.     I  think  the  Commander  Islands  seals  are  a 
different  body  of  seals  altogether  from  those  of  the     Herdsdoiiotminrfe 
Pribilofs,  and  that  the  two  herds  never  mingle.   I  think 
the  Commander  Islands  herd  goes  to  the  southward  and  westward 
towards  the  Japanese  coast.     I  never  knew  of  fur-seals 
hauling  out  to  rest  or  breed  at  any  place  in  the  Aleu-   Aieuiraursiaud"!'  °" 
tian  chain,  or  anywhere  in  fact,  except  the  well-known 
rookeries  of  the  several  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea. 

I  have  noticed  a  great  decrease  in  the  numbers  of  the  fur-seals  since 
1887,  both  on  the  rookeries  of  St.  Paul  Island,  which      Decrease 
are  much  shrunken,  in  the  area  covered  by  seals,  and 
in  tlie  waters  of  the  Pacific;  and  Bering  Sea.     On  tlie  rookeries,  ground 
formerly  hauled  over  by  seals  is  now  grown  uj)  with  a  scattering  vege- 

205 


206  TESTIMONY 

tatioii  of  recent  growth.  In  the  sea  seals  are  much 
Seals  more  t.iuui.  ^^^^^^.^  ^j^^^j^j  .^^^^^  ^^^^^  _^^  .^^  ^.^_.j.  .^^  p,,j^sible  at  the  ap- 
proach of  a  vessel,  while  formerly  they  were  usually  quite  curious,  and 
Mould  sport  and  i)lay  about  the  vessel  when  come  up  with.  I  believe 
hibi  ^^^^^  decrease  and  timidity  is  due  to  the  indiscriminate 
tion  of"peiagw*'seai-  slaughter  of  the  seals  by  i)elagic  sealers,  and  am  of 
ing  uecessaiy.  ^\^q  opinion  that  if  such  sealing  were  absolutely  sui)- 

pressed  the  species  would  again  increase. 

C.  H.  Andersen. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  June,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 

Lieutenant  Commander:,  U.  S.  Navy. 


Deposition  of  Ruth  Burdulof,sli,  natirc  Aleut  sealer. 

PELAGIC  , SEALING. 

Personally  appeared  before  me  Euth  Burdukofski,  who,  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  64  years  of  age,  a  nati^'e 
Experience.  Alcut,  bciug  bom  ou  Bering  Island,  and  do  now  reside, 

and  have  since  the  age  of  17  resided,  at  Unalaska.     In  my  early  life, 
dm-ing  the  time  of  the  llussian  American  Company,  I 
umi'iaska.  ^"^^  *   "     huuted  scals  in  my  bidarka  in  and  off  the  bays  of  Un- 
alaska Island.     In  the  spring,  as  early  as  February  or 
Time  of  arrival  of  ]\iarch,  the  big  bulls  first  came.     The  latter  part  of 
®*^"'^^'''  March  came  the  "holluschickie,"  or  younger  bachelor 

seals-  these  in  turn  w-ere  followed  by  smaller  males,  and  last  of  all  in 
early  June  came  the  mothers  or  "matkie,"  w^hich  were  in  haste  to  reach 
the  "land  to  be  delivered  of  their  young. 

In  the  fall  of  the  year,  chiefly  during  iSTovember,  when  the  wind  coni- 

ing  from  northerly  directions  blow  them  toward  these 

Tonns  seals  cap-  ^i^Qrcs,  was  the  timc  to  go  out  and  capture  the  young 

turedm  the  fali.  ,        '  »  ^  ^  o 

seals. 
When  the  wind  blew  from  the  southerly  directions  no  pups  were  to 
be  found.     I  never  saw  any  older  seals  with  them,  and 
Gomg  through  the  ^.r^^  jj^^  g^^y  ^^^^^  what  time  tlie  seals  of  different  ag-es 
^'^^^^^'  {^jid  sexes  go  through  the  passes  in  this  vicinity. 

I  believe  these  pups  were  the  weaker  ones,  who  could  not  follow 

their  mothers,  and  being  temi)orarily  lost  were  driven  by  northerly 

winds  into  the  quieter  bays  and  harbors,  and  there 

A?^"t-."^llo'^!„i'«^' °"  rested.    No  old  seals  ever 'haul  out  in  this  vicinity, 

Aleutian  islauils.  i .    ,    ,         ,.,  i        i  i  -,  -,      ,^         ±^  j_ 

Immediately  alter  northerly  gales,  and  beiore  the  water 
has  grown  so  quiet  that  the  young  pups  can  again  continue  their  jour- 
ney, is  the  best  time  for  capturing  them.  There  is  no  regular  time 
about  this,  it  depends  on  the  weather.  In  late  years  I  have  not  hunted, 
but  when  I  did  this  village  caught  from  150  to  200 
gu^is'anduefs!*  ""^^^  pups.  So  much  dcpcuds  OU  the  weather  that  some- 
times more  and  sometimes  less  are  caught.  In  recent 
years  guns  and  occasionally  fishing  nets  are  used  with  better  results. 

EuTn  Burdukofski.    [In  Russian.] 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7  day  of  June,  1892. 
[SEAL.J  '    C.  L.  Hooper, 

Notary  Fithlic,  Dist.  of  Alaslca. 
Attested : 

EUDOLPH  URNMANN, 

Intcr])retcr, 


RELATING    TO    THE    ALEUTIAN    ISLANDS.  207 

Deposition  of  Paul  Bepin,  sealer. 
PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Personally  appeared  before  me  Paul  Eepin,  who,  being-  duly  sworn, 
dei)oses  and  says:  1  am  57  years  of  age;  was  boru  in  Unalaska,  where 
I  have  lived  all  my  life;  and  am  a  native  of  Alaska.  For  many  years 
I  Avas  a  seaotter  and  seal  hunter,  and  for  eight  years  in  my  younger 
days  I  made  trips  with  the  priest  to  Unga  and  other  villages  in  the 
vicinity. 

I  liave  heard  the  statement  made  by  Ruth  l>urdu-  Confirmation  of 
kofski,  and  fi^om  my  knowledge  of  the  facts  know  the  BmdukolskL^  ^'''"' 
same  to  be  true. 

His 

Paul  x  Eepin. 

mark. 

Witness: 

J.  Stanley  Brown. 
Attested : 

EUDOLPH   URNMANN, 

Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  June,  1892. 
[SEAL.]  C.  L.  Hooper, 

Kotary  Public^  District  of  AlasJca. 


Deposition  of  Charles  J.  Hague,  master  mariner. 

HABITS — PELAGIC   SEALING. 

iLiuLiUK,  Unalaska  Island,  Aleutian  Islands, 

Territory  of  Alasla,  ss: 
Charles  J.  Hague,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America,  53  years 
of  age,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at 
Alameda,  Cak,  and  am  a  master  mariner  by  occupation,      ^^pei'ence. 
I  have  been  cruising  steadily  in  Alaskan  waters  since  the  year  1878. 
I  have  sailed  principally  about  various  parts  of  the  Aleutian  Islands, 
as  far  west  as  Attn,  to  which  island  I  have  made  about  twenty  trips 
from  Unalaska,  mostly  in  the  spring  and  fall  of  the  year.     I  do  not  re- 
member ever  having  seen  a  fur-seal  in  the  water  between  the  Four 
Mountain  Islands  and  Attn  Island.     The  main  body  of 
the  fur-seal  herd  bound  to  and  from  the  Pribilof  Islands      ^'»'"^'*'"- 
move  through  the  passes  of  the  Fox  Islands,  Unimak  on  the  east  and 
the  West  Pass  of  Umnak  on  the  west,  being  the  limits  between  which 
they  enter  Bering  Sea  in  any  number.     I  do  not  know  through  what 
passes  the  different  categories  move,  or  the  times  of  their  movements. 
Earely  see  fur-seals  in  the  Pacific  between  San  Francisco  and  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  the  passes.     I  think  the  fur-seal      Hcnisofc.Mnn.aud- 
herds  of  the  Commander  and  Pribilof  islands  are  sep-  er  and'  I'ribiiot'  is- 
arate  bodies  of  the  fur-seal  species,  whose  numbers  do  I'^'^ds  do  not  miugic. 
not  mingle  with  each  other.     In  the  latter  part  of  Septend)er  of  18G7, 
in  the  brig  lumtucJcy,  making   passage  between  Petropauk)wski   and 
Kodiak  I  observed  the  Commander  Islands  seal  herd  on  its  way  irorn 
the  rookeries.     They  moved  in  a  compact  mass  or  school,  after  the  man- 
ner of  herring,  and  were  making  a  westerly  course  towards  the  Kurile 
Islands. 


208  TESTIMONY 

Tlio  seals  wliif'li  I  have  observed  on  their  way  to  the  Pribilof  Islands 
do  not  move  in  large  schools;  they  stra.njilc  along  a  few  at  a  time  in  a 

sort  of  a  stream,  and  are  often  seen  sleeping  in  the 
Ai^utia^nisfa^d's.  °°  Water  and  playing.     There  are  no  fnr-seal  rookeries  in 

the  Aleutian  Islands  that  I  know  of;  in  fact,  I  have 
never  heard  of  any  in  the  region  besides  those  on  the  several  well- 
known  Seal  Islands  of  Bering  Sea.     I  believe  there  has  been  a  great 
Decrease  decrease  in  the  nnmbers  of  the  fur- seal  species;  I  do 

not  believe  there  are  now  one-tenth  as  many  fiir-seals 
frequenting  the  Pribilof  Islands  as  there  were  ten  years  ago.  Nine  or 
ten  years  ago,  when  Ijing  off  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  the  fall,  the  young- 
seals  used  to  play  in  the  water  alxmt  the  vessel  in  large  numbers ;  in 
going  to  the  westward  in  the  month  of  May  many  seals  were  always  to 
be  seen  between  Unalaska  and  the  Four  Mountain  Islands.  In  mid- 
summer, when  making  j)assages  between  Unalaska  and  the  Pribilof 
J  ^  Islands,  used  to  see  large  bodies  of  fiir-seals  feeding — 

"'  they  were  invariably  to  be  met  with  most  numerously 

about  60  miles  north-northwest  true  from  Unalaska,  and  fiom  there  up 
to  the  islands  a  continuous  stream  of  seals  was  to  be  seen  moving 
to  and  from  the  feeding  grounds. 

When  last  I  visited  the  rookeries  three  years  ago,  in  1889, 1  noticed  a 
great  shrinkage  in  the  area  covered  by  seals  on  the  rookeries.  While  at 
anchor  off  St.  Paul  Island  the  pups  playing  about  the  vessel  were 
very  few,  and  while  making  a  passage  between  Unalaska  and  the 
Pribilof  Islands,  during  the  breeding  season,  did  not  see  a  dozen  in  the 
open  sea  during  the  whole  trip,  where  formerly  I  met  hundreds.  In 
going  from  Unalaska  to  Atka  and  returning  during  the  last  of  May 

and  the  first  x>art  of  June  of  this  year  (1892),  I  did  not 
la^irseaihig"*"  ^"^  ^"^'  scc  a  siuglc  fur-seal  in  the  water.     I  attribute  this  great 

decrease  to  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the  species 
by  pelagic  sealers,  and  their  wasteful  methods  of  securing  skins.     I 

think  that  a  close  season  at  the  Pribilof  Islands  for 
Close  season  for  gevcral  vears  and  the  absolute  sui^pression  of  pelagic 

several  years.  ..         ^    .,i  .i       r>  i  •  i       x«  j-i 

sealing  will  cause  the  fur-seal  species,  or  such  oi  them 
tiot'neiessar/™'''^''  as  frequcut  the  Pribilof  Islands,  to  increase,  though 
slowly,  to  their  former  numbers. 

Ohas.  J.  Hague. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  June,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieutenant- Commander,  U.  8.  Navy. 


Deposition  of  Ivan  Kriiloff,  Aleut  Scaler. 

PELAGMC   SEALING. 

Personally  appeared  before  me  Ivan  Krukoff",  who,  being  duly  sworn, 

de])Oses  and  says:  I  am  46  years  of  age,  a  native  of  the  Aleutian 

Islands,  and  have  lived  in  the  village  of  Makushin  all  my  life.    At  tliis 

village  we  see  no  seals  in  the  spring,  but  late  in  the 

Indian  sealing.         ^^^^^  .^  j^^^^  Octobcr,  wc  go  out  ill  our  bidarkas  and 

catch  with  spears  and  sometimes  guns  the  young  pups  which  were  born 

on  the  seal  islands  in  the  summer  and  are  now  going 

Migration.  soutli.     Wc  do  uot  use  ucts.     There  are  no  old  seals 


RELATING    TO    THE    ALEUTIAN    ISLANDS.  209 

witli  these  pups;  they  are  the  young  pups  that  are  driven  in  by  the 
strong"  north  winds.  We  go  out  as  far  as  tlie  cape  at  the  mouth  of 
Makushin  Bay  and  iind  the  pups  here  and  there;  tliey  are  never  to- 
gether in  great  nnm.ljers.  I  never  knew  any  ohi  seals 
of  any  kind  to  haul  out  on  the  shores  in  this  vicinity,  A^utianisiamL^.  "" 
nor  have  I  ever  heard  any  old  men  say  they  ever  saw 
any  old  seals  haul  out. 

It  is  harder  to  find  the  pups  now  than  it  was  a  few  years  ago. 
There  does  not  seem  to  be  so  many  of  them  as  there     Dgc-ea^eof  )ups 
used  to  be. 

Ivan  Kkukoff.     [In  Eussian.] 
Attested  : 

Innokenti  Shayashnikoff, 

Tut  erj)  refer. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  June,  1892. 

J.  Stanley  Brown, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  S.  Melavidojf  and  David  Salamatoff^  native  residents  of 

UnaJasla. 

HABITS. 

Personally  appeared  before  me  S.  Melavidoflf  and  David  Salmatoff, 
who,  being  duly  sworn,  depose  and  say:  We  are  natives  of  Alaska, 
are  now  and  have  been  for  the  past  twenty  years  residents  of  Unalaska. 

The  only  seals  taken  by  the  natives  of  this  place  are  the  this  season's 
pups  that  go  through  the  passes  during  the  period  be-      ^.^     .^_ 
tween  the  last  of  October  and  the  last  of  Is'ovember.        ^ppntuce. 
The  northerly  winds  bring  them  in  the  direction  of  this  harbor,  and  the 
natives  go  out  in  their  bidarkas  and  spear  and  shoot      The  only  seals  taken 
them  for  food.     Sometimes  we  find  old  male  seals  with  ]!■)' '^l'!'^''*' "L^Jl'f^'iJ'^' 
them,  but  we  dare  not  attack  them  in  the  bidarka.     The     %VnuTJ'^or\r.u\Tup 
mothers  are  not  with  them,  and  there  are  usually  no  i"  vicinity, 
seals  of  older  age  with  them.     They  are  the  weaker  of  the  pnps,  the 
stronger  ones  going  on  through  the  passes.     Xo  old  seals  haul  out  on 
shore  here. 

I,  S.  Melavidoft',  am  53  years  of  age.  I,  David  Salamatoff,  am  G7 
years  of  age. 

S.  Melavidoff. 
D.  Salamatoff. 

Attested : 

Rudolph  Urnmann, 

Tnteijrretcr. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  Ttli  day  of  June,  1802. 
[SEAL.J  C.  L.   Hooper, 

Notary  rublie,  Dist.  of  Alaska. 
2710— VOL  II 14 


210  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  ArHntr  Nm-man,  agod  of  lessees  on  Aleuiian  Islands. 

HABITS. 

Tliuliuk,  Unalaska  Island,  Aleutian  Islands, 

Territory  of  Ala  slat,  ss: 

Aitliur  NeAVDian,  a  "citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America,  51  years 
Experience  ^^  ^^^^  being  duly  sAYom,  deposes  and  says:  1  Lave 

lived  in  the  Aleutian  Islands  the  greater  part  of  the 
time  since  18G9.  For  eiglit  years  I  was  agent  for  tlie  Alaska  Commercial 
Company  at  Chernofsky,  and  for  ten  years  1  acted  in  the  same  capacity 
at  Ilmnak;  for  tbree  years  I  was  an  officer  of  a  supply  tender  making- 
trips  between  San  Francisco  and  Unalaska.  I  have  made  four  trips  to 
the  westward  as  far  as  Attn,  at  different  seasons  of  the  year.  I  ob- 
Mi"Tation  scrvcd  that  the  fur-seals  usually  commence  to  move 

through  both  the  East  and  West  Passes  of  Umnak  into 
Bering  Sea  about  the  last  of  May,  the  majority  enter  in  the  latter  part 
of  June,  while  very  few  are  to  be  seen  moving  north  after  the  middle  of 
July.  The  seals  going  north  through  these  passes  are  mostly  females 
and  young  bacheh)rs;  very  few  bulls  go  that  way.  The  natives  first 
iei)orted  fur-seals  moving  south  througli  the  same  i^asses  about  the  1st 
of  October.  The  majority  pass  into  the  Pacific  between  the  20th  of  Oc- 
tober and  the  1st  of  November,  while  the  last  ones  are  usually  observed 

about  the  25th  of  IS^ovember.  The  seals  moving  south 
se^'l'rwitt'r!*'"^"'^^'  ^^'^  S'l'^y  PiipSj  aiid  medium-sized  seals,  the  former  in 

the  majority.  I  can  not  distinguish  the  sex  of  fur-seals 
in  the  water. 

Seals  leaving  the  Bering  Sea  via  the  western  passes  are  generally 
Micriation  ^^^^  moving  steadily  towards  the  south  during  north- 

erly and  northwesterly  weather,  but  very  rarely  before 
a  northeasterly  wind.  I  think  a  somewhat  larger  portion  of  the  seal 
herd  moves  through  the  East  Pass  of  Umnak,  than  through  the  West 
Pass.  The  proportions  of  pnps,  etc.,  are  about  the  same,  however.  I 
DoDot  land  or  breed  havc  sccu  sick  and  AYOHudcd  ,  furseals  hauled  out  on 
fisccpt   on    Pribiiof  rocks  about  the  passes  to  rest  and  die,  but  know  of  no 

place  where  they  habitually  land  to  breed  or  rest  in 

the  region,  save  the  several  Avell-known  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea.     I 

23|jifg  have  seen  seals  sleeping  on  kelp  and  feeding  about  it, 

but  have  never  seen  them  copulate  anywhere  except  on 
a  rookery.  I  do  not  believe  that  x>ups  bom  on  kelp  could  be  properly 
nursed  and  brought  up.  I  do  believe  that  it  is  necessary  to  their  suc- 
cessful existence  that  they  be  born  on  land,  since  they  can  not  swim  at 
birth.  In  the  winter  of  1871-'72, 1  made  one  of  an  expedition  fi"om  San 
Francisco  to  the  Antarctic  fur-seal  rookeries  of  Staten  Land,  and  spent 
altogether,  about  a  month's  time  on  the  rookeries  during  the  months 
of  November  and  December,  1871,  and  January,  1872,  which  is  their 
breeding  season.  I  there  observed  that  a  ijuj)  is  fully  a  month  old  be- 
fore venturing  in  the  water  at  all,  and  I  do  not  believe  they  are  exjiert 
until  between  three  and  four  months  of  age.  While  sailing  between 
San  Francisco  and  Unalaska  I  never  saw  a  fur-seal  in  the  water  be- 
tween sight  of  the  highland  of  the  Aleutians  and  San  Francisco,  but 
close  to  the  Fox  Islands  generally  fell  in  Mith  plenty  of  them.  I  never 
saAv  a  fur-seal  in  the  water  between  Amukta  Pass  and  Attn  Island.  I  do 
„    ,    „,,  ,    not  think  the  fur  seal  herds  of  the  Commander  and  Prib- 

Henla of  Command-     .,    /.  t    i         i  i     i  i    ^  i       ii  ■      4-i 

or     and    Pril.ilof   is-     llot  Islauds  CVCr  gCt  cIoSC  CnOUgll  to  cacll  OtllCr  111  tllCSO 

lands  do  not  mingle,    latitudes  to  mingle.     I  believe  there  has  been  a  great 


RELATING    TO    THE    ALEUTIAN    ISLANDS.  211 

decrease  ill  the  numbers  of  the  fur-seals  frequeiithig  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
Years  ago  I  used  to  see  a  great  number  of  them  in  Bering  Sea  Avhile  making- 
passage  between  Unalaska  and  the  Pribilof  Islands  dining  the  breeding 
season,  but  now  only  a  few  are  seen,  and  these  are  observed  much 
nearer  to  the  islands  than  was  formerly  the  case.     I 
believe  this  decrease  is  owing  to  the  large  number  of     ^«<^^^''^®^- 
vessels  engaged  in  hunting  the  fur-seal  at  sea  and  the  in- 
discriminate methods  employed  by  these  sealing  vessels   .  in*iisciiiuiiiate  koi- 
in  taking  skins.     If  this  pursuit  were  stopped  alto- 
gether,  I  think  the  fur-seal   species  would  increase 
again,  although  very  slowly.     The  native  hunters  liv-        rotection. 
ing  at  the  settlements  of  Cheriiofsky  and  Umuak  used  to  hunt  the  fur- 
seals  in  the  fall  each  year  for  food,  laying  the  flesh 
away  for  winter  use.  V/hile  at  Cheruofsky,  I  collected      ^^^^&'^ '^^^'^s- 
annually  from  the  natives  about  750  skins  of  fur-seals  killed  in  the 
waters  adjacent,  and  at  Umnak,  I  collected  on  an  average  about  150 
skins.     These  w^ere  mostly  the  skins  of  gray  pups  taken  during  the 
month  of  October,  they  being  most  highly  prized  by  the  natives  as  an 
article  of  food.     Fur-seals  are  very  little  known   at     m  in  h  rd    n 
Atka  and  Attn,  and  it  is  my  belief  that  the  farthestr  arther  wLt^UiaT 
west  the maiu  herd  moves  to  and  from  Bering  Sea  is  tafni-li^ J""''  ^*'""" 
through  the  Four  Mountain  Islands  Pass. 

Arthur  Newman. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  June,  1S9L*. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieut.- Commander,  U.  iS.  Navy. 


Deposition  of  Charles  T.  Wagner,  agent  of  Ala  si- a  Commercial  Com^iany. 

habits— pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 

Charles  T,  Wagner,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States,  over  21  years  of  age,  a  resident  of  Sanak  in 
the  Aleutian  group,  and  am  employed  by  the  Alaska  Comniercial  Com- 
pany as  their  agent  in  the  purchase  of  furs  and  in  supplying  the  natives 
with  food  and  clothing. 

I  was  first  employed  by  the  Government  as  deputy 
collector  of  customs  at  Unalaska  for  nearly  three  years,       ^penence. 
from  1871  to  1873,  since  which  time  I  have  been  in  the  employ  of  the 
Comi)any. 

During  the  twenty  years  which  I  have  been  stationed  in  various 
trading  posts  in  the  Bering  Sea  I  became  conversant  with  the  general 
question  pertaining  to  the  fur-sealing  industry  in  those  waters,  having 
bought  sealskins  both  from  natives  and  from  hunting  vessels.  I  have 
observed  that  by  far  the  larger  portion  of  skins  pur- 
chased by  me  were  taken  from  female  seals.  Not  less  m^es"S®^°^°*  ^^ 
than  eight  out  of  every  ten  were  from  cows  with  j)up 
or  in  milk.  I  have  often  bought  skins  taken  from  c  )w  seals  where  the 
young  i)np  had  been  cut  out  of  the  mother  and  was  kept  alive  for  sev- 
eral days,  until  it  became  such  a  nuisance  Horn  constant  yelping  that  I 


212  TESTIMONY 

directed  it  to  be  killed,  as  it  Avoidd  not  eat  and  wonld  eventually  die  of 

starvation. 

Tbe  larger  portion  of  skins  of  seals  purchased  by  me  at  stations  in 

the  Aleutian  Islands  were  caught  about  the  islands  on 

Migration.  ^j^^j^,  ^^^^^  ^,^^.^^1  ^^^  ^j^^^^^,  breeding  grounds  at  St.  Paul 

and  St.  George.     1  have  learned  from  personal  observation  and  from 
conversations  with  parties  that  they  lose  in  killed  and  wounded  at 
^^^  least  two  out  of  every  three  obtained.     Other  sealers 

liave  told  nie  that  their  loss  is  much  greater. 
From  my  personal  observation  1  know  there  has  been  a  very  great 
decrease  within  the  past  four  or  five  years  in  the  num- 
ber of  seals  found  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering- 
Seas.     I  am  sure  the  decrease  is  caused  by  the  killing  of  f<  male  seals 
in  the  open  sea,  and  that  if  their  destruction  by  the 
Indiscriminate  kill-  nK^iscnniinate  killing  in  the  open  sea  is  permitted  to 
continue  it  will  only  be  a  very  short  time  until  the  herd 
will  be  entirely  destroyed. 

1  never  have  known,  ar.d  do  not  believe  that  the  seals  at  the  Pribilof 
^     ,    ,      , ,    ,     Islands  haul  ui)  on  land  anywhere  except  on  those 

Land  ouly  on  Islands.     .    ,         i  ■"■ 

islands. 
I  never  have  been  employed  by  the  present  lessees  of  the  seal  islands. 

C.  T.  Wagner. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  5th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


Dc})osiiwn  of  Kassian  Gorloi,  Indian  hunter  of  sea  otters  and  foxes. 

HABITS. 

Atka,  Nazan  Bay,  Atka  Island,  Aleutian  Chain, 

Territory  of  Ala  sic  a,  ss: 

Kassian  Goiioi,  a  native  and  resident  of  Atka,  5G  years  of  age,  being 

duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  Chief  of  the  native  settlement  at 

Atka,  and  have  lived  on  this  and  neighboring  islands  all  my  life.     I  am 

a  hunter  of  sea-otter  and  foxes  by  occupation,  and  have  never  hunted 

the  fur-seal  as  a  regular  tiling.     In  the  months  of  Octo- 

xpencuce.  ^^^  ^^^^^  Novcmbcr,  after  a  blow  from  the  northeast,  a 

few  scattering  gray-pups  are  occasionally  seen  in  groups  of  two  and 

three.     Thev  pass  from  Bering  Sea  into  the  Pacific,  and 

Pups  migrating.  ^^  ^^^  j.^^^.^Y  .^^^^^^^^  ^j^.  _,  ^.^^.j^",,^       j  ^^^^^  |.iPp^|  .,  f^,^^,  ^f 

these  pups  in  the  passes  of  Atka  and  Ainlia  Islands  for  food,  and  did 
not  find  them  difticult  to  approach  in  bidarka.  I  killed  ten  in  one  sea- 
sou,  about  the  year  18GS,  using  a  spear,  and  never  lost  one  struck, 
although  they  do  not  fioat  long  after  being  killed,  usually  less  than  five 
minutes.  AVe  find  but  few  nowadays,  and  I  think  there 
Decrease.  there  are  less  fur  seals  than  there  were  formerly.     I  do 

not  know  tbe  reason  for  it.  1  have  never  seen  an  old  buU  or  a  full-grown 
fur-seal  about  these  islands.  I  do  not  know  through  what  passes  the 
seal  herds  move  to  and  from  the  Bering  Sea,  nor  the  time.  Schooners 
have  occasionally  been  seen  about  this  region  in  the  spring,  but  they 


RELATIXCr    TO    THE    ALEUTIAN    ISLANDS.  213 

never  stayed  loiij;-,  and  I  do  not  tliiuk  they  .i-ot  any  skins.    1  have  never 
kuowuof  liii'-sealslifiuling  out  on  the  shores  or  floating 
kelp  patches  to  rest  or  breed  m  this  region.     I  have  Ateutian  islands!' "'^ 
never  seen  a  mother  seal  or  a  black  puj)  in  this  region. 

his 
KASSIAN  X  GORLOI. 

mark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  25th  day  of  May,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieut- Commander,  U.  S.  Navy. 

I,  Peter  Shaishnikoff,  hereby  swear  that  I  have  faithfully  and  truly 
interpreted  the  foregoing  affidavit  of  Kassian  Gorloi. 

Peter  Shaishnikoff. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  June,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieut.-Commander,  TJ.  S.  Kavy. 


Deposition  of  Pud  Zaotehnoi,  Second  Chief  of  natives  ofAtla  Island,  and 

hunter. 

HAT3ITS. 

Atka,  Kazan  Bay,  Atka  Island,  Aleutian  Chain, 

Territory  of  AlasJca,  ss: 

Pud  Zaotclinoi,  a  native  of  Amlia  Island,  of  the  Aleutian  Cliain,  40 
years  of  age,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  Second  Chief 
of  the  luitives  at  the  settlement  of  Atka,  Atka  Island,  Alaska,  and  am 
a  hunter  of  fur-bearing  animals,  principally  the  sea-otter      ^^   ^.^^^^ 
and  fox ;  I  have  never  hunted  the  fur-seal.     The  fur-seal        ^penence. 
is  only  rarely  seen  about  this  region,  scattering  ones  be-   .  Fiir-seai  rarely  seen 
ing  seen  occasionally  during  the  months  of  September,   '"  ^'""'  ^' 
October,  and  Xoveniber,  traveling  from  the  northward  to  the  southward, 
through  the  passes  between  Atka  and  Amlia  Islands.     Those  seen  are 
always  gray  pups,  and  usually  appeax  after  a  blow  from 
the  northeast.    Theinost  I  ever  sawin  any  oneyear  was  auy^one™"™.  '"'''°  '° 
about  a  dozen,  but  never  more  than  two  or  three  at  a  ' 
time.    I  have  met  tliem  in  the  passes  while  hunting  in  a  bidarka.     I  have 
never  known  them  to  rest  on  the  shores  or  on  patches 
of  floating  kelp  m  this  region.     I  have  never  seen  large  sb?re  or*on l-eii"^  "° 
bulls  or  full-grown  fur-seals  in  this  region.     I  do  not 
know  through  what  passes  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  the     iffiiorant  of  move- 
fur-seal  herds  move  into  Bering  Sea,  nor  at  what  time  ™™  "*■ 
they  do  so.     I  have  seen  so  few  fur-seals,  and  never  any  but  a  few  scat- 
tering gray  pups,  that  I  am   unable  to  form  any  ideas  regarding  the 
decrease  of  the  fur-seal  species. 

his 

Pud  X  Zaotchnoi. 

mark 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2."5th  dav  of  Mav,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieut.- Commander,  U.  S.  Navy. 


214  TESTIMONY 

I,  Potov  SliaisliiiikofT,  lieveby  swear  tliat  Iliavc  faitlifiilly  and  truly 
interpreted  tlic  loregoiiig'  aflidavit  of  Pud  Zaoteluioi. 

Petee  Shaishnikoff, 

Interpreter 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  Ttli  day  of  June,  1892. 

7i.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieut. -Commander J  U.  S.  Navy. 


Deposition  of  Samuel  KaJioorof,  hunter. 

HABITS. 

Attu,  Chichagof  Harboe-,  Attu  Island,  Aleutian  Chain, 

Territory  of  Alaska,  ss: 
Sauuiel   Kahoorof,  a  native  of  Attu  Island,  52  years  of  age,  being 
duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  liunter  of  the  sea-otter  and  blue- 
fox,  and  have  lived  in  this  vicinity  all  my  life.     Have 
xpenence.  nevcr  huiitcd  the  fur-seal.     Our  hunting  grounds  are 

about  Attn,  Agattu,  and  the  Semichi  Islands.     Have  seen  only  three 
fur-seals  in  this  region  in  twenty  years;  saw  them  in  May,  1890,  travel- 
ing along  the  north  side  of  Attu  Island,  about  5  miles  off  shore,  and 
making  a  northwesterly  course.   Thev  were  voung  males, 
vifit  Attu'ilia'.!a.  "°*  I  think.     Fur-seals  do  not  regularly  visit  these  islands 
now,  but  about  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago  I  used 
to  see  small  sqnads  of  large  seals  during  the  month  of  June  feeding  and 
sleeping  about  the  kelp  patches  off  the  eastern  shores  of  Attu  and  Agattu 
Islands.     They  came  from  the  southward,  and  traveled 
^''^'^  '""■  in  a  northwesterly  direction.    T*5^ever  saw  any  fur-seals 

east  of  the  Semichi  Islands,  and  do  not  think  those  of  the  Commander 
^  Islands  herd  go  farther  to  the  eastward  than  that. 

They  decreased  in  numbers  gradually,  and  during  the 
last  twenty  years  have  only  seen  the  three  above  mentioned.     Have 
never  seen  a  nursing  or  mother  cow  or  a  black  or  gray  pup  in  this  re- 
gion, and  do  not  think  they  ever  visit  it. 
Do  not  know  of  any  rookeries  or  i:»laces  where  fur-seals  regularly  haul 
out  on  the  land  or  kelp  to  breed  in  the  Aleutian  Islands, 

Do  not  haul  up  on     jj^^j  (|q  jj,^^-  ^|,j,j]-  j-Jj^^.g    jg    g^^^.lj  .^  place.       Do    UOt  kuOW 
Aleutian  islamls.  iiin  -it  • 

where  the  old  bulls  spend  the  winter,  and  do  not  know 
the  routes  the  fur-seal  herds  take  in  their  migrations  to  and  from  the 

Commander  and  Prilnlof  Islands;  neither  do  I  think 
Hords  do  not  mis.  ^j^^^  ^^^.^^  j^^^.^^^  ^.^^^^^  ^^^^^^  euougli  togcthcr  iu  tlicsc  lati- 
tudes to  mix.  Do  not  know  why  the  numbers  of  the  fur-seals  seen 
about  these  islands  are  now  less  than  in  former  years.  Sealing  schoon- 
ers do  not  frequent  these  islands;  last  August  three  of  them  came  in 
here  for  water,  and  then  went  south  in  a  day  or  two.  Tliey  said  they 
had  been  to  the  Commander  Islands. 

his 

Samuel  x  Kahoorof. 

mark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  28th  day  of  i\Iay,  1892. 

7j.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieut.- Commander^  U.  S.  Is  any. 


RELATING    TO    THE    ALEUTIAN    ISLANDS.  215 

T,  Peter  Slmisiiikoff,  licvoby  swear  tliat  I  Lave  faitli fully  and  truly 
mterx)reted  the  foregoing  aftidavit  of  Samuel  Kalioorof. 

PETEB    SnALSHNIKOFF, 

Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  tliis  7th  day  of  June,  1802. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieut,- Commander y  U.  IS.  Xuvy. 


Deposition  of  EUali  Trol<opief,   native  hunter  of  otters  and  foxes. 

HABITS. 

Territory  of  Alaska, 

Attn,  Chiehagof  Harbor,  Attn,  Island,  Aleutian  Chain,  ss: 

Eliah  Prokopief,  a  native  of  Amchitka  Island  of  the  Aleuthin  Chain, 
52  years  of  age,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  ^.     . 
Am  a  hunter  of  the  sea  otter  and  blue  fox  and  have      '^p*'"®"'^*'- 
lived  in  this  vicinity  all  my  life.     I  hunt  about  Attu,  Agattu,  and  the 
Semichi  Islands.     Have  never  hunted  uor  killed  a  fur  seal.     Fur  seals 
do  not  regularly  frequent  these  regions,  and  I  have 
seen  none  but  a  few  scattering  ones  in  twenty  years.     Have  seen  bntiew 
Thirty  years  ago,  wheu  the  raissians  controlled  these 
islands,  I  used  to  see  a  few  medium  sized  fur-seals,  one  or  two  at  a  time 
in  the  summer,  generally  in  June,  traveling  to  the  northwest,  and  bound, 
I  think,  for  the  Commander  Islands,     The  farthest  east  I  ha^e  ever  ob- 
served them  was  about  oO  miles  east  of  the  Semichi 
Islands;  do  not  think  those  going  to  the  Commander  ^^Sr ysianl  s^eX. 
Islands  ever  go  farther  east  than  that.     Those  most 
seen  in  former  times  were  generally  feeding  and  sleeping  about  the  kelp 
patches  between  Attu  and  Agattu,  and  the  Semichi 
Islands,  where  the  mackerel  abounds.     They  decreased  ^''^''''''^^■ 
in  numbers  constantly,  and  now  are  only  seen  on  very  rare  occasions. 
Have  seen  but  half  a  dozen  in  the  last  twenty  years;  they  were  large 
seals,  bulls  I  judged  from  their  size,  traveling  to  the  northwest,  about 
30  miles  east  of  the  Semichi  Islands.     This  was  in  May,  1888. 

Have  never  seen  any  pups,  black  or  gray,  or  nursing  female  fur-seals 
in  this  region,  and  do  not  think  they  ever  visit  it.  Do  not  know  of  any 
rookeries  in  the  Aleutian  Islands,  nor  anv  places  where 
fur-seals  haul  out  regularly  on  the  land  or  kelp  to  breed  tia^n'isi!ami7""  '^'*'"" 
or  rest  except  the  liussian  and  American  seal  islands 
of  Bering  Sea.  Do  not  know  where  the  old  bull  fur  seals  s] tend  the 
winter,  nor  what  route  the  fur-seal  herds  take  to  and  from  the  Com- 
mander and  Pribilof  islands,  nor  at  what  times  the  herds  pass  to  and 
fi'o.  Am  quite  sure  the  herds  do  not  come  near  enough  together  to 
mingle  in  these  regions.     Have  never  known  of  fur-  „    ,  ,     .    .    , 

„„    1       1      •„  1     j^  «  1  -ji  n  •     ,    <,^    Hen!saouotiiiiu"lc. 

seals  being  seen   between  Amchitka  and  a  point  30 

miles  east  of  the  Semichi  Islands,     ])o  not  think  there  are  now  as  many 

fur-seals    as  there  were  thirty  years  ago,  but  do  not  J^^^.^.^,.^^^ 

know  the  cause  of  the  decrease.     Sealing  schooners  do 

not  regularly  visit  these  islands.     Last  August  (1801)  three  of  them 

came  in  here  to  get  water,  but  only  stayed  a  few  hours  each ;  they  had 

been  to  the  Commander  Islands  and  were  going  south. 

liis 

Eliaii  X  rK(»K()rij:F. 

luarU. 


216  TESTIMONY    RELATING    TO    THE    ALEUTIAN    ISLANDS. 

Subscribed  and  swoiii  to  bi'toie  iiic  tliis  L'Stli  day  of  May,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tannkk, 
IjU'utvmnii-CommamJcr^  U.  8.  Ndv}/ 

I,  Peter  Sliaislinikott',  lier<'by  swear  that  I  liave  faithfully  aud  truly 
interpreted  the  foregoing  aftidavit  of  Eliah  Prokopief. 

Peter  Shaishnikoff, 

Interi^reter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  nie  tliis  7th  day  of  June,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieutenant- Commander,  U.  8.  Nary. 


Deposition  ofFilaret  TroTiopicf,  agent  and  storelreper  of  Alasla  Commer- 
cial Company^  on  Attn  Island,  and  fur-hunter. 

HABITS. 

Territory  of  Alaska, 

Attu,  Chichngof  Harbor,  Attn  Island,  Aleutian  Chain,  ss: 

Filaret  Prokoi)ief,  a  native  of  Attn  Lslaud,  Alaska,  23  years  of  age, 

being  duly  sworn,  dei)Oses  and  says:  I  am  the  agent 

Exiitrieuce.  and  storekeeper  at  tliis  ]>lace  for  the  Alaska  Coninier- 

cial  ( 'onipany,  wliich  ])osition  I  have  hehl  for  the  last 

tAvo  years.     My  occupation  is  that  of  a  liunter,  principally  for  the  sea- 

olter  and  fox;  never  for   the  fur-seal.     I  used  to  hunt,  before  I  was 

,     made  agent,  about  the  Attu,  Agattu,  and  the  Semichi 

No  seals  m  vicinity,    tiit  i      ^  x-  i-xi  j.  tj- 

Islands.     1  never  saw  but  one  fur-seal  m  the  water.     It 

w.is  a  young  male  which  was  killed  in  this  bay  in  September  of  1884. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  fur-seal  rookery  or  other  places 

N  o  r  o  ok  ery  o  n  -^rij^re  fur  seals  liaul  out  on  the  land  to  breed  or  rest  in  the 

Aleutian  Islands.  .,,.         tit  i  ■■         ^  ■>  ,      n  n  i  t 

Aleutian  Islands,  nor  where  the  old  bull  lur-seals  spend 
the  winter.     I  do  not  know  at  wliat  times  or  by  what  routes  the  seal 
.      herds  move  to  and  from  the  leering  Sea;  have  heard 
lof  and  'commander  old  huuters  Say  tlic  Oommander  Islands  herd  use  to 
^''^'^^-  pass  close  to  the  western  shores  of  these  islands  on  their 

way  north. 

Filaret  Prokopief. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  28tli  day  of  IVIay,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 

Lieutenant-Commander,  U.  8.  N^avy. 

I,  Peter  Shaishnikoft",  hereby  swear  that  I  have  faithfully  and  truly 
interi)reted  the  foregoing  aflidavit  of  Filaret  Projikopief. 

Peter  Siiaishnikoff, 

Interjn-etcr. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  June,  1892. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
lAeutenant-Commandcr,  U.  8.  Kavy. 


TESTIMONY  TAKEN  ON  OR  NEAR  KADIAK  ISLAND. 


Deposition  of  Isaac  M.  Lenard,  sea-otter  hunter,  residing  at  Bell'ofslcy, 

Alasla. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Isaac  Lenard,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saitli :  I  reside  at  Belkof- 
sky,  Alaska  Territory.     I  have  been  a  sea-otter  hunter      ^^    ^. 
for  forty  years,  and  have  occasionally  raided  the  Ens-        ^penence. 
sian  seal  islands.     When  on  a  raid  we  would  watch  for     Raids  on  Kussian 
a  favorable  opportunity  to  make  a  landing,  and  then   inlands.- 
kill  male  and  female  fur-seals  indiscriminately.     Prob-   Destruction  of  pups. 
ably  for  every  500  marketable  skins  secured,  double 
that  number  of  pups  were  destroyed.     I  think  that  a     Protection    by    a 
close  season  between  the  months  of  February  and  No    ^^^''^^  ^•'ason. 
vember  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea  should  be  estab- 
lished in  order  to  prevent  the  extermination  of  the  fur-seal  species. 

I.  M.  Lenaed. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Andrew  Anderson,  sea-otter  hunter,  residing  on  KadiaJc  Is- 
land. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

Andrew  Anderson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  reside  at 
St.  Paul,  Kadiak  Island,  Alaska  Territory.     I  am  a 
sea-otter  hunter  by  occupation,  and  am  now  master  ot     Experience. 
a  hunting  schooner.     While  engaged  in  hunting  dur- 
ing the  past  eighteen  years,  I  have  killed  more  or  less  fur-seals.     I 
usually    first   fall  in  with    fur-seals    oft"  Cooks  Inlet     ^  ^.^,   , ,  ^ 

,  1        j^.       ,       ^    T  T  1  1  •        -I  ,  •!  1  AppearoflCook  s  In- 

...,.,uc  ..-'^  first  oi  June.     1  have  noticed  a  perceptible  let  about  June  ut. 

and  gradu  '1  decrease  in  seal  life  for  the  past  few  years 

and  attribu\<i  it  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  engaged 

in  hunting  th^m  at  sea.     I  have  never  seen  a  fur-seal  ,  ^}^^^  °"*  "',.,'\-''t?'^ 

„   J ,'-  ,      -I   •    ,  1      •         ,  ■■  ,  ,  (luniigseasonotbirtli. 

pup  01  the  same  season's  birth  in  the  water  at  sea:      -,.      , 

•  ,^^  T  1  11  /•  1-1  -1  IMiiis  born  onlv  on 

neither  nave  1  any  knowledge  ot  any  being  born  else-   rookeries  of  Pribiiof 
where  than  on  a  legular  rookery.  isiand.s. 

I  have  no  knowledge  of  the  existence  of  any  rookeries,  or  any  ])lace 
where  fur-seals   haul  up  on  the  land,  iu  the  northern    hemisphere, 

217 


Seals:  Decrease  of. 


218  TESTIMONY 

other  tliiui  tlioso  fur  soal  rookeries  on  the  several  seal  islands  of  Ber- 
ing Sea. 
My  experience  in  seal  liuiitinf;-  is  that  Ji  much  greater  number  of  fe- 
,,   ,        ,  males  are    taken  at    sea  than  males  of  the  fur-seal 

Much  greater  num-  .  if.ii/.iji  •       • ,  , 

berof  females  taken,  spccies;  auu  ot  the  lemales,  the  majority  are  pregnant 
or  milking  cows.     I  belie\  e  that  in  order  to  preserve 
ProHLit.onnece«sary.^^,^^.^j  life,  pelagic  hunting  should  be  stopped  abso- 
lutely. 

his 

Andrew  +  Anderson. 

mark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Depositio7i  of  Charlefi  Avery,  sealer  (master),  residing  on  KadiaJc  Island. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Charles  Avery,  a  resident  of  St.  Paul,  Kodiak,  Alaska,  being  duly 

sworn,  deposed  and  said:  I  am  captain  of  a  sealing 

Experience.  schoouer;  havc  bccu  six  years  in  Alaska;  have  been 

hunting  seals  three  years.     I  start  the  season  off  Yaku- 

s  1.  fi.ta  learoR-  ^'^^"     ^^^^^  ^^'^^  scals  are  seen  about  April  first.     We 

Yakutat'abont  April  foIlow  the  seals  back  aiid  forth,  as  schools  come  along. 

i"*'-  We  use  rifles  and    siiotguns.     Of  those  killed,   the 

number  saved  varies  with  the  skill  of  the  hunters. 

thoielaken' areSv  Last  year  wc  lost  vcry  few.     About  90  per  cent  of 

males;  majority  preg-  thosc  savcd  are  fcmalcs,  aud  the  greater  luimber  with 

young.     The  females  sink  almost  immediately  when 

T, ,    .    , .  ,,  shot,  if  heavy  with  young.     It  is  not  possible  to  dis- 

Pelagic    birth     im-     ,.        '  .    .  "^    ,  •,      ^  •  ■  i     i   -n 

possible.  tmguisJi  scx  wlicn  seals  are  swimming,  and  killing  is 

indiscriminate.     I  do  not  think  that  seals  can  be  born 
Rookeries  only  on  jn  the  Water  and  live.     I  do  not  know  of  any  rookery 
^"  '  "    * '"'  '^'         except  those  on  the  seal  islands  of  the  Bering  Sea. 

Charles  Avery. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  ))efore  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Vassili  Ghiohinoff  ct  ah,  native  fur  hunters. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Yassili  Chichinoff,  Timothy  Demidoff,  Simeon  Reisoff,  Alamphy  Pes- 

tikoff,  Prokoj^y  Nankook,  Feodore  Anutak,  Evan  Grinoff,  and  Feodore 

Grinoff,  being  duly  sworn,  depose  and  sav:   We  are 

Experience.  residents  of  St.  Pa'ul,  Kadiak  Island,  Alaska,  and  are 

natives  of  Alaska.     Our  occupation  is  hunting  for  fur-bearing  animals, 

principally  the  sea-otter. 


TAKEN    ON    OR    NEAR    KADIAK    ISLAND,  219 

We  all  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  coast  of  Alaska  from  Ka- 
diak  to  Unalasloi,  and  know  of  no  fni-seal  rookeries 
other  than  those  on  the  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea.  pSflTands!^'  "° 
We  have  never  seen  fur  seal  pnps  of  the  same  season's 
birth  in  the  water  at  sea,  and  do  not  believe  it  possible     Pups  can  be  reared 
for  them  to  be  successfully  reared  except  on  a  rookery.  °  ^  **°  ^  ^°'^  ^^' 
There  is  no  way  of  distinguishing  the   sex  of  fur-seals  (except  large 
bulls),  in  the  water  at  sea,  nor  do  hunters  ever  make 
any  effort  to  do  so,  but  on  the  contrary  kill  all  seals  .^Jix^iscriminaie  kiu- 
they  can  indiscriminately. 

Fur  seals  have  decreased  very  rapidly  during  the  last  five  years,  and 
we  believe  it  is  due  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  en-     jjg^ease 
gaged  in  hunting  them  at  sea. 

Knowing  that  pelagic  hunting  is  the  cause  of  the  decrease  in  fur-seal 
life,  we  are  in  favor  of  its  entire  and  absolute  suppres- 
sion and  prohibition  in  order  that  said  fur-seal  life  may  gary"'^'^'*^^*'"  ^^^^^' 
be  saved  from  extermination. 

Vassili  Chichinopf.  [In  Eussian]. 

Timothy  Demidoff.  [In  Eussian]. 

Simeon  Eiesoff  (his  x  mark). 
'  Alamphy  Pestikoff  (his  x  mark.) 

Prokopy  Kankook  (his  x  mark). 

Feodore  Anutak  (his  x  mark). 

Evan  Grinoff.  [In  Eussiau]. 

Feodore  Grinoff  (his  x  mark). 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Julius   Christiansen,  sea-otter  hunter  {master),  residing  on 

Kadiak  Island. 

pelagic  sealing. 

Julius  Christiansen,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  reside 
at  St.  Pauls,  Kadiak  Island,  Alaska,  and  have  lived  m 
the  Territory  for  the  past  ten  years.     I  am  an  otter       ^penence. 
hunter  by  occupation,  and  the  owner  of  a  schooner   engaged  in  that 
pursuit. 

Last  year  (1891)  I  hunted  for  seals  at  sea.     We  first  met  them  in  the 
region  of  Prince  William  Sound,  and  followed  them  to  the  vicinity  of 
the  Barren  Islands  off  Cooks  Inlet.    I  used  a  shotgun  almost  exclusively 
last  season,  and  lost  about  one- third  of  all  fur-seals     ^^^^^  of  life     Ma- 
shot.     Of  those  secured,  the  larger  part  by  far  were  fe-  joiity of  tiiose secured 
males,  and  the  majority  of  these  were  pregnant  cows,  presnani  females. 
It  is  imiwssible  to  distinguish  the  sex  of  the  fur  seal  in  the  Avater  at 
sea,  and  no  effort  was  made  to  do  so.    We  killed  all  fur-      t  i,iis(riminat« 
seals  indiscriminately.     Fur-seals  when  shot  dead,  sink 
almost  immediately.     I  never  knew  of  fur-seal  pups      B<,rn  on iv  on  a  rook- 
being  born  anywhere  except  on  a  rookery,  and  do  not  cry. 
believe  they  can  be  successfully  raised  under  other  con-      Rookery  only  on 
ditions.     Neither  have  I  any  knowledge  of  a  fur-seal  rnbiiof  rsiands. 
rookery  existing  any  where  except  on  the  seal  islands  of 
Bering  Sea. 

J.  Christiansen. 


220  TESTIMONY 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13tli  day  of  April,  1S02, 

JOSETII    MlTRRAY, 

United  iStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Experience. 


Deposition  of  F.  F.  Feeny^  ou-ncr  and  master  of  hunting  vessel,  residing 

on  Kadiali  Island. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

F.  r.  Feeny,  a  resident  of  Long-  Island,  St.  Panl  Harbor,  Kadiak, 

Alaska,  being  duly  sworn,  saitb:  I  liave  resided  in 

Alaska  over  twenty  years.     I  am  owner  and  captain  of 

a  bunting  and  trading  schooner.     I  have  been  along  the  coast  from 

Unimak  Pass  to  Sitli;a.     I  have  never  hunted  fur-seal  regularly,  but 

one-flfth  lost.  have  killed  them  when  I  came  across  them.     Of  seals 

Eishty  per  cent  of  killed,  about  four  out  of  five  are  saved.     Of  those  taken, 

oi  thus.;  taken  are  fe-  probably  four  out  of  flve  are  females.     Most  all  of  the 

iiuiles,     in    pup     or    J^,  ,       -"^    ,  .^^  ^. 

miiuins.  lemalcs  taken  are  with  young,  or  mothers. 

There  is  no  way  that  I  know  of  to  distinguish  the  sex  of  a  seal  when 
TV     .       ,  ,  .„    it  is  in  the  water.     No  attempt  is  made  to  discrimi- 

Indiscrnninale  kill  .       .-,  j.      i   -ii  i  i  mi  i       i 

in".  nate  the  sex  so  as  to  kill  only  males,     ihe  seals  have 

Decrease.  most  decidedly  decreased  in  number,  caused  by  the 

No  births  at  .sea  or  contlnual  hunting  and  killing  in  the  open  sea.     1  have 

""  '^''''^'  never  seen  nor  heard  of  a  seal  born  at  sea  nor  on  kelp. 

-,  ?,".';i^''Vc>^  oiiiy  ,.n  I  do  not  know  of  any  rookery  other  than  those  of  the 

rnbilof  I.slnuds.  i    •    i  n      •       t->       •  o  t  •     •  •  c  J.^  ^ 

seal  islands  in  Bering  Sea.     In  my  opinion,  it  the  seals 
^  j'roiiii>i(iou  neces-  ^^e  iiot  harassed  and  hunted  at  sea  they  will  increase, 

and  to  preserve  them  from  extermination  pelagic  hunt- 
ing nnist  be  stopped. 

F.  F  Feeny. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1802. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  William  Foster,  seal  hunter,  residing  on  KadiaJc  Island. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

William  Foster,  a  resident  of  St.  Paul,  Kadiak,  Alaska,  being  duly 

sworn,  deposed  and  said:  1  am  a  hunter.     Have  been 

E.Kperionce.  in  Alaska  eighteen  years.     Have  been  from  Icy  Bay 

to  Unalaska.     I  have  never  hunted  fur-seal  until  last 

\\  aste  of  iiic.  year.     From  my  own  experience,  and  what  I  have  been 

Appear  oft   Cooks  told  by  othcr  huuters,  about  one-half  of  the  seals  killed 

oil- ungn!  June  lU:"""^  ^i^k.     The  seals  appear  oft  Cook's  Inlet  about  May  1st. 

They  api)car  off  Unga  about  the  1st  of  June. 

A  seal  if  shot  dead  will  sink  almost  immediately.     In  my  opinion. 

Decrease  scals  aiul  all  otlier  fur-bearing  animals  are  decreasing 

and  the  cause  is  pelagic  hunting.     I  do  not  know  of 

PiSi-lsLuL  ^  ""  ai'y  rookery  outside  of  the  seal  islands  of  the  Bering 

Sea,  nor  have  I  heard  of  any  other.     I  have  never  seen 

Kone  born  oi,  kelp.    ^^^^^^^  ^^^.^^  ^^  kelp  beds,  and  I  am  certain  they  can  not 


TAKEN    ON    OR    NEAR    KADIAK    ISLAND.  221 

live  aud  thrive  on  kelp  beds.    In  my  opinion,  in  order     Prohibition   neces- 
to  preserve  the  fur-seals,  aU  pelagic  sealing  should  be  ^'"^' 
stopped. 

Wm.  Foster. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Aycnt. 


Deposition  of  Edward  Nighl  Latrson,  seaUr  [hnnier)^  residing  on  Kadink 

Island. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Edward  Nighl  Lawson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  1  re- 
side at  St.  Pauls,  Kadiak  Island,  Alaska,  and  have     ^^  erience 
lived  in  the  Territory  for  the  past  twelve  years.     I  am        ^pe'iei^^e. 
a  sea-otter   hunter    by  occupation  and  am  well  acquainted  with  the 
Northwest  coast  from  San  Francisco  to  Unalaska. 

In  the  years  1878  and  1879  I  was  employed  as  a  fur-seal   liunter  on 
board   the   schooners  Farorite  and  Onirard,  respect-      favorite^ms. 
ively,  both  of  Victoria,  British  Columbia;  and  in  the      o»waid,'i879.' 
years  1884  and  1885  I  was  engaged  in  the  same  capac-      ^^^^^^  ^^^ 
ity  on  the  schooners  Teresa  aud  iSan  Diego, respectively,      .sZTmego,  isss. 
both  hailing  from  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

In  the  Victoria  vessels  we  started  in  to  hunt  fur-seals  off  Cape  Flat- 
tery in  February  both  years,  following  the  seals  along      j,^  ,.^^^^  huutin^r  o& 
the  coast  as  far  as  the  Fair  Weather  ground.     In  the  cape'i lattery  iul-vb- 
American  vessels  hunting  began    at  Sand   Point  in   '"'^'y 
June,  and,  worlcing  on  with  the  main  herd  from  that  .^^^''^l^^  ^"°'^  ^°*"' 
vicinity,  we  followed  the  seals  through  Uiiimak  Pass 
into  Bering  Sea.     Breech-loading  firearms  were  used  exclusively.     My 
own  success  as  a  hunter  was  a  catch  of  80  per  cent  of     ,.a„„,,t  so  per  cent 
all  fur  seals  killed.     I  have  killed  females  in  milk  in  of  tiiose  idiied. 
Unimak  Pass,  and  even  out  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  200   ,  j^j^'J'*'"-   females 
miles  from  the  land.    We  can  not  distinguish  between 
the  sexes  of  fur-seals  in  the  water  at  sea,  nor  do  we  try  to.     On  the 
contrary,  evcrvthinji-  in  sight  is  taken  if  i)Ossible,  ex-      ^  _.     .  .    , 
cept  large  Oulls,  Avhose  skins  are  worthless.     To  secure 
a  fur-seal  it  is  best  to  shoot  it  through  the  body,  as  it  will  fioat  longer 
than  if  shot  through  the  head.     Male  fur-seals   sink   ^^.,,3  gi,,,.;,,^ 
almost  instantly  when  shot  dead,  while  a  i)regnant 
female  will  fioat  for  several  minutes.     In  order  to  prevent  the  extermi- 
nation of  the  fur-seal  species  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
a  close  season  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  in  Bering  ^n!'"'''" ''■""'""" 
Sea  should  be  established  and  enforced  from  April  I 
to  November  1  of  each  year.     I  never  saw^  a  pup  seal  in  the  water  nor 
on  beds  of  kelp,  and  I  do  not  believe  it  possible  for      „  ,  „.     . ...,    .„ 

.     '  T       ,  -ri  r-  !••  1  elagic     Dirt  11    im- 

them  to   be  raised  there.     I  know  ot  no  rookeries  in   possible. 

the  North  Pacific  other  than  those  on  the  seal  islands   PiSt'isiaiids!'  "" 

of  Bering  Sea,  and  have  never  heard  of  any  others 

from  a  reliable  source. 

Edw^ard  Nighl  Lawson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  befine  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murijav, 
United  States  Treasurg  Agent 


222  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  William  Iiohdr,  Itviitcr  [maf-fcr),  residing  on  Kadiah Island. 

HABITS. 

William  Eohde,  being-  duly  sworn,  (lei)()scs  and  says:  I  am  a  resident 
of  St.  Paul,  Kodiak,  Alaska,  and  am  captain  of  a  hunt- 

JiiX  per  italic  c  I  '  f  -*- 

ing  and  trading-  schooner.     I  have  resided  in  Alaska 
six  years,  and  in  all  that  time  followed  the  calling  of  a  hunter. 

Beginning- at  Cooks  Inlet,  in  the  spring,  we  find  seals 

inteuriiay!'  ^"°"^'  oft"  the  iulct  in  May  traveling  westward  along  the  coast 

towards  the  Bering  Sea.     I  never  hunted  fur-seals,  but 

1  have  a  knowledge  of  their  habits  and  movements, 

^_  Pelagic  biithimpos-   ^^^^  j  j^gy^j.  g^^^y  a  pup  scal  in  the  water,  nor  on  a  bed 

of  kelp,  and  I   know  a  pup  seal  could  not  hve  and 
thrive  on  a  kelp  bed.     I  know  of  no  place  where  fur- 
isSi"^""^''''"""'  seals  haul  out  on  land  except  the  seal  islands  of  Bering 
Sea,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  such  a  place. 

W.  EonuE. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Peter  Titckenoff,  storclceeper  for  Alaslca  Commercial  Com- 
pany, residing  on  Kadiali  Island. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Peter  Titchenoff,  a  resident  of  St.  Paul,  Kodiak,  Alaska,  being  duly 

sworn,  deposed  and  said:  lam  a  native  of  Alaska. 

Experience.  ^^^^  ^^  ycars   old.     I  am  storekeeper  for  the  Alaska 

Commercial  Co.     I  am  acquainted  with  the  coast  from 

rookeries  arongTioas"/  Sitka  to  Kodiak.     I  do  uot  kuow  of  any  rookery  along 

the  coast  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  any. 

Peter  Titchenoff. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  loth  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  John  C.  Tolman,  United  States  deputy  collector  on  KadiaJc 

Island. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

John   C.  Tolinan,  being  duly  sworn,  dei>oses  and  says:  I  am  TJ.  S. 
deputv  collector.     Itesidcd  nearly  two  years  at  Ko- 
Experience.  ^j^^^  j^^   Capacity  of  dcputy  collector.     The  seal   are 

taken  off  Kodiak  Island  about  the  1st  of  June.  The  hunters  use  shot- 
guns and  rifles  exclusively  I'or  taking  seal,  I  think  that  ft'om  what  1 
have  been  able  to  learn,  about  half  the  seal  shot  are  lost,  the  hunters 
being  unable  to  secure  them  before  they  sink.  From 
prSSemafes.^"'  wluit  I  luivc  bccu  al)le  to  Icam  the  majority  of  seals 
in.ii'scrimiu'ato  kill-  takcu  aTouud  Kodiak  are  females.  Hunters  use  no 
"*"■  dis('riiiiiiiati<m  in  taking  seal,  but  kill  everything-  that 

pokes  its  head  out  of  wafer  near  tlic  boat.     Sealers  report  that  seals 
are  not  as  plentiful  as  in  former  years.     Scarcity  of  seal 
ecreaae.  ^^^  ^^  attributed  to  no  other  cause  than  pelagic  hunt- 


TAKEN    ON    OR    NEAR    KADIAK    ISLAND.  223 

iiig  and  the  iiidisciiiiiinate  sliooting  of  seals  in  the  open  sea,  both  in  the 
North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,     I  have  never  known      ^^  ^^^  ic birth 
any  fur-seal  to  haul  out  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  any-        opeagic 
where  except  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

In  my  opinion,  pelagic  hunting  should  be  stopped  altogether  in  order 
to  give  the  seal  proper  protection,     I  have  resided  in     p^^tectioi) 
Wrangel  the  last  year  and  a  half,     I  have  never  seen  a 
fur  seal  in  any  of  the  inland  waters  of  Alaska,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of 
any  being  in  the  inland  waters. 

John  C.  Tolman. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  nie  this  9th  day  of  May,  3892. 

A,  W,  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Nicholas  William  Andersenj  hunter,  Prince  William  Sound 

to  Sennalc  Islands. 

HABITS. 

Nicholas  William  Andersen,  a  resident  of  Afognak,  being  duly  sworn, 
deposed  and  said:  I  have  been  in  Alaska  twenty  years;  I  have  been  a 
hunter  eighteen  years ;  I  have  never  hunted  seals;  I      Experience 
have  been  along  the  coast  from  Prince  William  Sound 
to  Senuak  Islands.     Seals  are  first  seen  at  Prince  Wil-   Pif.';ceWimam''soumi 
liani  Sound  about  May  1.     I  do  not  know,  nor  have  I  about  May  i. 
ever  heard  of  any  place  where  seals  haul  out  or  breed     -p^ps  bom  only  on 
except  the  seal  islands  of  the  Bering  Sea.    I  have  never  Pribiiof  islands. 
seen  voung  seals  born  at  sea,  nor  on  kelp;  nor  do  I  be- 
lieve'they  can  live  on  kelp  beds.     If  seals  are  shot  dead  ^^^^l^f^^  ^"'^'^  ""• 
they  must  be  ijicked  up  at  once  or  they  will  sink.    For 
the  preservation  of  seal  life  pelagic  hunting  should  be  sary?^'^'*""°    "''''' 
stopped. 

N.  W.  Andersen. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Peter  G.  Midler,  sealer  {master),  residing  at  Afognalc. 

habits. 

I,  Peter  C.  Muller,  a  resident  of  Afognak,  being  duly  sworn,  depose 
and  say :  That  I  have  been  in  Alaska  eight  years.     My  occupation  is 
hunter.     I  am  cax)tain  of  a  hunting  schooner  and  start  the  season  off 
Cook's  Inlet.    The  first  seals  are  seen  about  May.    I 
have  never  been  hunting  seal,  and  have  no  experience  ofl^cooks  njet.^*^*'* 
as  to  how  many  are  saved;  can  not  say  whether  the 
seals  are  increasing  or  decreasing  in  numbers.     I  have     3^3,^  j,^^,,  „p  ^„,^ 
never  known  or  heard  of  any  i)lace  where  seals  haul   on  tiio  islands,  aiui 
out  except  seal  island.    I  have  never  seen  any  pups  ""^  *""" ""  ^"'J'- 
born  on  kelp. 

Peter  0.  Muller. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent, 


TESTIMONY  TAKHN  IN  COOK'S  INLET. 


Deposition  of  Nicoli  Apol-chee^  Fetcr  Ahanlonl-,  StcpJian  Lanf/walie, 
lyflim  Monin,  Denis  Malzoff,  Wasyryon  Ojkew,  Pavel  Of kcu\  and  Pavel 
EingchooJi,  native  fur  hunters,  residing  at  Fort  Alexander,  Cools  Inlet. 

habits:  decrease. 

Niroli  Apokcliee,  Peter  Abankook,  StephaiiLaBgrwalic,  lyfym  Monin-, 
]^eiiisMal/off,  Wasyryon  Ofkew,  Pavel  Ol'kew,  and  Pavel  Eingcbook,  be- 
ingdnly  sworn, deposeand say :  TliatAve  are nativesof  Alaska,  and  reside 
at  the  settlenient  known  as  Fort  Alexander,  on  Cooks  In- 
xpenence.  j^^^  Alaska  Territory.     We  are,  by  occupation,  linnters 

of  fur-bearing-  animals,  excepting-  the  fur-seal,  and  have  been  engaged 
in  this  pursuit  the  greater  part  of  our  lives,  chiefly  in  this  region.    Fur- 
seals  usually  appear  in  the  vicinity  of  Cooks  Inlet  early 
Coolis^niet'/'Mly  L  *  in  the  mouth  of  May.     We  are  positive  that  the  ma- 
jority of  fur-seals  do  not  enter  Cooks  Inlet,  but  pass 
across  its  entrance,  following-  the  coast  of  the  mainland.     We  have 
occasionally  observed  a  few  seals  which  had  strayed 
vicinity™'''  ■'^"''"® '°  into  tlic  lowcr  bays  of  the  inlet,  but  they  have  only 
been  seen  at  long-  and  infrequent  intervals.     There  are 
no  fur-seal  rookeries  in  this  part  of  Alaska. 

Fur-seals  were  formerly  observed  in  this  neig'hborhood  in  great  num- 
jy  .  ^,.  bers,  but  of  late  years  they  have  been  constantly  dimin- 

ishing, owing-  to  the  large  number  of  sealing  vessels 
engaged  in  killing  them.     We  have  never  seen  fur-seal  pups  about 
Pups  i.oru  only  ou  this  part  of  the  coast,  and  have  no  knowledge  of  any 
Pribiiot  isiauds.         bpiug  boru  elsewhere  than  on  the  rookeries  of  the  seal 
islands  in  Bering-  Sea. 

ISTicoLi  Apokchee  (his  x  mark). 
Peter  Abankook  (his  x  mark). 
Stephen  Lanciwalic  (his  x  mark). 
Iyfym  jNIonin  (his  x  mark). 
Denis  Malzoff  (his  x  mark). 
Wasyryon  Ofkew  (his  x  mark). 
Pavel  Ofkew  (his  x  mark). 
Pavel  Eingchook  (his  x  mark). 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  ^t<(tes  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Maxwell  Cohen,  agent  of  Alaslm  Commercial  Company,  at 
Fort  Alexander,  CooTc  Inlet. 


pelagic  sealing. 


Maxwell  Cohen,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:   I  reside  at 
Fort  Alexander,  Cook's  Inlet,  Alaska  Territory,  and  am  by  occupation 
the  agent  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  at  this  place,  where  I 
224 


TESTIMONY    TAKEN    IN   COOK's    INLET.  225 

have  resided  for  tlie  past  twenty-two  years,  during  which  time  it  has 
been  my  duty  to  collect  and  otherwise  handle  furs  and  skins  of  all  de- 
scriptions for  the  aforesaid  comjiany.     I  have  observed  that  fur-seals 
first  appear  in   the  neighborhood  of  Cook's  Inlet  in 
small  schools  about  the  middle  of  April,  coming  from     Expenence. 
the  southward,  and   increase   in   nnmbers   until   the     Mif^ration. 
latter  part  of  May,  traveling  along  the  coast  of  the 
mainland  from  the  eastward  to  the  westward,  but  never  j^fj^ij^^'"'  ^  .fp^ 
entering  Cook's  Inlet  above  Anchor  Point.     They  cross    "^^"^""^    p" 
the  entrance  of  the  inlet  and  appear  off  the  mainland  again  in  tlie  vi- 
cinity of  Cape  Douglass.     Seal  hunting  commences  alioiit  the  region  of 
Prince  William  Sound,  Alaska  Territory,  early  in  Ajjril. 
Native  hunters  secure  about  one-third  of  all  fur-seals         asteofhi.. 
killed  at  sea,  while  in  my  belief  white  hunters  secure  even  a  less  num- 
ber in  proportion  to  those  killed.     In  pelagic  sealing  no  distinction  is 
made  by  hunters  as  to  the  sex  of  the  seals,  the  killing      t  ,^..  ■  • 
being  done  indiscriminately.     It  is  not  possible  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  male  and  female  seals  at  sea  even  if  a  hunter  so 
desired,  and  this  is  the  reason  wlsy  pelagic  seal  hunting  will  soon  result 
in  the  total  extermination  of  the  species. 

I  do  not  know  of,  and  have  never  heard  of,  fur-seals 
landing  at  any  point  but  the  seal  islands  of  Bering  pSf  i.^iandi?"  "° 
Sea. 

I  have  noticed  in  recent  years  a  great  decrease  in  seal  life,  which  I 
attribute  to  the  fact  that  they  lune  been  so  persistently 
X)ursued  and  systematically  slaughtered  bypelagic  lur-        ^crease. 
seal  hunters.     After  twenty-two   years'  experience  in  Alaska  in  the 
fur  business  I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  if  the  fur-seal  species 
is  to  be  saved  frcun  extinction  all  pelagic  seal  hunting 
must  cease,  as  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  female  sary."'"'''""''  °'''^^' 
fur-seal  should  be  allowed  access  to  a  rookery,  in  order 
safely  to  deliver  her  young. 

M.  Cohen. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  A])ril,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
Vnitid  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Metry  Monin,  Nieoli  Xoojool;^  ^Sfephan  Tooehyl-,  Alexy  Ma- 
haf/ali,  Tckan  Tranojf,  Alexander  Kamlook,  Peter  Cln(ra.sltool-,  StepJian 
Apavelooli^  Alexy  Abalee,  Si)neon  Tanapce,  Xieoli  Kashaf/aJx,  'lekan 
KooJx-eir,  Pavel  Ahanynyan^  and  Peter  Abangac,  natiee  fur-hunters  at 
Fort  Alexander^  Cook  Inlet. 

HAIJITS. 

Metry  Moiiin,  Nieoli  Xoojook,  Stephan  Toochyk,  Alexy  Mahagak, 
Tekan  Ivanoff,  Alexander  Kandook,  Peter  Charashook,      ^  ,eiuiRe 
Stephan  Apavelook,  Alexy  Abakee,  Simeon  Tanapee,        '^p"'^"^'^- 
Nieoli  Kashagak,  Tekan  Kookew.  Pavel  Abanyngaw,  and  Peter  Aban- 
gac, being  duly  sworn,  depose  and  say:  That  we  are  natives  of  Alaska, 
and  reside  at  the  settlement  of  Fort  Alexander,  Cook's  Inlet.  Alaska 
Territory.     We  are,  by  occupation,  hunters  of  fur  animals,  excepting 
the  fur-seal,  and  have  lieen  engaged  in  this  i)ursuit  all  our  lives,  ehietly 
in    this  neighborhood.     The  fur  seals  usually  api^^ar 
about  Cook's  Inlet  early  in  the  montli  of  IMay.     They   coast'Liiy  m  May!* 
were  formerly  found  in  tl:is  region  in  great  numbers, 
2716— VOL  II 15 


226  TESTIMONY 

but  of  late  years  tliey  liave  been  eoiistantly  climinisLing,  o-wing  to  the 

^  ^  iiiiiiiber  of  sealing  vessels  engaged  in  killing  them. 

They  do  not  enter  Cook's  Inlet,  and  there  are  no  fnr- 

jso    rookeries    on  seal  rookeries  in  or  abont  this  part  of  Alaska.     We 

*^""''^'  have  never  seen  fur-seal  pujjs  about  this  part  of  the 

i?oni  only  on  the  coast,  and  liave  uo  knowledge  of  any  being  bom  outsidc 

^'^^""^^■'^-  of  the  rookeries  on  the  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea. 

Metry  Monin  (his  x  mark). 
NicoLi  NoojooK  (his  X  mark). 
Stephan  Toochyk  (his  x  mark). 
Alexy  Mahagak  (his  x  mark). 
Tekan  Ivanhoff  (his  x  mark). 
Alexander  Kamlook  (his  x  mark). 
Peter  Chaeashook  (his  x  mark). 
Stephan  Apavelook  (his  x  mark). 
Alexy  Abakee  (his  x  mark). 
Simeon  Tanapee  (his  x  mark). 
NicoLi  Kashagak  (his  x  mark). 
Tekan  Kookew  (his  x  mark). 
Pavel  Abanyng^aw  (his  x  mark). 
Peter  Abangac  (his  x  mark). 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Alexander  Shyha,  naiive  fvr-Jtnntcr  at  Fort  Alexander, 

Cooli  In  let. 

pelagic   SEALTNa.  ; 

Alexander  Shyha,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  am  chief 
of  the  native  settlement  at  Port  Alexander,  Cook's  Inlet,  Alaska  Ter- 
ritory, and  am  by  occupation  a  hunter  of  all  fur-bearing  animals  found 
in  this  vicinity  excepting  the  fur-seal.    I  am  a  native  of  Alaska,  and  have 

resided  all  my  life  in  the  Territory.  My  occupation  as 
Expeiicuce.  a  huuter  has  taken  me  along  the  coast  and  to  the  sea  a 

distance  of  from  20  to  oO  miles  from  the  coast.  In 
former  years  I  found  great  numbers  of  fur-seals,  but  within  the  last 
Decrease  f^^^'  ycars  I  havc  obscrvcd  that  they  have  greatly  dimin- 

ished in  numbers,  so  that  now  l"^  do  not  find  any  off 
Cape  Elizabeth  and  the  adjacent  region,  where  formerly  they  abounded. 

1  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  an v  fur-seal  rookery  out- 
suw'So'sea"*'  ^"^"^^  "f  Bering  Sea.     The  fur-seals  usually  appear  oft 

this  part  of  the  coast  about  the  month  of  May,  but 
they  do  not  enter  Cook's  Inlet.     The  disappearance  of  the  fur  seal  is 

due  to  the  killing  by  pelagic  seal  hunters,  who  appear 
laSrseailug"'*"^''''  i»  ^'^'gc  uumbcrs  off  this  part  of  the  coast,  and  the 

scarcity  of  the  I'ur  seals  is  in  proportion  to  the  number 

of  vessels  engaged  in  seal  hunting.     I  have  never  seen  a  fur-seal  pup 

Biiti.  of  i.ups  ^"  ^^'^'^  region,  and  know  that  they  are  not  born  outside 

the  rookeries  on  the  seal  islands  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

Lis 

Alexander  Calynac  x  Shyha. 

mark. 

Subsfriljcd  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  Sth  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Trcasuri/  Agent. 


TAKEN    IN  cook's    INLET.  227 

Deposition  of  John  Andrew  Bradley,  resident  of  Goal  Point,  Goolc's  Inlet. 

PELAGIC   SEAI.ING. 

Jolin  Andrew  Bradley,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saitli :  I  reside 
at   Coal   Point,   on   Kacliekmak  Bay,    Cook's    Inlet,      ^^    ^. 
Alaska,   and  have  lived  in   this  immediate  vicinity       ^penence. 
for  the  past  four  years.     I  have  traveled  extensively  along-  all  the 
Korthwest  Coast  during  the  past  twenty-two  years,   and   am   well 
acquainted  with  it.     I  have  had  no  personal  practical  experience  in 
fur-seal  hunting,  but  at  the  same  time  have  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  in- 
dustry.    It  is  not  possible  to  make  any  distinction  between  males  (other 
than  large  bulls)  and  females  of  the  fur-seal  species  at  sea,  and  there  is 
none  attempted.     Full-powered  bulls  f^re,  however,  readily  recognized 
at  sea  by  their  much  larger  size  and  darker  fur;  they  are  seldom  taken 
their  pelts  being  comparatively  valueless.   The  slaugh-  ' 

ter  is  therefore  indiscriminate,  the  object  being  to  se-   . Jnaiscriminate  tm- 
cure  all  the  skins  possible.     Fur-seals  sink  almost  in- 
stantly after  being  struck,  and  unless  picked  up  immediately  can  not 
be  recovered.     It  is  my  honest  belief  that  for  every  far-seal  skin  obtained 
by  pelagic  sealers,  at  least  live  other  seals'  lives  are  ta-     rivesixtiis  lost 
ken  I  believe  that  the  decrease  in  fur-seal  life,  which  has 
been  constant  of  late  years,  is  due  principally  to  the     jy^^j.^^^^ 
number  of  vessels  engaged  in  hunting  them  at  sea.     I 
have  never  seen  any  but  a  few  straggling  seals  in  Cook's  Inlet,  and 
these  only  on  rare  occasions.     I  have  never  heard  of  any  fur-seal  rook- 
eries in  the  Korth  Pacific  other  than  those  on  the  seal  islands  of  Bering- 
Sea;  and  am  positive  that  none  exist  in  the  vicinity  of 
Cook's  Inlet.     A  Captain  Erratt,  of  San  Francisco,  last  cooWT^l'"^  "*'"'' 
year  induced  parties  of  that  i»lace  to  fit  out  the  schooner 
Lily  L.  on  the  face  of  his  ^lositive  statement  that  a  fur-seal  rookery 
existed  in  the  vicinity  of  Cook's  Iidet.     The  enterprise  was  a  total  fail- 
ure, however,  no  rookery  being  found,  although  a  long  and  diligent 
searcli  was  made  for  it.     It  is  my  opinion  that  for  the 
proper  preservation  of  fur-seal  life,  all  pelagic  hunting  ^^^Proiiiijition  neces- 
should  be  stopped  absolutely. 

John  A.  Bradley. 

.    Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Mureay, 
United  States  Treasury  Ayent. 


Deposition  of  John  Duff,  agent  of  the  Cooper  Coal  and  Commercial  Com- 
pany, at  Coal  Point,  Goolc's  Inlet. 

HABITS. 

John  Duff,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  reside  at  Coal 
Point,  on  Kachemak  Bay,  Cook's  inlet,  Alaska,  and  have  lived  in  the 
Territory  for  the  last  five  years.  I  am  the  agent  for 
the  Cooper  Coal  and  Commercial  Company  at  this 
place,  and  have  no  personal  knowledge  of  fur-seal  life.  At  x\fognak, 
where  I  was  for  two  years  engaged  in  fur  trading,  handling-  skins  and 
furs  of  all  desciiptions,  I  observed  that  the  fur-seals  pirst  appear  oft- a  f. 
first  appeared  oft'  that  i)art  of  the  coast  in  small  num-  ojrsnak  isimid  ai.out 
bers  about  the  latter  part  of  of  the  month  of  April,  latter  pmt of  Apni. 


228  TESTIMONY 

They  were  most  numerous  towards  the  middle  of  June,  passiii|2:  in 
schools  trom  the  eastward  to  the  westward,  lollowino;  general  trend  of  the 
coast.     1  have  traveled  extensively  through  the  Teriitory  from  Sitka  to 

the  Yukon  Eiver,  and  am  positive  that  no  fur-seal  rook- 
PHWioflsiands^  ''^  ^"^s  exist  ill  the  region  other  than  those  on  the  seal 

islands  of  Bering  Sea.    Neither  have  I  ever  heard  any 
reliable  information  of  the  existence  of  other  fur-seal  rookeries. 

John  Buff. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Frederich  SMbhy,  7nincr,  residing  at  Coal  Point,  Coolcsh  Inlet. 

HABITS. 

Frederick  Skibby,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  reside  at 

Goal  Point,  Kaehemak  Bay,  Cook's  Inlet,  Alaska,  and 

xpenenco.  havc  livcd  iu  the  Territory  for  the  past  seven  months, 

Ko  seals  enter  in-  exclusivcly  at  this  placc.     I  am  a  coal  miner  by  occupa- 

land  waters.  ^.^^^^  .^^^^  -j^^^^,^  ^^  knowledge  of  fur-scal  life.     I  have 

ci^t  ^"^^^'^  '°  ^'''  never  seen  a  fur-seal  in  the  waters  of  Cook's  Inlet, 
"°^  ^'  and  do  not  think  any  fur-seal  rookery  exists  iu  this 

vicinity,  as  otherwise  I  believe  I  should  have  heard  of  it. 

Fred  Skibby. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  James  Wilson,  agent  for  the  Northern  Faelcing  Comi)any  at 
Fort  Kenai,  CooJiS^s  Inlet. 

habits. 

James  Wilson,  being  duly  sworn,  de])oses  and  saith:  I  reside  at  the 

settleinent  known  as  Fort  Kenai,  Cook's  Inlet,  Alaska,  and  have  lived 

in  the  Territory  for  the  past  tw  enty-three  years,  (;hietly  in  this  region. 

I  am  at  ])reseiit  agent  for  the  Northern  Packing  Com- 

xperience.  paiiy  at  Foi't  Keiuii,  and  have  no  practical  knowledge 

of  fur-seal  life.     There  is  a  hair-seal  rookery  in  the  northern  part  of 

Cook's  Inlet,  on  Kalgin  Island,  about  latitude  00°  30'  lunth.     I  have 

Ko  f  r  sell-  in  i      ^cvcr  kuowu  fur-scals  to  come  up  into  Cook's  Inlet, 

land  waLrsf "  ^°  *°    abovc  Auchor  Poiiit,  and  am  positive  that  no  fur-seal 

rookery  exists  in  the  region:  neither  have  I  ever  heard 

xvo  rookery  on  coast.  ^^  fur-seal  rookcrics  iu  the  northern  hemisphere  other 

than  those  on  the  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea. 

James  Wilson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  ^Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN    IN    cook's    INLET.  229 

Deposition  of  Ivan  AlexarKh-oif  and  FcoiJor  Balastoff,  priest  and  chief, 
respectively  J  of  natires  at  iSoldovoi,  Cook's  Inlet. 

HABITS  :    DECREASE. 

John  Alexandroff'  and  Feodor  Barastoff,  being  duly  sworn,  depose 
and  say:     We  are  respectively  the  priest  and  chief  of  the  natives  at 
the  settlement  known  as  Soklovoi,  on  Cook's  Inlet,  Alaska,  and  have 
lived  in  tlie  immediate  vicinity  all  our  lives.     We  are,  by  occupation, 
hunters  of  all  fur-bearing  animals,  excepting  the  fur- 
seal.     We  have  had  no  experience  in  hunting  fur-seals,     Experience. 
because  we  are  informed  that  it  is  uulawful.     Our  occupation  does  not 
take  us  below  the  entrance  to  Cook's  Inlet,  in  a  line  from  Cape  Eliza- 
beth on  the  peninsula  to  Cape  Douglass  on  the  main-     ^ 
land  opposite.     In  the  latter  jiart  of  June  and  the  first  inieF^attw  part" of 
part  of  July  a  few  straggling  fur-seals  are  seen  about  Juneaudtirstofjuiy. 
the  entrance  to  the  inlet,  but  the  actual  time  of  their  appearance  is  un- 
certain.    Fur-seals  were  formerly  inuch  more  plentiful, 
however,  but  of  late  years  are  becoming  constantly     decrease  of  seals. 
scarcer.     This  is,  we  think,  owing  to  the  number  of  vessels  engaged  in 
hunting  them  at  sea.     We  have  never  heard  of,  and 
have  no  knowledge  of,  fur-seal  pups  being  born  else-  Priwiof  isknds.'"^  **" 
where  than  on    the    rookeries  of  the  seal  islands  in 
Bering  Sea,  nor  do  we  know  of  any  rookeries  other  v^motuilmls!'  ™ 
than  those  above  mentioned .     No  fur-seals  are  ever  seen 
in  Cook's  Inlet  above  Anchor  Point.     We  believe  that     rroiiibiuon  necea 
in  order  to  permanently  preserve  fur-seal  life  i)elagic   ^^^^' 
hunting  should  be  stopped. 

Ivan  Alexandroff. 

]iis 

Feodor  x  Barastoff. 

mark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Ivan  CanetaJc,  Micliaeler  Balaslioff,  Nicoli  Inloo,  Sacar  Ba- 
lashoff^  Wicoli  ISFicoli,  Sacar  Eolyah,  awl  jSficoli  Inloo,jr.,  native  fur 
hunters  on  Cools  Inlet. 

pelagic  sealing. 

Ivan  Canetak,  Michaeler  Balashoff,  iSIicoli  Inldo,  Sacar  Balashoff, 
Nicoli  Nicoli,  Sacar  Eolyah,  and  Mcoli  Inloo,  Jr.,  being  duly  sworn,  de- 
pose and  say:  We  reside  at  the  settlement  known  as 
Soldovoi,  on  Cook's  Inlet,  Alaska,  and  have  lived  in  the     ^^p"""'^"- 
immediate  neighborhood  all  our  lives.     We  are,  by  occupation,  hunters 
of  all  fur-bearing  animals,  excepting  the  fur  seal,  which  we  do  not  hunt 
because  Ave  have  been  told  it  is  unlawful.     In  the  latter      ^  ^  ^^^.  ^^^^^^  ^^^^ 
part  of  June  and  the  lirst  part  of  July,  while  engaged  of'j'.m'cfabout'^Cooks 
in  hnntiug,  Ave  have  observed  fur-selils  about  the  en-   ^"•'=*- 
trance  of  the  inlet,  passing  to  the  westAvard;  but  liaA'e  never  seen  any 
Above  Anchor  Point.     They  Avere  formerly  much   more     ^..^.p^gg 
plentitnl  than  noAv,  w^hicli  is  oAving,  we  believe,  to  the 
number  of  vessels  eu gaged  in  killing  them  at  sea.     We  have  ncA'er 
known  of  fur-seal  pups  beingborn  elscAvhere  than  on  the     j3„„,  (.^jy  ^q  p^i. 
rookeries  of  the  seal  islands  in  Bering  Sea.    Neither  bUofisiauds. 


230  TESTIMONY 

RooVeriea  only  on   liavewe   aiiy  knowledge  of  tlie  existence  of  any  fiir- 
Pnbiiot  Islands.         j^p.^j  rookedes  other  tlian  those  above  mentioned.     Wc 
Troiiibition neccs-  ])e]ieve  that,  in  Older  to  permanently  ])reserve  fur  seal 
**^^'  life,  all  pelagic  hunting  should  be  stopped. 

Ivan  Canetak  (his  x  mark). 
MiciiAELER  Balasiioef  (his  X  mark). 
NicoLi  Inloo  (his  X  mark). 
Sacae.  Balashoff  (his  X  mark). 
NicoLi  NicoLi  (bis  X  mark). 
Sacar.  KoLYAn  (his  x  mark). 
NicOLi  Inloo,  jr.  (his  x  mark). 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to,  before  me,  this  9th  day  of  April,  1892, 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Ellas  Esaiossen^  miner,  at  SoMovoi,  Cools  Inlet. 

HABITS. 

Elias  Esaiossen,  being  duly  sworn,  deposeth  and  saith:  I  reside  at 

the   setttlement  known  as  Soldovoi,  on  Cook's  Inlet, 

Haa  never  seen  fur  Ahiska,  and  havc  livcd  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 

eeals  m    inlet   above  '  .  " 

Anchor  Point.  lour  ycars.     I  am  a  miner  and  prospector  by  occupa- 

tion, and  have  no  knowledge  of  or  experience  in  fur- 
the  inlet  above  seal  life.     I  have  never  seen  fur-seals  in  the  waters  of 
Anchor  Point,  and  am  positive  that  no  fur-seal  rook- 
re^on'""^*'^'^  '"  *''^  *^^y  cxists  in  the  region,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  any 
other  rookeries  than  those  on  the  seal  islands  of  Ber- 
ing Sea. 

Elias  Esaiossen. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  Ajjiil,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  tStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Vassili  Feodor,  native  fur  hunter,  Coolers  Inlet. 

HABITS. 

Vassili  Feodor,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith :  I  am  a  native 

of  Alaska,  and  reside  at  the  settlement  known  as  Soldovoi,  on  Cook's 

Inlet,  Alaska,  where  I  have  lived  all  my  life.     I  am  by 

Expenence.  occupatioii  a  liunter  of  all  fur-bearing  animals  except 

the  fur-seal,  which  I  am  told  it  is  unlawful  to  Idll,     I  have  observed 

„.  „       while  engaged  in  hunting  sea-otter,  that  fur  seals  first 

Elizabeth  iibout  mid-   appear  oft"  this  part  of  the  coast  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape 

die  of  April.  Elizabeth,  about  the  middle  of  the  month  of  April, 

and  are  most  numerous  about  the  middle  of  June.    They  move  arross 

the  mouth  of  the  inlet  from  the  eastward  to  the  westward  in  schools. 

I  have  observed  a  lew  scattering  fur  seals  in  the  lower  part  of  Cook's 

Inlet,  but  only  at  long  and  irregular  intervals;  I  have 

An.*i^o7roint.'*  ''^^     ncvcr  seen  a  fur-seal  in  the  waters  of  Cook's  Inlet  above 

Anchor  Point.     Eur-seals  were  formerly  much  more 

Decrease.  numcrous  than  of  late  years,  and  are  each  year  becoming 

constantly  scarcer.     1  believe  this  decrease  is  due  to 

Cause.  the  number  of  vessels  which  are  engaged  in  hunting 


TAKEN    IN    COOK'S    INLET.  231 

them  at  sea.     I  have  never  heard  of  tur-seal  pups  be- 
ing born  anywhere  except  on  a  rookery;  and  I  have  no      p..^,  ,,„,„  „„,^  ^^ 
knowledge  of  any  fur-seal  rookeries  in  Alaska  other  lookeii.s  on  rribiiof 
than  those  on  the  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea.     I  think  ^''^""''•'*- 
fur-seals  would  increase  if  all  hunting  at  sea  was  stopped. 

his 

Vassilt  X  Feodok. 

iiuirk. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  A.  J.  Guild,  seuJer  and  miner,  at  Co6l<h  Inlet. 
PELAGIO   SEALINCi. 

A.  J.  Guild,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  reside  at  the 
settlement  known  as  Soldovoi,  on  Cook's  Inlet,  Alaska,  and  have  lived 
at  settlements  along  the  coast  between  Sitka  and  Cook's  Inlet  for  the 
l)ast  eleven  years.     I  am  a  miner  by  occupation,  but  . 

formerly    followed    the  sea.     I  w;is  for  two  seasons      '-^'enence. 
employed    by    parties    in    Fort    Townsend,   Washington,   as   a   sea- 
man on  board  of  sealing  schooners  clearing  from  that  [)lace.     Their 
hunters  were  all  natives,  who  came  from  ISTeeah  Bay, Washington.    Fur- 
seals  were  first  met  off  Cape  Flattery  as  early  as  the      ^^.^.^j.  oj^  r:. 
first  part  of  the  month  of  January,  and  increased  in  Fiattei-y^fii^st  part 'of 
numbers  until  the  early  part  of  June,  diininishing  again  January. 
towards  the  latter  part  of  the  mouth.     Their  migratory  movement  is 
from  the  southward  to  the  northward,  following  the      MjoTition 
general  trend  of  the  coast  line.     They  first  approach        '^^''  ^""' 
the  coast  en  masse  about  CapeFlattery,  buti  have  known  of  stragglers 
being  seen  as  far  south  as  Coos  Bay.     The  vessels  in  which  I  sailed 
followed  the  seals  up  the  coast  of  Vancouver   Island  as  far  north  as 
Clayoquot  Sound,  at  which  point  we  left  them  in  the  latter  part  of  July, 
owing  to  their  scarcity.     Other  and  larger  vessels  followed  them  to  a 
greater  distance,  generally  going  up  into  Bering  Sea,  and  keeping  along 
with  the  main  herds. 

The  native  hunters  used  spears  exclusively  in  hunting  the  seals,  and 
secured  fully  two-thirds  of  all  struck.     I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  with  firearms  not  more  than  one-third  of  byultives  withsfi^^^^^^^ 
the  animals  shot  are  actually  secured.     Of  the  skins      One-tiiird  witii  fire- 
taken  in  this  region  fully  nine-tenths  are  pregnant  and  '^Tfnety    per   cent 
milking  females,  but  I  never  saw  a  young  pup  in  the  l^f^f";'^''*  "'"  ™'"''"- 
water.    Large  bulls  were  never  taken,  their  skins  be-      *"' 
ing  practically  valueless.     Among  all  other  fur  seals  at  sea  no  distinc- 
tion is  possible  and  none  is  attempted.     The  killing  is 
indiscriminate,  the  object  being  to  secure  all  the  pelts   .^_Tn<ii«""""'='t"  l^■"• 
possible.      Bulls  are,  however,  readily  recognized  at 
sea  by  their  larger  size  and  darker  fur. 

Females  are  most  plentiful  about  the  Vancouver  coast  from  the  mid- 
dle of  May  to  the  end  of  June,  very  few  others  being  secured  during 
that  period,  the  males  having  mostly  gone  north  previously. 

Pregnant  female  seals,  being  heavy  and  stupid,  and  sluggish  of  move- 
ment, are  more  easily  approached,  and  in  consequence  a  greater  pro- 
portionate number  of  them  are  secured. 


232  TESTIMONY 

Fur-seals  sink  almost  invariably  in  less  tlian  tlirec  minntos  after  be- 
ing killed,  and  j>ravid  cows  nnieli  qni<'ker. 

They  slionld  l)e  approached  from  the  lee  si<le  <piietly,  and  picked  np 

as  soon  after  being-  strnek  as  ])ossib]e  in  order  to  secure  them.     I  am 

^  decidedly  of  the  oijinion  that  fur-seal  life  has  consid- 

erably  decreased  ot  late  years,  and  believe  it  is  due 

principally  to  pelagic  sealing.     I  have  never  lieard  of,  nor  have  no 

knowledge  of  fur-seal  pu])S  being  born  elsewhere  in 

PriiXf  isiaiuLs'-'' ''''  the  nortliern  hemisphere  than  on  the  rookeries  of  the 

seal  islands  of  JJering  Sea.     Neither  do  I  know  of  any 

other  rookeries  than  the  aforesaid.     It  is  my  opinion,  that-for  the  proper 

preservation  of  fur-seal  lite  all  pelagic  hunting  should 

^^rioiub.t.o,.    neces-  ^^  prohibited  and  stopped  absolutely,  as  I  think  the 

female  seal  should  have  access  to  a  rookery  in  order 

safely  to  deliver  her  young. 

A.  J.  Guild. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  this  9th  day  of  April,  1802. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


De])osition  ofRohert  Michaehen,  miner  a7id pros;pector,  residing  at  SoJdo- 

voi,  CooFs  Inlet. 

HABITS. 

Robert  Michaelsen,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith  :  I  reside  at 
the  settlement  known  as  Soldovoi,  (ui  Cook's  Iidet,  Alaska,  and  have 
lived  in  the  Territory  lor  the  i)ast  ten  years,  chietly  at  settlements 
along  the  coast  between  Sitka  and  Cook's  Inlet.     I  am  a  miner  and 

prospector  by  occui)ation,  and  have  never  had  any  ex- 

Experience.  pcriencc  in  sealing.     I  have  become  well  ac<inainted 

with  the  coast  while  engaged  in  my  business  of  ])rosi)ectiug,  traveling 

along  it  in  a  canoe  and  entering  all  bays,  inlets,  streams,  etc.,  betAveen 

the  i)oints  above  mentioned,  and  am  positive  that  no 
co^s't.™"^''"''^  ''^"""   rookeries  exist  in  that  region.    In  Cook's  Inlet  the  water 

is  very  uuuldy  above  Anchor  Point,  and  I  have  never 

known  fur  seals  to  be  seen  beyond  it.    Below  that  point 
Auchori'ofnr  ^^'"^^  ^  ^*^^^'  stragglers  are  occasionally  observed,  but  never 

more  than  two  or  tliree  at  a  time. 

Egbert  Michaelsen. 

Subscribed  and  sw^oru  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Jolin    W.  Smith,  agent  of  Xorth  American  Commercial 
Company,  at  Soldo roi,  Cook^s  Inlet. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

John  W.  Smitli,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at 

the    settlement    known  as   Soldovoi,  on  Cook's  Inlet, 

Experience.  Alaska.    1  have  lived  in  the  Territory  for  the  past 


TAKEN    IN    cook's    INLET.  23B 

twenty-four  years,  cliiefly  at  trading-  posts  along  the  coast  of  Alaska, 
between  Prince  William  Sound  and  the  Yukon  Kiver,  in  the  employ  of 
fnr-trading  companies.    I  am  at  i)resent  the  agent  of  the  North  American 
Commercial  ('ompany  at  this  ])lace,  and  it  is  my  duty  to  trade  in,  and 
otherwise  handle  furs  and  skins  of  all  descriptions.     Fur-seals  first 
appear  off  the  coast  of  the  mainland,  in  the  neighbor-      ^. 
hood  of  Port  Etches,  early  in  the  month  of  April,  pro-        '8^'^  'od. 
viding  the  winter  has  been   one  of  average  duration.     J  believe  the 
severitv  of  the  winter  season  has  a  direct  bearing  on  the     ,^^. 
time  of  the  movement  northward  ot  the  lur-seals,  as  1 
have  observed  that  if  it  has  been  an  open  one,  they  appear  at  an  earlier 
date;  while  after  an  unusually  severe  one,  the  seals  are  later  in  making 
their  appearance.     Fur-seals  travel  in  large  schools,  which  follow  each 
other  closely.     The  annual  migration  of  their  entire  number  occupies 
from  three  to  four  weeks  in  passing  a  i)oint  in  the  region  of  Prince 
William  Sound,  and  they  move  from  the  southward  and  eastward  to  the 
northward  and  westward. 

To  the  best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  fur-seal  life  has  considerably 
diminished  within  the  past  few  years,  which  fact  I  at-      ^ 
tribute  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  wnich  have  been 
engaged  in  i^elagic  seal  hunting  of  late  years.     Breech- 
loading  firearms  (rifles  and  shotguns)  are  the  instru-      si.ootmg seak. 
ments  principally  employed  by  pelagic  fur-seal  hunters,  both  native  and 
white.     By  means  of  these  weapons  a  greater  number  of  skins  are  se- 
cured in  a  season  than  when  s]»ears  are  used;  but  the 
proportion  of  seals  struck  and  lost,  to  those  actually 
secured,  is  much  less  when  the  spear  is  used.     It  is  im- 
possible to  distinguish  between  male  and  female  seals      sex   indistinouish- 
at- sea,  even  if  the  hunters  so  desired,  except  in  the  '^^^•^ '^i '^"t^^'- 
case  of  full-powered  bulls,  when  they  are  readily  recognized  by  their 
greatly  superior  size.     Large  bulls  are  rarely  taken.     Ko  distinction  is 
thought  of  by  pelagic  seal-hunters,  and  the  killing  is 
done  indiscriminately,  the  ol)je('t  being  to  secure  as   . Jndiscnuiini.tc  kin- 
many  skins  as  possible.     Fur-seals  taken  in  the  open 
sea  must  be  struck  in  moderately  calm  weather,  and  picked  up  imme- 
diately afterwards  in  order  to  secure  them  before  sinking. 

I  have  no  knowledge  of,  and  have  never  heard  of,  the  existence  of 
any  fur- seal   rookeries  in   the   northern    hemisphere,      >.t„.,i.  .• 
other  than  those  on  the  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea.     I  on  isiamis!'"^'"^^'^*'^' 
have  never  known  of  fur  seal  i)ups  being  born  else-      ,.  ,        , 

1  +1  XI  c  -1  1         •  Tx   •  1     T    +•        No  pups  born   else- 

where than  on  the  aioresaid  rookeries.     It  is  my  beliet   wiuie. 

that  for  the  permanent  preservation  of  fur-seal  life,  all      Ai)soiute    proiiii.i- 
pelagic  hunting  should  be  prohibited  absolutely.  tion  necessary. 

John  W.  Smith. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TESTIMONY  TAKEN  IN  PRINCE  WILLIAM  SOUND. 


Deposition  of  Nieoli  Gregoroff  et  al. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

l^icoli  Gregoroff,  Peter  Adniigan,  Pavel  Sliimeakiii,  Antou  KalisLni- 
kolf,  Avakoon  Kalislniikoff,  j\]iroii  Alimaii,  Tiiiiofe  Cliaylia,  Afanasse 
Malick,  Marka  Koosche,  Giorgi  Agooklook,  Gregory  Aogay,  Makar, 
Cboomovitsky,  Yakoff  Abakoo,  and  Evan  Clioomovitsky,  being  duly 
sworn,  depose  and  say:  We  are  natives  of  Alaska,  and  reside  at 
Port  Etcbes,  Prince  William  Sound,  Alaska,  and  bave  lived  in 
tbe  Territory  all  of  our  lives.  We  are  bunters  of  fur- 
-xpcnence.  bearing   animals,  and  are  well  acquainted  witb  tbe 

coast  line  of  tbis  region.     In  tbe  latter  jiart  of  Marcb  a  few  fur-seal 
Appear  in  Prince  ^^^i^'i^y  tirst  make  tbcir  appearauce  in  Prince  William 
W'iiiiain  Sound  in  lat-  Souud,  and  are  most  plentiful  in  tbe  latter  part  ot 
ter  part  ot  Marcii.       April.     Tliey  are  mostly  large  males,  very  few  females 
being  taken,  and  tbose  only  towards  tbe  close  of  tbe  season  in  tbe  bitter 
part  of  May.     Very  few  females  taken  in  tbis  region  but  aie  pregnant. 
We  use  lire-arms  (rifles  and  sbot-guns)  i3rincii)ally,  and  bunt  in  bi- 
darkas.    We  bave  never  seen  fur-seal  pups  of  tbe  same 
^_ Pelagic  birth  iinpos-   g^ason's  birtb  in  tbe  water  or  on  patcbes  of  floating 
kelp,  and  do  nottbink  tbey  could  be  successfully  raised 
PribnoffilianTi'^  °°  under  sucb  conditions.     Keitber  bave  we  any  knowl- 
edge of  tbe  existence  of  any  fur-seal  rookeries,  except 
tbose  on  tbe  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea. 

We  bave  no  way  of  distinguisbing  fur-seals  in  tbe  water  at  sea,  as  to 
wlietber  maJes  or  females,  and  do  not  try  to  do  so;  but 
_^indi,scriminate  iviii-  ]^j|]  rjjj  ^yg  ^.r^^^^  indiscriminately.    Large  seals  sink  rap- 
idly, wbile  tbe  smaller  ones  float  a  few  minutes.    Fur- 
Decrease,  seals  bave  decreased  in  numbers  of  late  years,  and  we 
believe  it  is  due  principally  to  tbe  large  number  of 
vessels  bunting  tbem  at  sea.    We  tbink  tbat  for  tbe 
Proiiibitiou   neces    ])i()per  prcscrvatiou  of  tbe  fur-seal  sx>ecies,  all  pelagic 
^^^'  bunting  sbcuild  be  stopped  absolutely. 

NicoLi  Gregokoff  [In  Eussian]. 
Peter  Adungan  (bis  x  mark). 
Pavel  Shimeakin  (bis  x  mark). 
Anton  Kalishnikoff  (bis  x  mark) 
Avakoon  Kalishnikoff  (bis  x  mark). 
MiRON  Aliman,  (bis  X  mark). 
TiMOFE  Chayha  (bis  X  mark). 
Afanasse  Malick  (bis  x  mark). 
Marka  Koosche  (bis  x  mark) 
Giorgi  Agooklook  (bis  x  mark). 
Gregory  Aogay  (bis  x  mark). 
Makar  Choomovitsky  (bis  x  mark). 
Yakoff  x\bakoo  (bis  x  mark). 
Evan  CnooaioviTSKY  (bis  x  mark). 
234 


TESTIMONY    TAKEN    IN    PRINCE    WILLIAM    SOUND.  235 

I  hereby  certify  that  I  have  interpreted  the  subject  matter  to  those 
persons  whose  signatures  are  liereto  affixed  and  that  they  truly  under- 
stand its  contents. 

iSTEEPOLI  GrEGOROFF. 

Subscribed  and  SNYorn  to  before  me  this  IGth  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  IStatcs  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Frank  Korth,  agent  for  far  trading  comjtany  at  Port  Etches. 

DECREASE. 

Frank  Korth,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  reside  at  Port 
Etches,  Prince  William  Sound,  Alaska,  and  have  lived  in  the  Territory 
for  the  last  eight  years.     I  am  the  agent  for  a  fur  trading  company  at 
this  place,  but  never  had  any  personal  experience  in  fur-seal  hunting. 
I  am,   however,  well    acquainted  with   the    coas^t    of     Expeneuce. 
Alaska  from  Prince  Wdham  Sound  to  Unimak  Pass. 
Fur-seals  usually  first  appear  in  Prince  William  Sound     ^.^^^  appearanre  «f 
in  large  schools,  early  in  the  mouth  of  Apiil.     They  seals  in  Prince  wii- 
were  formerly  nuich  more  plentiful  than  of  late  years.  "■'""  *^°"°'^- 
In  the  early  x)a'i't  of  the  season  the  males  are  most  nu-      j^ecTease 
merous,  a  few  females  being  taken  towards  its  close  in 
the  latter  part  of  May.    Firearms  (rifles  and  shotguns)      ^^^a  ons 
are  used  almost  exclusively.    All  seals  sink  quicklj^,         capons. 
but  those    shot  through  the  head  and  killed  remain 
on  the  surface  longest.    I  have  no  knowledge  of  fur-   ^^tero"onMp°  '° 
seal  pups  being  born  in  the  water,  or  on  patches  of 
floating  kelp,  and  do  not  believe  they  could  be  successfully  raised  under 
such  conditions.     Neither  do  I  know  of  any  fur-seal  rookeries  other  than 
those  on  the  »eal  islands  ot  Bering  Sea.     Owing  to  the 
steady  decrease  in  fur-seal  life  of  late  years,  due  to  the  pSTisTanTs'^'  "" 
large  number  of  vessels  hunting  them  at  sea,  it  is  my 
oi)inion  that  in  order' to  save  the  species  from  extermina- 
tion all  pelagic  hunting  of  fur-seals  should  be  prohibited  ^a^;."'''^'"''"  """"" 
and  stopped  absolutely. 

Frank  C.  Korth, 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  16th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  OJaf  Kram,  sealer. 

HABITS, 

Olaf  Kvan,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith :  I  reside  on  Green 
Island,  in  Prince  William  Sound,  Alaska,  and  have  ^ 

1-         1     ■        n         1  •v_  J'  XT         1       i.     j_  T  Experience. 

lived  in  the  territory  lor   the  last  ten  years.     I   am 

a  mariner  by  occupation,  but  of  late  years  have  bee.u  engaged  in  hunt- 


23G 


TESTIMONY    TAKEN    IN    PRINCE    WILLIAM    SOUND. 


First  appearance  of 
seals  in  Priuco  Wil- 
liam Sound. 


Decrease.  Pelagic 
sealing.  Mostly  preg- 
nant females  killed. 


Waste  of  life. 
Indiscriiuinate. 


iiio- fur-beaiinii-  aiiinmls.  Steals  first  appear  in  Prince 
William  Sound  about  the  1st  of  May,  and  were  formerly 
quite  plentiful,  while  now  they  are  becoming  constantly 
scarcer.  I  do  not  know  the  cause  of  this  decrease.  All 
the  seals  which  I  have  seen  killed  were  females,  and 
the  majority  of  these  were  pregnant  cows.  My  expei'i- 
ence  is  that  about  four-flfths  of  all  fur-seals  killed  in 
the  water  are  lost.  I  can  not  tell  a  male  from  a  female 
in  the  water,  and  when  killing  them  never  make  any 
effort  to  do  so,  as  the  object  is  to  get  all  the  skins  pos- 
sible. I  have  never  seen  a  live  pup  of  the  same  sea- 
son's birth  in  the  water.  I  have  no  knowledge  of  the 
existence  of  any  fur-seal  rookery  or  place  where  fur- 
seals  haul  up  on  the  land,  other  than  on  the  rookeries 
of  the  several  seal  islands  in  Bering  Sea. 

Olaf  Kvam. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent, 


Pups   not 
water. 

IkOokeries 
the  islands. 


born    in 


only   on 


TESTIMONY  TAKEN  IN  YAKUTAT  BAY. 


Deposition  of  Al:otoo,  sealer. 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Akatoo,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  was  born  at  Yakutat 
about  thirty  years  ago;  am  a  liunter  by  occupation, 
hunting  sea  otter  and'bear.     Have  always  taken  seal     ^^P'^^en^'^- 
with  spear  and  shotgun;  never  used  a  rifle.     When      ^(,3^3  u,,!,^    ^^^■^^ 
spear  was  used  I  lost  none,  and  I  lose  no  seal  when  1  spear  or  shotgun. 
use  the  shotgun,  for  I  don't  shoot  them  unless  they  are 
close  to  the  boat.     Most  of  the  seal  killed  by  me  have  .ow^*  j  preguant 
been  females  with  i)ui).     I  shoot  all  seal  that  comes 
near  the  canoe  and  use  no  discrimination,  as  I  can  not  .^i"*^'s^ii""iiJite  kui- 
distinguish  a  young  bull  from  a  cow  in  the  water.    All 
hunters  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  their  boats.      ^^,^  i,„„j  i^  ^^^^^.^ 
Never  heard  of  a  seal  pup  being  born  in  the  water  nor 
on  the  land,  but  have  heard  they  are  born  on  some  islands  in  Bering 
Sea.     In  the  winter  a  few  pups  are  driven  into  the  bay 
by  the  storms.     Seal  are  becoming  very  scarce  on  the 
coast  and  the  Indians  have  hard  work  killing  what  few  they  do.     I 
think  the  white  men  should  be  stopped  from  killing  seal 
oft"  the  coast  of  Alaska  so  that  they  will  become  plenty 
again.    That  is  all  I  know  about  seal. 

Akatoo,  his  x  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Chukch, 

United  States  Interiireter. 
A. W.  Lavendek. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18tli  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Prohibition 


sarv. 


Deposition  of  Atcnas-Koo,  Yalmtat  Indian  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Atenas-Koo,  being  duly  sworn,  dex>oses  and  says:  I  am  an  old  man. 
Was  born  in  Yakutat  and  am  a  member  of  the  Yakutat     ^^  .ericnoe 
tribe  of  Indians.     I  have  hunted  all  my  life.     Have      '  ^i"^'"'™'^^'^- 
Jiilled  fiu--seals,  mostly  females  with   pup,   but  have  ^viul'S  liiied '*'''^^ 
never  seen  or  heard  of  fur-seals  hauling  up  on  the  land 
in  this  part  of  Alaska,  or  anywhere  else.     Never  have  on^AiasTkan'loa.st!'  "° 
known  far-seal  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water,  nor  have 
I  ever  heard  of  pups  being  born  in  the  Avater  or  any-   bomluwiten'^'^  """^ 
where  else  on  Alaska.     Have  never  known  of  nor  have 

237 


238  TESTIMONY 

I  seen  any  fiir-seal  in  tlie  waters  of  Disenchantment 

Bay  or  any  otlier  inlet  in  this  part  of  Alaslva.     Tliey  do  ,^^ers!'"'  '"  '"'""^ 

not  freqnent  tliese  places.    That  is  all  I  luive  got  to 

say. 

Atenas-Koo,  his  X  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Church, 

Uniied  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W..  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  AV.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Gonastut.  Yalcutat  Indian  sealer. 

PELAGIC    SEALING — DECREASE. 

Gonastnt,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  30  years  old.  I 
was  born  at  Kodiak  and  live  at  Yakutat  and  belong 

xpeneuce.  ^^  ^^^  Yakutat  tribe  of  Indians.     Am  a  hunter  by  oc- 

^^indiscriminatekiii-  cupatiou.  Have  killed  a  few  fur-seal.  I  kill  every- 
'°^'  thing  that  comes  near  the  boat  and  use  no  discrimina- 

tion, as  the  sex  can  not  be  told  in  the  water,  except  it  be  an  old  bull, 
which  is  told  by  its  size.  Ha",  e  used  shotgun  and  rifle  in  taking  seal. 
I  lose  about  50  -per  cent  when  I  use  the  shotgun,  and  more  are  lost 
when  rifle  is  used.  I  always  shoot  them  in  the  head  when  possible, 
,    ,  but  if  not  possible  I  shoot  them  in  any  part  of  the  body 

Do  not  haul  up  ex-     , ,       ,    .  ^  "   ^  -^ 

cept  on  pribiiof  Is-  that  IS  cxposcd.     1  have  iicvcr  known  any  tur-seal  to 

ia"<^i8.  haul  up  on  tlie  land  in  any  part  of  Alaska,  except  on 

No  pelagic  birth.      i\^q.  Pribilof  Islands.     ISTever  have  heard  of  any  pup 

seals  being  born  in  the  water.     Have  never  seen  any  fur-seal  in  the 

inland  waters  of  southern  Alaska,  but  have  heard  of  pups  being  seen 

in  the  bays  during  the  iirevalence  of  storms  on  the  coast  in  Avinter  time. 

Seal  are  becoming  very  scarce  this  last  three  or  four 

Decrease.  years,  and  Indian  hunters  can  hardly  kill  them  now. 

Too  many  schooners  are  hunting  seal  and  Indian  hunters  have  to  go  a 

hmg  way  in  tlicir  canoes  in  order  to  get  any,  and  they 

Protection.  seldom  liill  oiic.     Seal  will  soon  be  no  more  unless  the 

Great  Father  stops  the  schooners  from  hunting.    That  is  all  I  have  got 

to  say. 

Gonastut,  his  x  mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender, 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Ayent. 


TAKEN    IN    YAKUTAT    BAY.  239 

Dejiosition  of  Jacob  Ifarflisiiul-,  Yaktdat  Indian  hiuitcr. 
PELAGIC  SEALING. 

Jacob  Haitlisnnk,  beiiio'  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born 
at  and  Lave  lived  in  Yakutat  all  my  life.     I  belong-  to  the  Yakiitat 
tribe  of  Indians.     I  am  now  a  very  old  man.     I  am  by  occupation  a 
hunter.     I  have  hunted  sea-otter,  but  have  never  killed 
a  fur-seal  in  my  life.    Never  have  known  of  a  fur-      No  pelagic   iiirth 
seal  pup  being-  born  in  the  water  or  anywhere  else 
in  Alaska,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  fur-seal  being 
hauled  out  on  the  land  in  Alaska.    I  have  traveled  ^^^^^^"^  ^'^"^  "p  "^ 
from  Icy  Bay  to  Sitka  Sound  and  meet  many  Indians 
belonging  to  other  tribes  of  Indians,  and  they  never  have  told  me  that 
they  had  ever  seen  any  fur-seal  hauled  out  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  or  on 
any  of  the  rocks  adjacent  thereto.     I  have  have  heard 
that   fur-seal    do  haul   out,  and  that  the   pups  are  bom'^on  islLdT^  *'™ 
born  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     It  is  reported  to  me  by 
Indians  who  hunt  fur-seal  that  they  are  becoming  very     Decrease. 
scarce.    They  have  noticed  decrease  in  the  last  four 
years.     I  think  if  the  schooners  were  prohibited  from     I'lotectiou. 
sealing  they  would  become  plentiful  on  this  coast  again.    That  is  all  I 
have  to  say. 

bis 

Jacob  x  Hartlisnuk. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W,  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Sam  SayiJcahtla,  hunter. 

PELAGIC  SEALING. 

Sam  Hayikahtla,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 
Yakutat,  and  have  lived  there  all  my  life.     Am  49  years  old.     Have 
been  hunting  all  my  life.     Never  heard  of  any  fur-seals  being  hauled 
up  on  the  land  on  any  part  of  the  coast  of  Alaska 
where  I  have  traveled.     Nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  i)nps      no  luOngic  biitii. 
being  born  in  the  water,  or  on  tlie  land  in  any  part  of 
Alaska,  except  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  Bering  Sea.     I  travel  from 
Icy  Bay  to  Sitka,  and  have  never  heard  Indians  of  other      j,-,>^,p,.  ^^^^^.^  ,,f  f,,^ 
tribes  say  that  they  had  seen  fur  seals  hauled  out  on   seals  i.om'in  water, 
the  land,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  them  say  that  pups  ;;;;';,t;/'"'^' ^'"'"^  ""' 
were  born  in  the  water.     Fur-seal    are  getting  A'ciy 
scarce  along  this  coast  and  Indian  fur-seal  hunters  have 
great  trouble  in  getting  any  now,  while  in  former  years  they  got  plenty. 
If  the  Great  Father  does  notsto])  schooners  from  hunt-      piytectiou. 
ing  seal  along  the  coast  of  Alaska  and  in  Bering  Sea, 


240  TESTIMONY 

the  seal  will  soon  l)e  ^ione  and  tlie  Iiulian  lunst  starve  tliat  makes  bis 
living-  by  Imntius"  them.  1  am  told  tlic  Avliite  Imuter  kills  mostly  cow 
seal  with  pup.    That  is  all  1  have  to- say. 

his 

Sam  X  Hayikahtla. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

Zhiited  ^States  Infrrprefcr. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  befuie  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  ^Statcfi  Treasury  Aejcnt. 


Deposition  of  KlnJwoga,  Yalutat  sealer. 

PELAGIC  SEALING. 

Kiukooga,  beiuj;' duly  sworn  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at  Yak- 

^      .  utat  and  have  lived  there  all  my  life.     I  am  about  40 

years  old,  1  think.    By  occupation  I  am  a  hunter.    Have 

Do  not  haul  up  on   killed  a  few  fur-seal  in  my  life.     Have  never  known  any 

^No  eia  trie  birth        furscal  to  liaul  ont  ou  the  land,  nor  have  I  heard  of 

any  being  hauled  out  on  the  land  from  people  of  ditfer- 

indiacriminate  kill-   eut  tribcs  A\  liom  I  luive  met.     Have  never  seen  or  heard 

'"^'  of  a  fur-seal  pu]i  being  born  in  the  water.     Hunters 

use  no  discrimination  in  hunting  seal,  but  shoot  everything  that  comes 

jiear  the  boat.     Have  traveled  from  Icy  Bay  to  Wrangel  and  liave  never 

seen  any  seal  in  the  inland  waters  in  my  life.    A  few  fur-seal  pups  have 

been  killed  in  the  bay  within  my  remembrance,  in  the  winter  seasons, 

Decrease  drivcu  there  by  the  storms  on  the  coast  at  those  times. 

Seal  are  getting  very  scarce  on  the  coast  the  last  three 

or  four  years.     The  reason  of  the  scarcity  is,  I  think,  that  there  are  too 

many  white  hunters  sealing  in  the  open  waters.     Indian  hunters  can  not 

„  ^   ,.  get  any  more  in  <  anoes  on  account  of  the  few  seals  that 

are  left,  are  so  far  from  the  land.     All  sealing  in  open 

waters  by  white  men  should  be  stopped.     I  have  no  more  to  say. 

KiNKOOGA,  his  X  mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United  ^States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Keehantalr^  Yalcutat  Indian  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING — MIGRATION. 

Nechantake,  being  duly  vsworn,  de|)Oses  and  says:  I  was  born  in  Yak- 

^      .  ^   .    utat  and  have  lived  there  all  iny  life.     1  belong  to  the 

do  not  haul  up  on  Yakutat  tribe of  Iiidiaus,  aiid  aiii  a  vory  old  man.     Am 

^'^'•^^^-  by  occupation  a  hunter.     Have  never  known  any  fur- 


TAKEN    IN    YAKUTAT    BAY.  241 

seal  to  be  hauled  up  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  from  Icy  Bay  to  Wraugel. 

I  have  beeu  up  and  down  betweeu  those  i^laces  many  tluies.     Fur-seal 

are  not  as  plentiful  on  the  coast  as  they  used  to  be.     The  Indians  kill 

but  very  few  now.     In  former  years  they  used  to  get  many  of  them, 

but  the  last  few  years  they  have  become  very  scarce 

and  the  Indian  hunters  take  very  few.     I  tliink  tlie 

reason  of  the  seal  becoming-  so  scarce  is  that  there  are  too  many  white 

men  liunting  seal  in  tlie  Bering-  Sea  and  the  Pacitic  Ocean  and  it 

should  be  stop])ed.     Have  never  seen  any  fur-seals  in 

the  sounds  or  inlets  between  this  place  and  Wi-angel       rotect-ion. 

at  any  time  of  year.     In  early  days  a  few  pups  used  to      rur-.soai.s„cver.scon 

be  driven  into  this  bay  in  the  winter  by  the  storms  on   atwrausei  any  timo 

the  coast.     I  have  no  more  to  say.  "  •^'^'"' 

Nechantake,  his  X  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  I8th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W,  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  W.  Boherts,  sealer  {master). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

W.  Roberts,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :   I  reside  at  Takutat 
Bay,  Alaska,  and  I  am  by  occni)ation  a  mariner,     I  have  been  engaged 
in  the  business  of  catching  seals  in  the  iforth  Pacitic     ^^^   . 
Ocean  and  Bering  Sea  for  tour  years,  three  years  as        ^I'erience. 
sailor,  one  year  as  cai)tain,  two  years  off  the  coast  of  British  Columbia, 
two  years  off  Southeast  Alaska  and  Bering  Sea. 

I  have  found  that  seals  appear  oft"  the  Farralone  Is- 
lands about  Christmas,  off  British  Columbia  in  March,      First  appearance  of 

li- A-    1       i-    ^  T>  A         ■^\~4-^  seals  ofl  coast. 

off  \akutat  Bay  Apru  loth. 

Have  used  both  ritie  and  shotgun  in  killing  seals,  but  now  use  shot- 
gun only,  having  found  that  for  same  number  of  shots      „    „ 

»  ''  '  ^    ,  , ,  -j-i  ^ATi  -a       •  1        Prefers  shotgun  to 

iLore  seals  are  taken  tlierewitli.  vV  hen  ritie  is  used  ride. 
less  than  one  seal  for  live  shots  is  secured;  many  shots  waste  of  wte. 
miss,  but  of  those  seals  hit  about  one  half  are  secured.  If  shot  in  the 
head  a  seal  will  usually  Hoat  and  is  taken.  If  shot  througli  the  body  it 
usually  sinks,  or  escapes  to  die  later.  When  shotgun  is  used  about 
one  seal  is  secured  for  hve  shots,  those  not  secured  generally  sink  at 
once  or  are  badly  wounded  and  escape  to  die.  Of  seals  shot  dead  about 
one-half  sink  at  once  and  one-half  are  taken. 

In  the  trip  just  made  off  this  coast,  I  ha^  e  taken  eighty-one  seals,  of 
which  three  were  bulls,  three  were  bachelors,  two  were 
yearlings,  about  fifty  were  females  pregnant,  rest  fe-  eatciTpiSn^ntcows! 
niales  barren.    This  is  a  fair  average.     It  is  harder  to 
take  an  old  seal  than  a  young  one,  the  older  ones  being  more  on  the 
alert  and  are  not  less  active  when  pregnant. 

Yearlings  are  rarely  taken  in  North  Pacitic.     The  age  or  sex  of  a 
seal  in  the  water  can  not  be  distinguished,  except  tliat  when  close 
the  apparent  size  is  an  indication  of  age. 
2716— VOL  II 16 


242  TESTIMONY 

No  (lisi'iiini nation  is  sh()\vn  in  takini?  seal.     The  object  is  to  take 
every  one  ])ossil>lc.     J)aiin.n'  past  four  years  have  not 
indisciimiuatekui-   notlced  Hiuch  chauge  in  number  of  seal. 

Pups  are  not  born  in  water.     In  some  cases  females 
far  advanced  in  i)regnancy  haul  ui)  on  coast  to  give  birth;  but  other- 
wise seals  do  not  stop,  except  at  Pribiloff  Islands. 
I  have  been  in  Bering  Sea  but  a  part  of  one  season.     Of  the  seals 
,  ^  taken  about  one-third  were  mak's,  one  third  females 

Proportions  cau^ut         .,,  i-  •     -i  -i  i  t 

iu  Bering  Sea.  With  young,  onctnird  barren  and  yearlings. 

Xiirsin-rcowstakeu       I  liavc  takcii  uursiiig  fcinales  wlicu  as  much  as  100 
loomiiesivom  islands,  uiilcs  froui  Piibiloft' Islaiids. 

From  my  knowledge  and  from  conversation  with 
^  Close  season  neces-  Q^|jgj^.  scalers,  I  bclicve  that  for  the  proper  preserva- 
tion of  seal  life,  sealing  should  be  absolutely  prohibited 
every  two  or  three  years. 

W.  Roberts. 

Yakutat  Bat,  Alaska,  3fay,  1892. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  28th  day  of  May,  A.  D. 
1802. 

Giles  B.  Hakber, 

Lieutenant^  U.  IS.  ^. 


Deposition  of  Eondtus,  Yakutat  Indian  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Eondtus,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  was  born  at  Yaku- 
tat, and  belong  to  tlie  Yakutat  tribe  of  Indians.     Am 

Experience.  about  28  vcars  old,  and   a   hunter  by  occupation.     I 

have  hunted  fur-seal,  otter,  and  bear.  I  use  a  shot- 
gun to  hunt  for  seal.  Have  lost  very  few  seal,  as  I  always  shoot  them 
near  the  boat.     Everything  in  shai)e  of  a  seal  that 

indis.rinnuate liiii-  coiucs  iicar  tlic  boat  is  killed.     I  use  no  discrimina- 

"  tion.     I  have  never  seen  nor  heard  of  a  fur-seal  pup 

being  born  in  the  water,  or  on  the  rocks,  on  any  part 

Ko  pelagic  birth.      ^^^  ^j^^  ^^^^  ^^  Alaska,  but  have  heard  that  seal  are 

born  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     Seal  are  getting  very 

ecrease.  scarcc  aloiig  tlic  coast,  causcd  by  the  indiscriminate 

slaughter  of  seals  in  the  open  waters.     Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  me 

have  been  cows  with  pups.    It  M'ould  be  a  good  thing 

for  the  Indians  if  the  schooners  were  prohibited  from 

sealing  in  the  Bering  Sea  and  the  I^orth  Pacific  Ocean ;  if  it  is  continued 

the  Indians  who  depend  on  fur-seal  for  a  living  must  starve.     Years  ago 

a  few  seal  pups  were  diiven  into  the  bays  by  the  storms  on  the  coast 

during  the  winter  season.     That's  all  I  know. 

Eondtus,  his  x  mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter, 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  ISth  day  of  April,  1S9.2. 

A.  \\.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN    IN    YAKUTAT    BAY.  243 

Dejjositioii  of  ^chl-atathi,  Yalutat  Indian  scaler. 
PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Schkatatiii,  heiiig-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:    I  was  born   in 
l^akutat  and  I  have  lived  there  all  my  life.     I  belong" 
to  the  Yakutat  tribe  of  Indians  and  am  now  a  very  old      Experience. 
man;  am  by  occupation  a  hunter.     Yes;  I  have  killed 
fur-seal.     I   used  the  bow   and  arrow  for  killing-  them.     Xever  knew 
any  fur-seal  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water  or  anywhere 
else  in  Alaska.     Have  heard  that  they  are  born  on  the        "  ^'^  '^"^ 
Pribilof  Islands.    Have  never  known  any  fur-seal  to      Do  not  haul  up  ou 
come  up  on  the  land  in  Alaska  or  on  any  of  the  islands 
adjacent  theieto,  but  have  heard  that  tliey  do  haul  out  on  the  Pribi- 
lof Islands.     I  have  traveled  from  Icy  Bay  to  Nuchuk     „ 

dill  .1  J.  /•  i_T-i,T-.  1        Have     never    seen 

back  along-  the  coast  as  lar  east  as  Lityu  Bay,  and  furseais    m   iniaud 

have  never  seen    any  fur-seal  in  any  inland  waters  ^^'atcrs. 

wherever  I  have  traveled.     I  think  the  Great  Father  should  stop  all 

schooners  from  hunting-  seal  in  Bering-  Sea   and  the      „   ^   ^. 

Pacific    Ocean,  so  the   seal   would    become  plentiful 

again  and  the  Indian  hunters  would  again  have  a  chance  to  kill  them. 

That  is  all  I  know  about  seal. 

ScnivATATiN,  his  X  mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Chuuch, 

United  States  Interiyretcr. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Atjent. 


Dej)osition  of  SJioicoosch,  Yalntaf  Indian  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Showoosch,  being-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  atSitl<a; 
am  a  very  old  man  and  1  belong  to  the  Yakutat  tril;e  of  Indians;  ha\e 
been  a  hunter  all  my  life,  hunting  sea-otter  and  seal 
in  the  summer  and  bear  and  fox  in  the  winter.     When      Exihikhco. 
I  was  a  young  man  I  killed  fur-seal  off  Yakutat  Bay, 
using  a  spear  altogether.     I  haven't  killed  anv  seal 
lately,  as  they  are  getting  very  scarce.     The  majority  ot 
seal  killed  by  me  have  been  cows;  have  killed  a  few  small  males.     Have 
never  known  or  heard  of  any  pups  being  born  in  the      ^,      i- .r,  bhtii 
water  or  anj'where  on  the  coast,  nor  have  I  ever  known 
or  heard  of  any  fur-seals  being  hauled  np  on  the  land      po  "ot  iiaui  uimu 

.  Y      1  /  k  •  1-1  V  Alaskan  coasl. 

anywhere  m  AlasKa.     Once  m  a  while  a  tew  ])ui»s  are 

(.Iriven  into  the  bay  by  the  hard  gales  blowing  from  the  southeast  on 


244  TESTIMONY 

tlie  coast  duriug  the  montli  of  December.     I  think  the  Great  Father 

shoiikl  stop  all    sealijig   by  schooners   in   the   Nortli 

Pacific  Ocean  and  the  seal  would  again  become  plenty, 

so  the  Indians  could  again  kill  plenty  of  them.     That  is  all  I  know 

about  seals. 

Snowooscn,  his  x  mark. 
Witness  to  his  nmrk: 
Peter  Ohuroii, 

Uriited  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.    W.    li  A  VENDER, 

United  JStates  Treasury  Agent, 


Deposition  of  Slceenong,  Yalcutat  Indian  hunter, 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Skeenong,  beinj:^  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at  Copper 

Exvriwice  Kivcr.    I  am  an  old  man  and  belong-  to  the  Yakutat 

xptnuice.  tribe  of  Indians,  but  have  lived  here  but  one  year.     I 

hunt  the  sea-otter  and  laud  game  in  seasons.     Have 

Decreaae.  heard  all  the  Indians  with  whom  I  have  come  in  con- 

1  „•  1  ■  M        tiict  say  that  the  fur  seal  are  becoming  very  scarce  of 

o  pe  agic  )ir   .      j^^^  ycars.     llavc  never  known  or  heard  of  a  fur-seal 

pup  being  born  in  the  water.     Have  heard  that  the  fur-seal  haul  up 

„       .  ,     ,  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  but  never  have  seen,  or  have 

Do  not   n.aiil  up  on     _  .  t        ,.  ,.  -,    -,      •  i         i     n 

Alaskan  coast.  1  cvcr  heard  01  any  lur-seal  being-  hauled  up  on  any 

part  of  the  coast  of  Alaska,  or  rocks  adjacent  thereto. 
Never  have  seen  any  fur-seal  in  Disenchantment  Bay, 
Protection.  ^^  aiiywhcre  else  in  the  inlets  of  Alaska.     I  think  the 

schooners  should  be  stopped  hunting  seal  in  the  open  waters  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea,  and  if  they  are  not  stopped  at  once  the 
Indians  who  hunt  fur-seal  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  for  a  living  will  be- 
come very  poor  and  x)robably  starve  to  death.     That  is  all  I  have  to  say. 

Skeenong,  his  X  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1893. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  StahJcan. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Stahkan  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at  Yakutat 

.a7:d  am  now  a  very  old  man.     Have  hunted  seal  and 

Experience.  gea-ottcr  all  my  life  during  the  summer  season,  using 


TAKEN    IN    YAKUTAT    BAY.  245 

the  spear  and  HiTOw.     I  liave  never  known  any  fur-seal    JV'"'!^  i^iiow  fur 
to  hanl  up  on  the  hind  anywhere  around  this  part  of  Aiaska^coaJt.  "^' 
Alaska.     Nor  have  I  ever  known  any  fur-seal  pups  to 
be  born  in  the  water  or  anywhere  else  in  Alaska,  nor     ^o  P^iagie  i^irth. 
have  1  ever  heard  anv  ludiaiis  with  whom  I  have  eome  in  contact  say 
that  they  had  ever  known  any  fur-seal  pnps  to  have  been  born  in  the 
water,  nor  had  they  known  any  fur-seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  in  any  part 
of  Alaska.     That  is  all  I  have  got  to  say. 

Stahkan,  his  X  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United  ^States  Inicrpreicr. 
A,  W,  Lavender. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  rue  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Thunk,  native  otter  hunter. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

Thunk,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  so  old  that  I  have 
lost  my  eyesight.     Was  born  in  Yakutat  and  have  lived 
there  all  my  life.     Never  killed  any  fur-seal  in  my  life.       '^penence. 
Spent  all  my  life  h  anting  sea-otter.     Have  never  known     Fur  seal  do  not  haul 
any  fur-seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  around  these  bays  "p^^'"^^*- 
or  in  any  other  x>art  of  Alaska.    Have  never  known  or     no  pelagic  birth. 
heard  of  any  fur-seal  pups  being  born  in  the  water. 
Neither  have  I  heard  of  any  fur-seal  hauling  up  on  the  land  anywher^ 
around  this  part  of  Alaska.     Had  there  been  any  seal  hauled  up  on 
the  land  it  would  have  been  told  to  me  by  people  of  diflerent  tribes 
with  whom  I  have  come  in  contact.     I  have  no  more  to  say. 

Thunk,  his  x  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter.  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter, 
A. W.  Lavender. 

SubsL'iilK'd  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Tirongkival-,   Yal-uttrt  Indian  scaler. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Twongkwak,  Ix'ing  <bily  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Was  born  at  Ya- 
kutat; am  about  30  years  old,  and  belong  to  the  Yaku- 
tat tribe  of  Indians.     Hunting  is  my  occupation;  have       -^penence. 
hunted  sea-otter  and  seal;  have  killed  mostly  j)ups  in  the  fall  of  the 


2 AC)  TESTIMONY    TAKEN    IN   YAKUTAT    EAY. 

„       *,     ,  year,  (lii  veil  in  by  tiu' severe  Avcatlier  outside.     Never 

Do    not  liaul  up  ou     •'  '  ,.  "^  i    ,         i  .■,-,-,  ■, 

the  laud.  liave  seeii  auy  lur-seal  lianl  up  on  tlie  laud  u or  have 

I  ever  heard  of  auy  seal  liauliuij'  up  on  tlie  hiud.  Have 

Wo  pelagic  birth.       ucver  heard  of  seal  ])U})s  heiug-  horn  in  the  water  nor 

anywhere  else  in   Alaska.      Have  heard  all  the   In- 

Decrease.  diaus  of  dilfereut  tribes  say  that  seal  are  beeoming 

rrotcction.  veiy  scarce  in  the  last  three  or  four  years.     They  also 

say  that  unless  the  schooners  are  stopped  from  sealing 

ill  r>eriiig  Sea  and  the  North  Pacihc  Ocean  the  seal  will  all  be  gone, 

and  none  will  be  left  for  the  Indians  or  anyone  else.     The  seal  have 

becouie  so  scarce  of  late  years  that  I  don't  kuoAv  much  about  them. 

This  is  all  I  know. 

TwoNGKWAK,  his  X  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peteii  OnuROH, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  3892. 

A.  W.  Laa'ender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Yahlrih,  Yaliitat  Indian  hunter. 

pelagic  sealing. 

Yahkah,  being  duly  sworn,  dej^oses  and  says:  I  was  born  at  Taku- 

.  tat.     I  am  about  35  years  old  and  belong  to  the  Yaku- 

Expenentc.  ^.^^  tribe  of  Judiaus.     Am  a  hunter  by  occupation.     I 

Never  heard  of  pe-  go  fioiu  Icy  Bay  to  Sitka  Souiid  and  come  in  contact 

lagic  birth.  with  the  peo])le  of  different  tribes  of  Indians,  and  have 

Kever  heard  of  ucver  sceu  mysclf  iior  heard  otlier  Indians  say  that  they 

seals  i.anii.,,2  up  ou  jjj^^j  gg^^jj  furscal  pups  boiii  iu  tlic  water.     Hav<^  never 

Ala.s kail  coast.  i      ,-    ,•  i       i         i-  j^i        ,         i     • 

seen  or  heard  oi   lur-seals  hauling  up  ou  the  land   in 

any  i)art  of  Alaska.    When  I  was  a  small  boy,  a  few  pup  seals  used  to 

^  be  driven  into  the  bays  bv  hard  storms  on  the  coast. 

Decrea.se.  ^^,  i      i-i       ji  i-v.  "  i 

ihe  seal,  like  the  sea  otter  are  becoming  very  scarce. 

I  think  if  the  schooners  were  prohibited  from  taking  seal  iu  Bering'  Sea 

Protection  ^"*^^  aloug  tlic  coast  of  Alaska,  the  seal  would  become 

plentiful  and  the  Indians  could  kill  them  once  more 

iu  canoes.     I  don't  know  anything  more  about  seals. 

Yaukah,  his  X  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  CnuRcn, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn,  to  before  me,  this  ISth  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  AV.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


rnSTIMONY  TAKliN  AMONG  NATIVES   ON  OR  NEAR  LY 
CANAL  AND  CHATHAM  SOUND. 


Deposition  of  George^  the  son  of  Klotz-ldotz,  Chilcat  Indian  trader. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

George,  the  ?on  of  Klotz-klotz,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says: 
I  belong  to  the  Chilcat  tribe  of  Indians  and  reside  at  (Jhilcafc;  am  about 
35  years  okl.     I  trade  with  the  interior  Indians  and  up 
the  coast  through  Lynn  Canal,  and  down  the  coast  as      Experience. 
far  as  Wrangel  and  Stikeen.     l\ever  killed  a  fur-seal      do  not  i.aui  up  on 
in  my  life.     Have  never  heard  of  fur-seal  hauling  upon  Alaskan  lami. 
any  land  in  Alaska,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  seal  pups     ^^^-^^  pelagic  birth. 
being  born  in  the  water  or  on  the  coast  of  Alaska.     In 
my  dealings  with  the  peo])le  of  other  tribes  with  whom  1  come  in  con- 
tact they  would  have  told  me  had  they  known  of  any  fur-seal  having 
hauled  up  on  any  part  of  the  Alaskan  coast  visited  by  them.     Know 
nothing  more  about  seals. 

his 

George  x   Klotz-klotz. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United  ^States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Kasimn,  Chilcat  Indian  trader. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Kaskan,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  siiys:  T  belong  to  the  Chil- 
cat tribe  of  Indians.  '  I  have  tiaded  with  other  tril)es 
up  Lynn  Canal  and  as  far  north  as  the  Yukoir  Iliver,      Experience. 
and  down  the  coast  as  far  as  Wrangel.     Have  never 
killed  or  seen  a  fur-seal  in  mv  lif<',  nor  have  I  ever      Fnr  seal  do  not  frc- 

„  „  1    -1  ■  1  •        ^1         •     1         1     nuent  iiihiua  Alaskan 

heard  of  any  tur  seal  having  been  seen  in  the  inland    waters. 

waters  of  Alaska  where  I  have  tiaveled.     Had  any 

fur-seal  been  hauled  up  on  the  land  in  any  inlet  around      j,,,  „„t  haul  up  ou 

Chatham  Straits,  Stevens  Passage,  or  any  of  the  wa-   lan.i. 

ters  of  southeasterA  Alaska,  I  would  have  known  of  it, 

2-17 


248  TESTIAIOXY 

as  it  ^\■oul(l  have  been  told  me  by  the  people  of  other  tribes.     That's 
all  1  have  to  say. 

Kaskan,  his  X  mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  aud  sworn  to  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  JStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  George  ShHcl-cyah,  cousin  of  head  chief  of  Chilcat  Indians. 

PELAGIC   SEALING". 

George  Shuckeyah,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  cou- 
sin of  the  head  chief  of  the  Chilcat  Indians.     Am  30 
Experience.  ycars  old.     I  go  up  and  down  the  coast  from  Chilcat 

to  Wrangel  and  meet  many  people  belonging  to  the  dif- 
ferent tribes  of  Indians.  Have  never  seen  a  fur-seal  in  Chatham 
Straits,  Steveus  Passage,  or  auywhere  else  iu  ray  life,  iior  have  I  ever 
heard  of  any  fnr-seal  hauling  out  on  any  of  the  islands 
up^o"n  ASnIoast  or  rocks  on  any  part  of  the  coast  of  Alaska.  And  had 
any  ever  hauled  out  I  should  have  known  it  by  being 
told  by  the  people  of  the  different  tribes  with  whom  I  come  in  contact. 
That  is  all  I  have  to  say. 

his 

George   x  Shuckeyah. 

maik. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Pkteu  Church, 

United  iS fates  Interpreter, 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  JStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  o/  Kah  churl-fee.  chief  of  Iluchenoos  Indians. 

pelagk;  sealing. 

Kah  chuck-tee,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  the  chief 

of  the  Huclienoos.     J  am  a  pretty  old  man.     I  don't  do 

Exi«rieiice.  anything;  nm  the  gentleman  of  my  tribe.     My  tribe 

live  by  catching  herring,  from  which  they  make  oil,  and 

dispose  of  it  to  the  Indians  of  other  tribes,  which  come  here  in  large 

numbers.     I  have  visited  all  the  inlets  and  islands  in 

qu^utfnimdVatei^.^   Chatham  Sound  and  other  ])arts  of  Alaska  as  far  as 

Sitka  and  never  saAV  a  fur-seal  in  the  inland  waters. 


TAKEN  NEAR  CHATHAM  SOUND.  249 

^STor  have  I  ever  heard  of  a  fur-seal  being  seen  in  tlie  inLand  waters. 

Have  never  heard  of  any  fur-seal  being-  hauled  up  on 

the  land  or  rocks  on  or  otf  the  coast  of  Alaska.  Had  fur-  ^^f;;""*  ^'='"^  "p  "" 

seal  been  hauled  up  on  the  main  coast  or  islands  of 

Alaska  I  should  have  known  it,  as  the  news  would  have  been  brought 

to  me  by  the  Indians  of  different  tribes  who  come  to  purchase  oil  Irom 

my  people.     I  have  no  more  to  say. 

Kah-chuck  TEE,  his  X  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  Ai)ril,  1S92. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Toodays  GharUe,  KilUsnoo  herring  fisherman. 

pelagic  sealing. 

Toodays  Charlie,  being  duly  sworn,  de})0ses  and  says:  lam  nO  years 
old.     I  belong  to  the  baud  of  Killisnoo  Indians  and 
was  born   at  and  have  lived  in  Killisnoo  all  my  life.     Experience. 
Am  by  occupation  a  herring  lisherman.     I  visit  all  the 
islands  and  inlets  around  Chatham  Sound  in  following  my  occupation  of 
making  oil  from  tlie  herring  which  I  catch.    Have  never 
seen  a  fur-seal  in  the  irdand  waters  in  my  life,  nor  did  I  seiuiriuS  v™er". 
ever  hear  of  any  being  in  the  island  waters.    Haveuever 
heard  nor  do  I  believe  there  ever  was  any  pups  born 
in  the  water  nor  any  seals  hauled  up  on  any  part  of  the  la^cWrtlr'^'^'^  "^^'^' 
coast  of  Alaska  or  on  the  islands  adjacent  thereto. 
Had  any  fur  seal  hauled  up  it  would  have  become  known  to  the  Indians 
and  I  would  have  heard  it,  for  I  sell  oil  to  all  the  tribes  of  Indians  in 
southeastern   Alaska,    and   they  would  have  told  me  had   they   ever 
known  or  heaid  of  there  being  a  fur-seal  rookery  at  any  place  along 
the  coast.     This  is  all  I  have  got  to  say. 

Ills 

Todd  AYS     x     Charlie. 

inurk. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Tnterpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me.  this  ]L*th  day  of  April,  1802. 

A,  W.  Lavionder, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Dcposilinn  of  Xieholi  (ladoiren.  Indian. 

I'JILAGIC    SEALING. 

Nicholi  Gadowcn,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:    T  am  second 
chief  of  the  Killisnoo  Indians;  am  50  years  old;  born  at  Killisnoo  and 


250  TESTIMONY 

have  lived  there  all  my  life;  am  by  occnii)ation  a  lierring  fisherman. 
Have  never  killed  a  fur  seal  in  my  life.    In  the  winter 

Experience.  i  i    j.      /•  .i 

season  many  years  aiio  pup  seals  used  to  frequenc  the 
Smmd    ^'^  Chatham   gQund,  driven  in  by  the  heavy  southeast  gales  prevail- 
ing at  that  time;  but  the  last  four  years  there  has  not 
been' a  fur  seal  seen  in  any  i)art  of  Chatham  Sound  that  I  have  been 
able  to  learn  of.     I  visit  the  different  parts  of  the  sound  with  my  tribe 
^        .    ,    .  when  thev  are  making  oil  and  have  never  known  any 

Do    not     land     on      ,.  i   x"     i  i  ^i        i  i  i         •  .       n 

coast.  lur  seal  to  haul  up  on  tlie  land  or  rocks  in  any  part  ot 

Alaska  that  1  ever  visited,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of 

optusic   11  1.      ^^^y  p^^j^  _^^^,^l  being  born  in  the  water  or  anyAvhere  else 

in  Alaska,  and  had  they  ever  been  born  in  the  water  or  on  tlie  islands 
or  rocks  of  Alaska  some  of  my  tribe  would  have  known  it  ami  it  would 
have  been  reported  to  me.     1  have  nothing  more  to  say. 

his 

NicnoLi  X  Gadowen. 

mark 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  A  Ihert  Kcetnuel:^  trader  in  oil,  etc. 

TELAGIC   SEALING. 

Albert  Keetnuck,  being  duly  sworn,  de])oses  and  says:  lam  27  years 

old.     Was  born  and  live  at  Killisnoo.     Make  herring 

xperunce.  ^.^^  ^^^^^  wood,   aiul  grow  potatocs  and  turnips.     The 

herring  oil  I    make    I    sell    to    other    Indians,    and    the    potatoes 

and  turnips  I  dispose  of  to  the  white  men  around  the  sound,  and 

sell  the  wood  to  the  fish  company.     My  business  calls  me  away  from 

this  place  to  the  different  inlets  aud  islands  around  Chatham  Sound, 

and  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  fur  seal  anywhere  in  the  sound.     The 

Indians  who  buy  my  tish  oil  belong  to  tribes  who  live  long  distances 

away.     Have  never  heard  them  say  that  they  ever  saw 

lami*.  "°*  ^'^"'  "^  ""   '^^^y  ^^^^  ^cal  hauled  out  on  the  islands,  rocks,  or  any 

part  of  the  mainland  of  Alaska.     Had  they  hauled  out 

on  any  place  in  Alaska  I  should  have  known  it  myself  or  would  have 

been  told  of  it  by  the  Indians  who  come  long  distances  to  purchase  oil 

from  me.     I  have  no  more  to  say. 

liis 

Albert  x  Keetnuck. 

^^  mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1S02, 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent, 


TAKEN  NEAR  CHATHAM  SOUND.  251 

Deposition  of  Georr/c  Kcticooschish,  Thlinlcct  Indian  fisherman. 
PELAGIC    SEALING. 

George  Ketwooscliisli,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Am  30 
years  of  age.  Born  in  and  liave  lived  at  Killisnoo  all  my  life.  Belong 
to  the  Thlinket  tribe  of  Indians.     1  am  a  herring  lisb-  . 

erman  by  occupation.     I   make   heriing  oil  winch  I       'xpenence. 
sell  to  tiie  people    of  other   tribes   along  the  coast.     They    come    a 
long   distance   to  buy  it  of  me.     I  visit  all  the   islands  and  rocks 
in  following  my  business,  in  Chatham  Bound,  and  have      c   ■,    -, 

o6«ils    (i  o    not    i  rC" 

never  been  able  to  see  a  fur  seal  in  any  part  of  the  q,, en t  waters  of  se. 
waters  of  southeastern  Alaska  in  my  life.     Have  never  ^'asUa. 
heard  of  any  seal  being  in  the  waters  nor  on  the  land  or  rocks  off  or  on 
the  coast  of  southeastern  Alaska.     Have  never  heard     „     ,    ■  ,-,, 

„  ...  -ii  J  T  1  ji  JNo  pelagic  birth. 

oi  pups  being  born  m  the  water  anywhere  along  the 
coast  of  Alaska  in  my  life.  Following  my  occupation,  the  people  of 
other  tribes  come  a  very  long  distance  to  buy  of  me  the  oil  which  I 
make.  Had  there  ever  been  any  seal  liauled  out  on  any  part  of  the 
Alaskan  coast  it  would  liave  been  told  to  me  by  these  people  who  come 
to  my  home  to  buy  oil.     That's  all  I  have  to  say. 

liis 

George  x  KETwooscmsn. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  C'hurcii, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  tliis  12th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Konlcorial,  native  Killisnoo  fisherman. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Konkonal,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  one  of  the  head- 
men of  the  tribe  of  JSTeltuskin  village.  Am  00  years  of  age.  Was  born 
at  and  have  lived  at  Killisnoi)  all  my  life.     Have  always  . 

made  it  my  business  to  catch  herring  and  make  oil,       '■'^i'«'i«>ice. 
which  I  have  disposed  of  to  Indians  of  other  tribes,  who  come  a  long 
distance  to  buy  it.     I  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  any 
fur  seal  being  in  the  inland  waters  around  Chatham   ^.^tcrr'^^*  '"  '"'"'^""^ 
Sound  or  any  other  place  in  Alaska.     Nor  have  I  ever 
heard    of    any  seal  being  hauled  up  on  any  of  the     ^°.  "»*  ''■'^"i  "p  «» 
islands  or  on  the  coast  of  southeastern  Alaska.     Had   '"'^^ ' 
any  seal  hauled  uj)  on  the  land  or  islands  of  southeastern  Alaska  I 
would  have  known  it  by  hearing  the  Indians  iVoin  other  tribes  talking 
about  it  who  came  to  buy  oil.     That  is  all  I  have  to  say. 

Konkonal,  his  x  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  IMth  day  of  Ai)ril,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


252  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Billy  Xah-Jioo,  trader  in  oil  and  fisherman. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Billy  Nali-lioo,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:     I  am  about  35 
years  old.     Was  born  at  and  reside  at  Killisnoo  all  my 
xpciKnce.  j.^^^     ^^  ^^  oecupation  a  herring  lisberman  and  oil 

maker,   wliicli  oil   I   sell    to    other  tribes  of  Indians.     I    have   vis- 
ited  all   the   islands    between   here  and    Sitka   and  in    other  parts 
of  the  sound,  and  have  never  seen  any  fur  seal  in  the  waters  in  my 
.  life.     JSTever  heard  of  any  fur  seal  pup  being  born  in  the 

1)0 'ifotfiaui'up  on   Water,  nor  have  I  heard  of  any  fur  seal  hauling  up  on 
'""'^-  the  land  or  islands  in  southeastern  Alaska  or  anywhere 

else.  Had  pnps  been  born  in  the  water  or  seals  hauled  up  on  the  laud 
on  any  i^art  of  the  coast  it  would  certainly  be  known  to  the  Indians 
and  1  would  have  heard  of  it.    I  have  nothing  more  to  say. 

his 

Billy  x  Nah-hoo. 

^^  mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
PicTER  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A. W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  1S92. 

A. W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Kesth  Riley,  laborer,  fisherman,  trader. 

pelagic  sealing. 

Kesth  Riley,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  40  years  old; 
born  and  reside  at  Killisnoo.     Am  now  working  for  the 

j:xperience.  wliitc  men  in  sainmer  and  catching  herring  for  making 

oil  in  the  winter.  Sell  the  oil  to  the  other  tribes  of  In- 
dians.   I    have   visited    the  different  islands  iu   the 

No  pelagic  buti,.      g^^^^,^^^  ,^,^^^  ^,g^.gj,  j^j^^^^  ^,jy  fur-seal  to  be  born  iu  the 

water  or  on  any  of  the  islands  in  southeastern  Alaska.  If  any  seal  had 
hauled  ud  on  any  of  the  islands  in  southeastern  Alaska, 
laud!  "°*  '"'"'  "^'*'"  ^  shonld  "have  known  it.  Tliey  would  certaiidy  have 
been  seen  by  some  Indians,  and  they  w(mld  have  re- 
ported it  to  all.  HaA^e  never  seen  a  fnr-sealin  Chatham  Sound  or  any 
of  the  inlets  off  the  sound  in  iny  life.     Have  got  no  more  to  say. 

his 

Kesth  x  Eiley. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Church, 

U^iited  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent 


TAKEN    NEAR    CHATHAM    SOUND.  253 

Deposition  of  ShucMean,  physician,  fisherman,  trader  in  oil. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Shucklean,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Was  born  and  have 
lived  at  KilUsnop  all  my  life.     Am  00  years  of  age.     I 
was  a  doctor  most  of  my  life,  but  have  given  it  up,  and     Experience. 
1  now  catch  herring  and  make  oil.     The  oil  1  sell  to 
the  j)eople  of  other  tribes,  who  come  a  long  ways  to  purchase  it  from 
me.     Have  been  down  to  Sitka,  and  on  all  islands  and  inlets  around 
Chatham  Sound,  and  have  never  seen  any  fur-seal  in      p^^^.  ^^^^  ,,,,  ^_^,^ 
my  life,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  any  fur-seal  being  ha«i  up  on  coast  ot 
hauled  up  on   any  of  the  islands   or  rocks   around   ciuatham  sound. 
Chatham  Sound.     Nor  have  I  ever  seen  any  man  who  said  he  ever  saw 
a  fur-seal  pup  m  his  life.     Have  never  seen  an  Indian  belonging  to 
any  tribe  who  said  he  ever  saw  or  heard  of  a  fur-seal  hauling  up  on 
the  land  anywhere  in  southern  Alaska.     The  Indians  who  come  here 
to  trade  with  me  and  our  people  come  long  distances,  and  had  there 
been  a  fur-seal  rookery  in  any  part  of  Alaska,  my  people  and  myself 
woidd  have  known  it.     I  can  say  no  more. 

Shucklean,  his  X  mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1S92. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  Mates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Yuan  Slanoch,  herring  fisherman. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Yuan  Slanoch,  being  duly  sw(n'n,  deposes  and  says:  Am  35  years 
old;  born  and  have  lived  in  Killisnoo  all  my  life.     My 
business  is  that  of  catching  herring  and  making  oil.      Experience. 
and  chopping  wood.  ^  I  sell  the  oil  to  the  people  of  other 
tribes.     When  following  my  occupation  I  visit  all  the  islands  and  inlets 
of  Chatliam  Sound  and  have  never  seen  or  taken  a  fur-seal  in  my  life. 
Nor  have  I  heard  of  any  fur-seal  pup  being  born  in  the     ^^^  ^^.j.^^j^  ^.^.^^^ 
water  nor  on  the  land  in  or  around  Chatham  Sound, 
nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  any  fur-seal  hauling  up  on  g^^gt""*  ^''^"^  "''  ''" 
the  land  or  rocks  anywliere  around  Chatlram  Sound. 
The  people  who  I  sell  oil  to  come  from  a  long  distance,  and  I  have  never 
heard  them  say  that  they  had  seen  fur-seal  hauled  up  on  the  land  any- 
where, and  they  would  have  told  me  and  others  of  our  people  had  they 
seen  any.    I  don't  know  anything  more  about  seals. 

liis 

Yuan  x  Slanoch. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United,  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1S02. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


254  TESTIMONY    TAKEN    NEAR    CHATHAM    SOUND. 

Di'poaitioii  of  Tehet-Chak,  herringfisher  and  ivood- chopper. 
PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Tcliet-Cbak,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:    Was  born  at  Kil- 

lisiioo  and  have  lived  here  all  my  life.     Am  now  .a  very 

Esperieuce.  '  oUl  mau.     My  occupation  is  that  of  a  herrlng-tisher  aiul 

wood-chopper.     Have  visited  all  the  islands  and  inlets 

iu  Chatham  Sonnd  and  other  parts  of  soutlieastern  Alaska.     Have 

,     never  seen  fur-seal  in  the  inland  waters,  nor  have  I 

Never  seen    seals  ,  i       r-  i      •  j.i  i  t    i  i      l- 

in  inland  waters,  nor  ever  heard  01  any  being-  there,  nor  liave  1  heard  ot  or 
hear.i of  tiicm hauling  g^^gn  j^j^y  j^^i  ^^^  y,,  l\^^.  i;,^j,i  j^^jy  i.^laiid,  or  rock  on  or 

Up  Oil  CO<l'8t.  «/  J-  7  */  7 

oflt"  the  coast  of  Alaska.  In  my  business  of  making 
herring  oil,  which  I  dispose  of  to  the  i)eople  of  the  difterent  tribes 
along  the  coast,  I  should  have  heard  of  seal  being  hauled  up  on  any 
island  or  rock  along  the  coast  of  Alaska,  had  there  been  any,  fi)r  it  is 
customary  for  the  peoi)le  of  one  tribe  to  tell  the  i)eople  of  another  all 
they  know.    I  have  no  more  to  say. 

Tchet-Chak,  his  X  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  CnuRcn, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Anna-tlas,  chief  of  TaJcou  Indians. 

HABITS. 

Anna-tlas,  chief  of  the  Takou  tribe  of  Indians,  being  duly  sworn, 

deposes  and  says:  Have  always  been  chief  of  this  tribe.     Have  never 

been  seal  hunting  in  mv  life.     Myself  and  tribe  go  to 

Experience.  ^^^^  ^^.^^^  .^^  ^.^^.  -^  ^y^./jjioel  and 'trade  with  the  Killis- 

noo  Indians  for  oil.  Have  never  seen  a  fur-seal  iu  all  my  travels  up 
and  down  the  coast.  Have  never  heard  of  fur-seal 
on^coist^"  ""*  ""'"'^ "''  ^'i^"li"8'  lip  01^  any  PJii't  of  the  coast.  If  seal  had  been 
hauled  up  on  any  part  of  the  coast  I  should  have 
been  told  of  it  by  the  people  of  other  tribes  with  whom  I  have  come  in 
contact  during  the  long  years  of  my  life.    That  is  all  I  have  to  say. 

Anna-tlas,  his  X  mark. 
Witness  to  his  mark : 
Peter  Church, 

United,  States  Interpreter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent, 


TESTIMONY  TAKEN  AT  OR  NEAR  SITKA. 


Bejw.sition  of  Adam  Ayonl;ee^  native  sealer  at  Sitlca. 

PELAGIC    SEALING — MIGRATION. 

Adam  Ayoiikce,  being  duly  swoni,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  ahoiit  CO 
years  old;  born  at  and  reside  in  Sitka.  Am  by  occupation  a  hunter. 
Hunt  seal  in  summer  and  deer  in  winter  ever  since  I  was  a  small  boy. 
Seal  are  first  seen  and  taken  by  me  each  year  off  Sitka  Sound,  about 
the  middle  of  April.  Have  followed  them  as  far  north  as  Cape  Edward, 
w  here  they  disappear  about  J  une  30,  They  ai-e  constantly  on  the  advance 
up  the  coast.  When  I  was  a  boy,  seal  were  speared  among  the  islands  in 
Sitka  Sound,  but  now  the  few  that  come  alongthe  coast  we  are  obliged  to 
go  far  out  to  sea  in  order  to  get.  Have  a  1  ways  used  a  shotgun  and  rifle  in 
taking  seal  since  a  young  man.  I  rarely  lose  any  seal  I  shoot,  as  I 
never  shoot  at  them  unless  they  are  very  close  to  the  boat.  Most  all 
seal  that  I  have  killed  have  been  i^regiiant  cows.  Have 
taken  a  few  male  seals  from  1  to  4  years  old,  I  think,  ^o^^'-^^/i^j.^  rrcgnaut 
Have  never  killed  an  old  bull.  The  sex  of  seal  can 
not  be  told  in  the  water.  I  shoot  everything  that  comes  .^^'discriminate  kin- 
near  the  boat.  When  a  seal  is  killed  dead,  he  will  sink 
very  quick,  wliich  is  the  reason  I  never  shoot  them  unless  they  are  so 
near  the  boat  that  I  can  secure  them.  Seal  are  always  shot  in  the  head 
when  possible. 

I  have  noticed  that  seal  havedecreased  very  rapidly  in  the  last  three 
years,  owing  to  too  many  schooners  engaged  in  sealing      D^.^y^.,j,s^ 
along   the  coast  of  Alaska  and  Bering  Sea.      Have 
never  known  of  pups  being  born  in  the  water  or  any-  , ..^l"*J'."Jt"  "'  ""'**''' 
where  else  on  the  coast  ontside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.      ,,  ,^  ,i„  „„f 

HI  .■  /■  1      1         >  •  T       ,         ,         1^  'ir    seals    do    not 

ave  never  known  or  lur-seals  liauluig  up  on  the  land   haul  up  oiitiio  aius- 

on  the  coast  of  Alaska,     Have  seen  them  haul  u])  <m   ""'^H.^.Ttfp on Pribiioi 

the  Pribilof  Islands.     If  i)elagic  sealing  was  st()i)ii('d  in    isian.is. 

Bering  Sea  and  the  Pacific  Ocean,  seals  would  become      '''■""•^■"""• 

plentiful  once  more  and  the  natives  of  Alaska  could  again  nuike  money 

by  catching  them. 

his 

Adam  x  Ayonkee. 

luurk. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 

George  Kastrometinoff, 

United  States  Conrt  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  tliis  !»th  day  of  April,  1S02. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 

255 


256  TESTIMOIST 

Deposition  of  Charles  Camjjhell,  captain  scJiooner  Umlrina,  scaling  in 
North  Facijic  and  Bering  Sea. 

PELAGIC   SEALING,  MIGRATION. 

Charles  Campbell,  captain  of  the  British  schooner  Uonbrina,  being 
duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Have  commanded  said  schooner  the  last 
two  years.  Have  been  engaged  in  sealing  in  the  North  racificOcean  and 
Bering  Sea.  First  seen  and  taken  seal  by  me  off  the  Columbia  Biver  in 
February.  The  seal  are  constantly  advancing  up  the  coast.  We  fol- 
low the  seal  up  the  coast  until  we  enter  the  sea  about  July  G.  The  Par- 
ker shotgun  is  used  by  me  exclusively.  I  have  seven  hunters  and  seven 
boats;  twenty-three  men  all  told  on  the  vessel.  Experienced  hunters 
lose  very  few  seal  that  are  shot,  but  beginners  lose  a 
T„i^.!I;'"v!'iM^  J?,!",?^;  ^^'  great  number.     ]\Iaiority  of  seals  taken  are  females 

males  with  J oung.  i?  it^  i   /      i  i  x'  ■      j-i 

With  young.     W  e  caught  a  large  nun)ber  ot  pups  m  the 

Nursing  females  early  part  of  the  scasou.     Did  not  take  jjarticular  no- 

^'"'''^-  tice  of  the  sex.     Have  killed  cows  with  milk  about  GO 

miles  off'  the  Pribilof  Islands.    A  few  old  bulls  were  killed  by  me  last 

^  ^.     ..,,.„    season.     Can  not  distinguish  the  sex  of  the  seal  in  the 

Indiscriminate  Kill-  .  j_-ii  p  iiiiii-i-j.ii 

ing.  water,  excejjt  in  the  case  ot  an  old  bull  which  is  told 

Pups  not  born  in  ^y  ^'^^  ^'^6-     ^^^  ^^  discrimination  but  kill  everything 

water  nor  anywhere  that  comcs  ucar  the  boat  ill  sliapc  of  a  seal    Have 

I'and"!''  Pribilof  Is-  jjgyg^.  knowu  any  seal  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water, 

nor  on  the  coast  anywhere  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Is- 

Do  not  haul  up  out-    iitt  "^i  ixii  i„ 

side  Pribilof  Islands,    uinds.     Havc  ucvcr  kiiowu  Seal  to  haul  up  anywhere 
outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

Charles  Campbell. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  this  oOtli  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Simeon  Chin-Jcoo  tin,  scaler. 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Simeon  Chin-koo-tin,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  60 

years  old;  was  born  and  reside  at  Sitka,  and  am  by 

Experience.  oc<n])ation  a  scal  hunter;  haAc  been  engaged  in  that 

business  since  I  Avas  a  small  boy.     About  the  middle  of 

^j^_..^j.^^j_  April  the  first  seal  are  seen  and  taken  by  me  off  Sitka 

'^  ■' '"  '  Sound.     At  this  time  the  seal  are  advancing  up  the 

coast.     In  early  days  the  spear  was  used  in  taking  seal,  but  now  the 

shotgun  and  rifle  are  used  exclusively.     No  seal  were  lost  when  struck 

with  speai'.     Fitty  per  cent  are  lost  when  killed  with  shotgun,  and  a 

larger  proportion  are  lost  when  rifle  is  used.     JNIost  of 

pre^^a.Vtfemaies.'"^'   the  scals  killed  by  me  have  been  females  with  young. 

They  sleep  more  and  are  less  active  and  more  easily 

captured.     The  few  male  seals  taken  by  me  I  do  not  know  their  ages. 

Quite  a  uumber  of  yearlings  are  taken,  the  majority  of  which  are  females; 

have  taken  a  few  bulls  in  my  hfe;  sex  of  the  seal  can 

^Indiscrimiuatekill-    ^^^  ^^^  ^^^j^  -^  ^^^  ^^..^^^.^^    ^^^^j^^^  -^  ^^   .^^^    ^^j^^  ^^^jj_      ^^jj 

seal  are  shot  that  come  near  the  boat  regardless  of  sex. 


TAKEN   AT    OR    NEAR    8ITKA.  257 

When  seal  are  shot  dead  they  almost  instantly  sink  and  are  hard  to 

secure;  have  noticed  the  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast 

the  last  four  years;  too  many  schooners  are  huntiug 

them  in  the  open  waters  of  the  I'acitic  Ocean  and  Bering     p„p*  not  bom  in 

Sea;  liave  never  known  or  heard  of  pup  seals  being  born  Z'!^t^^  .1"^  on  lai.d 

.      ,,'  ,  ^111  1  •       \i       1  1  aiiywliere  m  Alaska. 

Ill  the  water,  nor  on  the  land  anywhere  in  Alaska;  nave 
never  known  of  any  seals  hauling  up  on  the  land  on  this   w?t°?nian"ou  Prlw 
coast  elsewhere  than  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     I  tliink  lof  islands. 
that  if  the   schooners  were  prohibited  from  hunting- 
seal  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea  the  seal     p™*'^*^^'""- 
would  soun  become  plentiful  along  the  coast. 

Ill's 

Simeon  x  Chinkootin. 

m;iik. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 

George  Kastromettnoff, 

United  titatcs  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  Ainil,  1892. 

A.  W,  Xavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Peter  ChvreJi,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Peter  Church,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 
Sitka;  am  22  years  old,  and  am  by  occupation  a  hunter. 
Have  been   engaged  in  sealing  the  past  four  years      Experience. 
in  the   North   Pacific   Ocean,  always   in    the    capacity  of  a  hunter. 
Have  first  taken  seal  oft' Sitka  Scmnd  the  middle  of  April.     Followed 
the  seal  uj)  the  coast  as  far  as  Yakutat,  where  thev 
disappeared  the  last  of   June.      Have   always  used     M's^««"°- 
shotgun  and  rifle.     I  tliink  about  50  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot  with 
shotgun  are  lost,  and  a  greater  pi-oportion  are  lost  when 
shot  with  a  ritie.     Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  iiie  have  lui^eirtaw^"*"*^*" 
been  females  with  young.     I  think  the  female  seal  is 
less  active  and  more  easily  a]>proached.     A  few  male  seals  have  been 
taken  by  me,  their  ages  ranging  from  one  to  five  years  old.     Killed 
three  large  bulls  during  my  life.     The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  dis- 
tinguished in  the  water.     I  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  enough. 
If  seal  are  instantly  killed  they  will  sink  very  quick,  and  are  harder 
to  secure  under  those  conditions  than  they  would  be  if  badly  wounded. 
Have  noticed  that  seal  are  becoming  very  scarce  on  the      ^^ 
coast  the  last  few  years.   The  cause  of  the  scarcity  of  tlie 
seal,  I  think,  is  that  too  many  schooners  in  the  North      Tndiscriminate  kiii- 
Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea,  and  the  indiscriminate  rug. 
killingof  females  with  pup  in  the  water.     Never  have     p„ps  not  bom  in 
known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water,  nor  have  I   water. 
ever  known  fur-seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  anywhere      do  not  baui  up  on 
on  the  coast  of  Alaska.     I  think  all  pelagic  sealing  i''"'^- 
shcmld  be  stopi^ed,  so  that  seal  would  have  a  chance      Protection. 
to  inciease. 

Peter  CnuRcn. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2Gth  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 
271G— ;fOL  II 17 


258  TESTIMONY 

BeposHioii  of  John  C.  Clement,  sealer,  one  season  on  Mollic  Adama. 

TELAGIC    SEALING. 

Jolin'C.  Clement, being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  reside  at  Sitka; 

am  25  years  old.     Have  luiiited  seal  one  season  on  the 

Expenonce.  seboouer  Mollie  Adams  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and 

Bering-  Sea.     Have  caught  seal  all  ah  )ng  the  coast  from  Cape  Flattery  to 

the  Pribilof  Islands,  using  the  shotgun  exclusively.    Over  50  per  cent  are 

,,  ^,  ,  „     lost  when  shot  with  shotgun.   Most  of  the  seals  taken  are 

Mostly  pregnant  fe-  .   ,  .„  »  ^  i      ^    i  i  •      . ,  -  V 

males  taken.  COWS  With  ])up.    The  scx  cau  iiot  bc  told  HI  the  water,  and 

Indiscriminate  kui-  ^^^  ^^'^  ^^^^  ^^' ^^  '^omd  near  the  boat.     No  discri uiination 

in-.  is  used;  hunters  kill  everything  they  see.    Never  have 

^I'ups  not  bom  in  j^^^^^.y  qj.  jj^^rd  of  pups  being  born  in  the  water  or 

Do  not  haul  up  on  elscwhcre  outside  the  Pribilof  Islands.     Have  never 

known  or  heard  of  fui-seals  hauling  up  on  the  land  on 

this  coast  elsewhere  than  the  Pribilof  Islands.     I  think  the  indiscriin- 

tection  inate  killing  of  seals  in  Bering  Sea  is  the  cause  of  their 

scarcity  along  the  coast,  and  if  pelagic  sealing  was 

stopped  altogether,  the  seal  would  then  become  plentiful. 

John  C.  Clement. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A,  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Ho  on  ah  Dick,  siibcliief  of  Hooniah  Indians. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

HooniahDickjbeing  duly  sworn, deposes  and  says:  Born  at  Sitka;  am 

about  40  years  old.  Have  been  living  in  Hoonah  ten 
Experience.  years,   and    am    now    subchief   of  the  Hoonah    In- 

dians. Have  hunted  seal  for  three  years  from  Cross  Sound  to  Yaku- 
tat.  Always  use  the  shotgun  and  rifle  for  taking  seal.  Always 
shoot  the  seal  close  to   the  boat   and    rarely  lose  one,   but  when 

shot  at  with  the  rifle  I  lose  a  good  many.     I  have 

Nopeiamci.irtii.      jjeygj.  kuown  of  a  pup  seal  being  born  in  the  water  or 

on  the  land  anywhere  in  Alaska  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.    Never 

Lave  heard  of  any  fur-seal  being  hauled  nj)  on  the 
co?sV"'' ^'""' "^  °"  coast  or  rocks  of  Alaska  other  than  on  the  Pribilof 

Islands.  Have  traveled  from  Hoonah  to  Fort  Simp- 
S(m  and  north  as  far  as  Chilcat  throngh  all  the  channels  and  sounds 
ill  southeastern  Alaska,  and  I  come  in  contact  with  the  peojile  of  many 
tribes  of  Indians  and  I  have  never  heard  them  say  that  they  had  ever 

seen  or  heard  of  a  fur-seal  being  hauled  up  on  any 

coasl""*  ^'''"^  ''^  ""  P'li't^  ^^  *^'6  ^'<^*=^^t  ^^  «^  '^^y  <^*"  t'^e  islands  along  the 
coast  of  Alaska.     Had  they  ever  knoAvn  of  a  rookery 
of  fur-seal  in  aiu'  part  of  Alaska  I  should  have  kuown  it.     I  know  no 
more  about  seal  than  what  I  have  said. 

his 

Hoonah  x  Dick. 

mai-k. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
Peter  Church, 

United  States  Interpreter. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  bcibre  me  this  15tli  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN    AT    OR    NEAR    SITKA.  259 

Deposition  of  John  Dohrn,  sealer  {boat  puller). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

SiTKA,  Alaska,  Jlfay  18,  1892. 
John  Dohrn,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  sa3\s :  TJiat  he  is  a  native 
of  Germany,  and  has  been  engaged  in  seal  hunting 
diuing  the  jnesent  season  on  the  schooner  Laborador,  of       ^penence. 
Vancouver,  British  Oolunibia,  in  the  capacity  of  boat- 
liuller;  that  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  and  belief     Eighty   per    cent 
about  eight  of  every  ten  seals  killed  in  pelagic  sealing  t^^^en  females. 
are  females,  and  that  twice  as  many  seals  are  lost  as     waste  of  life. 
are  captured. 

John  Dohrn. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  before  me  this  18th  day  of  May,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  ChAS.   H,   IsHAM, 

Deputy  Cleric,  United  kStates  Distriet  Court  of  Alaska. 


Deposition  of  James  Gondoicen,  native  sealer. 

PELAGIC  SEALING. 

James  Gondowen,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Am  30  years 
old ;  born  at  Killisnoo  and  reside  at  8itka.  Am  by  occupation  a  hunter, 
hunting  seal  every  summer  and  deer  every  winter  since  . 

I  was  a  small  boy.     Hunted  one  season  on  schooner      '^pentnct. 
Sitka.    Have  hunted  seal  between  Sitka  and  Cross  sounds.     They  first 
appear  about  middle  of  this  month  and  disappear  about  . 

the  last  of   June.     Have   always  used  shotgun  and        ^^^"^  ^°°" 
rifle  for  taking  seal.     About  50  per  cent  are  lost  when  killed  with  a  shot- 
gun and  a  larger  per  cent  vrhen  rifle  is  used.     Most  of 
the  seals  killed  are  cows  Avith  pup.     A  few  males  are  ui.Skmed  °""°*  *''' 
killed  averaging  from  I  to  4  years  old.     Have  killed  but 
one  old  bull  in  my  life.     A  few  yearlings  are  taken,  the  majority  of  wliich 
are  females.     Can  not   distinguish  sex  of  seal  in  the  water.     Hunters 
use  no  discrimination,  and  killed  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat. 
When  seal  are  shot  in  the  head  and  instantly  killed  they  will  sink  at 
once  and  are  hard  to  secure  under  those  conditions.      ^ 
Have  noticed  that  seals  are  decreasing  the  last  four 
years,  cause,  I  think,  by  too  many  white  men  hunt-      ,,  .  ,       . 

V  1    •      i.1  .  i-j.1        T^       •-■      /-v  1    f»       •  Pupa    not    born    in 

iiig  seal  m  the  waters  ot  the  Pacihc  Ocean  and  lieriiig  \v.it..rorouian(iaionnd 
Sea.    Havenever  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the  wa-  *^^'^'^-*- 
teror  on  the  land  around  the  coast  of  Alaska.     Xever      no  not  hauiupe.K- 
known  any  fur-seal  to  haul  up  on  tlie  land  or  on  the  la/uis.""  ^^''^'^"^  ^'' 
coast  elsewhere  than  on  the  Pribiiof  Islands. 

Think  if  all  pehigic  sealing  was  st<)p[)ed  in  Bering  . 

Sea   and  tlie  Xorth  Bacihc  Ocean   seal  would  again 
become  i)lentilul. 

his 

James  x  Gondowen, 

^^  mark 

Witness  to  his  mark. 

George  Kastrometinofp, 

United  States  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  \V.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


260  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  W.  F.  Griffith,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Sitka,  Alaska,  May  18, 18D2. 

W.  P.  Griffith,  being"  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  he  is  American 

born,    and   has  l)een  engaj^ed  in  sealinj;- (buing  tlie  present  season  on 

the  schooner  /vo/>or«(/yr,of  Vancouver,  British  Cobnubia, 

Kxpuiieuce.  ^^^  capacity  of  liunter.  To  the  best  of  his  knowledge  and 

70  per  cunt  taken  lu-  belief  about  SO vcn  of  cvcry  ten  seals  killed  in   pelagic 

males.  Sealing  are  females.     Tliat  in  pelagic  sealing  twice  as 

AVaste  of  uie.        many  seals  are  lost  as  are  cax>tured. 

W.  P.  Geipfth. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  before  me  this  18th  day  of  May,  1892. 

[SEAL.J  (JHAS.   H.   ISHAM, 

Deinity  Clerk,  United  States  Dist.  Court  of  Alaska. 


Deposition  of  E.  Hofstad,  sealer  and  mate  of  schooner  Clara. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

E.  Hofstad,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at  Sitka 
My  x^resent  occupation  is  that  of  a  seal  hunter.     Am 

Experieuce.  ^^^  prcscut  Uiatc  of  the  Sealing  schooner  Clara,  of  Sitka. 

Have  hunted  seal  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  for  the  i)ast  three  years. 

Have  seen  and  taken  the  first  seal  off  the  west  coast 

Tvr  „„  ti  T,  of  Vancouver  Island  in  Aijril.     The  seals  then  are  on 

Migration.  ^ 

the  advance  up  the  coast.     1  now  use  shotgun  exclu- 

sivel}^  for  taking  seal.     I  think  that  06  i)er  cent  of  the  seal  shot  with 

shotguns  are  lost.     AVhen  rifles  are  used  a  still  larger 

Most  aU  pregnant  per   ccut  is   lost.     Most   all   scals   takcu  are  females 

iw"'iies.  ^iti2  young'.     1  thinlv  the  females  sleep  more  on  the 

water  and  are  less  active  and  are  more  easily  taken  than 

the  male.    A  few  male  seal  are  taken.     1  would  say  they  are  generally 

o  or  1  years  old.     A  few  yearlings  are  killed,  mostly  females.     About 

five  bull  seal  are  killed  out  of  every  hundred  taken.     The  sex  of  seal 

can  not  be  distinguished  in  the  water  unless  it  be  an 

Indiscriminate  kill-  ^^y^l  |j^j|_     ^^  discrimination  is  used  in  taking  seal; 

everything  tluit  comes  near  the  boat  is  killed.     Wlien 

seal  are  killed  dead  they  sink  very  quick,  especially  if  killed  when  they 

first  put  their  head  above  water,  as  they  do  not  have  a  chance  to  take 

breath.    Most  all  seal  are  shot  in  the  head  when  it  is  i)ossible  to  do  so. 

Seals  have  decreased  very  fast  the  last  three  years. 

Decrease.  rpj^^  decrease  is  caused,  1  think,  by  the  indiscriminate 

killing  of  seals  in  the  water.     Havenever  known  apup 

No  pelagic  biriiis.     ^^  ^^  j^^^^.^^  j^^  ^.^^  watcr  or  anywhere  else  on  the  coast 

Do  not  haul  out  on   of  Alaska.     Havc  never  known  fur-seal  to  haul  out  on 

'""''■  the  land  anywhere  on   the   coast   of  Alaska.     Have 

never  been  in  Bering  Sea.     1  think  that  the  only  way  the  seal  can  ever 

become  i)lentv  again  is  to  stop  all  pelagic  sealing  in 

rrotection.  t>      •  w  .  "  J.  i.         o  o 

Bering  Sea. 

E.  Hofstad. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  April,  1893. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN   AT    OR    NEAR    SITKA.  261 

Deposition  of  Percy  KaMMday,  sealer. 

PELA&IC   SEALING. 

Percy  Kahiktrtay,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  Am  48  years 
old ;  was  boru  at  and  reside  in  Sitka.     Have  hunted  seal 
every  summer  since  I  was  a  small  boy.  Have  never  been     Experience, 
to  Bering  Sea.     The  seals  first  make  their  appearance 
about  the  middle  of  April  off  Sitka  Sound,  and  dis- 
api)car  about  July  1.     They  are  tlien  on  their  way  up     ^^s^at'^n- 
the  coast.     The  sjjear  and  arrow  was  used  to  take  seal  when  I  was  a 
boy,  but  now  I  use  the  shotgun  and  rifle.     At  least  50  per  cent  are  lost 
when  shot  with  shotgun.     When  rifle  is  used  a  larger  j^roportion  of  seal 
are  lost.     Most  of  the  seal   I   have  taken  have  been 
pregnant  cows.     When  the  females  are  with  pup  they  cowsfakM  p^^"""* 
sleep  more,  are  less  active  in  the  water,  and  more  easily 
approached  than  tlie  male  seal.     But  a  very  few  young  male  seal  are 
taken  by  me  along  the  coast.    If  a  seal  is  killed  when  its  head  first  comes 
above  Avater,  it  sinks  at  once.     Under  those  conditions  they  are  hard 
to  secure.     Seal  are  always  shot  in  the  head  when  possible,  l)ut  never 
jniss  a  shot  at  them  if  only  a  small  part  of  the  body  is  exposed.     Have 
noticed  that  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast  the  last  few 
years  along  the  coast,  caused,  1  think,  by  pelagic  hunt-      ^®*^''*'^^®- 
ing.     Have  never  known  of  a  fur-seal  pup  being  born     no  pelagic  birth. 
in  the  water,  or  along  this  coast.     Have  never  known 
afur-sealtohauluponthelandanywhere  on  the  Alaskan     Do  not  haul  up  on 
coast.    Think  the  seals  are  most  all  killed  by  the  pelagic  *"'''**'' 
seal  hunters  in  the  waters  of  the  ISTorth  Pacific  Ocean,  so  far  from  the 
land  that  the  Indian  luinters  have  no  chance  to  get  any  in  canoes,  as 
he  only  goes  a  short  distance  from  the  shore.     And  unless  this  pelagic 
hunting  is  stopped  in  the  JSTorth  Pacific  Ocean  and 
Bering  Sea  the  seal  will  soon  all  be  gone,  and  the  Indian      p™**''^*^"'^- 
hunters  will  have  to  dig  clams  in  order  to  keep  from  starving. 

his 

Percy  +  Kahiktday, 

Jb^  mark. 

Witness  to^s  mark: 

George  Kastrometinoff, 

United  States  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  April,  1S02. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  PkiUp  Kashevaroff,  sealer. 
PELAGIC    sealing. — MIGRATION. 

Philip  Kashevaroff,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:    Am  47 
years  old;  born  at  and  reside  in  Sitka.     Am  by  occui)ati<ni  a  mariner. 
The  last  year  I  spent  hunting  seal  on  the  schooner 
Allie  Alger.     First  seal  wei-e  seen  off  Sitka  Sonn<l  in      Experience. 
May  by  me.    We  followed  the  seals  as  far  as  Sand  Point 
on  linger  Island.     The  shotgun  was  used  altogether  for  taking  seal. 


262  TESTIMONY 

About  tliree  seal  are  secured  out  of  every  ten  sliot. 
feSs"*^'  pregnant  rj^j^g  iiuijorifcy  of  Seal  are  cows  witli  pup.     A  few  luales 
are  taken,  about  four  or  five  years  old.     In  the  wiuter 
time  some  young  seal  frequent  the  inside  passage.    Tlie  sex  of  the  seal 
can  not  be  told  in  the  water  unless  in  the  case  of  an 
indiscriminatekiiiing.^^j^^  bulL  which  is  told  by  its  sizc.    We  usc  uo  discrimi- 
nation in  shooting  seal.     Everything  is  killed  that  comes  near  the  boat 
regardless  of  sex.     If  a  seal  is  shot  and  killed  instantly  he  will  sink 
very  quick.     I  think  the  seal  are  about  as  plentiful 
Decrease.  aloug  this  coast,  but  mucli  more  scarce  farther  w^est. 

The  cause  of  this  scarcity  is  too  much  pelagic  hunting,    Kever  have 
iTo  peiaoic  birth.      sccu  or  heard  of  pups  beiijg  born  in  the  water  or  on 
i)o  not  haul  up  on  tlic  coast  outsidc  of  tlic  Pribilof  Islaiids.     Have  never 
''*'"^'  heard  of  fur-seal  liauliiig  up  on  the  land  or  on  the  coast 

elsewhere  than  on  the  Pribilof  Ishmds.  Last  year  I  was  not  in  Bering 
Sea,  but  was  on  the  Eussian  side.  Have  taken  cow  seals  full  of  milk 
30  miles  from  Copper  Islands.  Did  not  see  any  big  bulls  on  Attn  Is- 
lands. I  think  if  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  was  stoj)ped 
and  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  cows  was  stopped,  seal 
would  again  become  plentiful  along  the  coast.  When  I  was  with  the 
Eussian  Company  I  spent  six  years  looking  for  rookeries,  but  was  unable 
to  lind  any  i)lace  where  fiir-seal  hauled  out  elsewhere  than  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands. 

Philip  Kashevaroff. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Mike  KethusducJ:,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Mike  Kethusduck,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Am  50  years 
old;  was  born  at  and  reside  in  Sitka;  am  by  occupation 
a  hunter;  have  hunted  seals  every  season  since  I  was 
a  small  l)oy ;  have  first  seen  seal  oft'  Sitka  Sound  about 
April  15.  Thevall  disapi)earbythelastof  June.  When 
"  "  '      '  I    first  began  hnnting,  sjjcars  and  arrows  were  used 

for  sealing.     Now  tlie  shotgun  has  cnme  into  general  use,  and  a  few 
seals  are  taken  with  a  ride.     Fully  one  half  the  seal  shot  with  shot- 
guns are  lost,  and  a  much  larger  proportion  when  the 
na^tUurales  ^^^^^      ^'^^^  ^'"^  uscd.    Nouc  wcrc  lost  wlicu  struck  with  a  spear. 
Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  me  were  females  with  })up ; 
think  the  female  is  more  gentle  and  more  easilj^  taken;  have  taken  a 
few  male  seal  from  one  to  four  years  old.     A  very  few  yearlings  have 
been  killed  by  me,  mostly  females.     The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  dis- 
tinguished in  the  water.    Everything  is  shot  that  comes 
Decrea.se.  ^^^^^^,  ^-^^  \jo;it,  rcgardlcss  of  scx.     Seal  have  decreased 

very  rapidly  along  this  coast  in  the  last  three  or  four  years.    The  de- 
crease is  caused,  I  think,  by  schooners  using  shotguns  and  rifles  and 

killing  mostly  female  seals;    have  never  known  any 
No  pelagic  buth.       p^^^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^;^,jj  .^^  ^j^^.  ^^..j^^j.  ^^.  ^^jj  ^j^p  ^^^^^  ^^  Alaska : 


TAKEN  AT  OR  NEAR  SITKA.  2G3 

have  neA'er  known    any  fiir-seal  to  liaul  out  on  the  gp,,,,  ,i„  ^^^  i,,,,,! 

hmd  on  the  coast  of  Alaska;  have  heard  that  they  do  outVu  luskali 

haul  out  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     If  pelagic  seal  hunt-  '^oast. 

ing'  was  stopped  in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Prohibition. 
Bering  Sea,  seal  would  become  i)lentiful  once  more. 

his 

Mike  x  Kethusduck. 

mark. 

"Witness  to  his  mark: 

George  Kastkometinoff, 

United  States  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  iVpril,  1S92. 

A.  W.  Lavendir, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


DeposUion  of  CharJie  Klananeclc,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Charlie  Klananeck,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born 
at  Sitka,  and  am  now  a  very  old  man.     Have  lived 
at  ^Yrangel  twenty  years;    have  been  a  hunter    all     Experience. 
my  life.     A  long  time  ago  I  hunted  seal  with  a  spear, 
but  of  late  years  have  used  the  shotgun.     When  seal 
were  struck  with  a  spear  none  were  lost;  a  great  manv 
are  lost  when  the  shotgun  is  used.     Hunters  always   .^rn.ii.scriminato  kiii- 
kill  all  seal  that  come  near  the  boat,  regardless  of  sex. 
Seal  are  becoming  very  scarce  on  the  coast.     The  rea-     Decrease, 
son  they  are  becoming  so  scarce  is  that  hunters  shoot 
them  with  guns,  and  kill  cows  with  pup.     Have  never     .^^^^  ^j_^^  .^  ^.^^^ 
known  of  fur-seal  pups  being  born  in  the  water  or  on      ^  »peaj,ic 
the  coast  of  Alaska  around  here.     Have  never  seen 
any  fur-seal  hauled  out  on  the  land  in  any  part  of  j^^o  not  haul  up  on 
Alaska.      I  think  the  seal  are  hunted   so   much  by 
schooners  that  they  have  no  chance  to  get  their  food     Protection. 
or  anything  else,  and  unless  this  is  stopped  seal  will 
soon  all  be  gone,  and  none  will  be  left  for  the  Indians. 

his 

Charlie  x  Klananeck. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter, 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  tliis  0th  day  of  May,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Ayent. 


Deposition  of  John  Kowineet,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   scaling. 

John  Kowineet,  being   duly  sworn,  deposes  and   says:  Am  48  years 
old;  born  at  and  reside  in  Sitka;  occupation,  a  hunter.   ^ 
Have  hunted  seals  every  season  since  I  can  remember. 


2G4  TESTIMONY 

First  seen  and  taken  seal  off  Sitka  Sound ;  about  tlie  mid- 
Mioration.  tile  of  April  eaeli  year  they  make  tlieir  apiiearance.  They 

are  then  working  northward  and  westward.     In  early 
days  I  used  spear  altogether.     Of  late  years  the    shotgun  and  rifle 
have  been  used  exclusively.     About  CO  per  cent  of  the  seal  are  h)st 
when  shot  with   shotgun.     When  rifles  are  used  a  ranch  larger  propor- 
tion is  lost.     Most  all  seal  killed  by  me  have  been  cows 
mmt'femakil'"^^'^*^^    ^^^^^^  pups.     Tliiuk  COWS  are  much  more  plentiful  on  the 
coast;  sleep  more  and  are  more  easily  captured  than 
.   .       ,       the  male  seal.     Have  not  killed  a  bull  seal  for  three 

Inaiscnminato  kill-  -r    i  ,     i  n  t  xi      j?  i 

inn.  years.     1  have  taken  a  few  yearlings,  mostly  females. 

I  always  kill  every  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat; 

hunters  use  no  discrimination.     If  seal  are  shot  dead,  they  sink  at  once 

and  it  is  hard  to  secure  them.  Seal  are  shot  in  the  head  when  it  is 
Decrease  possiblc  to  do  SO.     Havc  uoticed  that  seal  are  decreas- 

ing very  fast  the  last  few  years.  I  think  the  cause  of 
the  decrease  is  that  there  are  too  many  schooners  hunt- 
ing  seal  ill  Bering  Sea  and  along  the  North  Pacific  coast, 
o  pe  asic  ir  .  jj^^yg  uevcr  kuowii  any  pups  to  be  boru  in  the  water, 
or  anywhere  else  on  the  coast,  but  haveheard  that  they 
are  born  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  nowhere  else.     Have 

co!.i*t  °***  ^^^^  "^^  ^^  never  known  any  seal  to  haul  up  on  land  or  on  the 

coast  of  Alaska,  but  have  heard  that  they  haul  up  on 

rrotcction  ^^^^  Prilulof  Ishiiids.     I  think  if  all  vessels  were  stopped 

from  huuting  seal  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  Pacific  Ocean, 

the  seal  would  again  become  plentiful. 

his 

John  x  Kowineet. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark. 

George  Kastrometinoef, 

United  States  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  George  LaeheeTc,  sealer. 

PELAG-IC    SEALING. 

George  Lacheek,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Am  40  years 

of  age;  l)orii  at  and  live  in  Sitka.     Am  by  occupation 

Exwriouce.  ^^*'^  huiiter   iu   Slimmer   and   deer  hunter   in  winter. 

Have  hunted  seal  every  season  since  a  small  boy.  Have 

always  hunted  off"   Sitka  Sound.    The  seal  generally 

igra  ion.  make  their  a])])earance  about  April  15  of  each  year. 

They  are  then  advancing  up  the  coast  and  disappear  entirely  about 

July  1.     In  early  days  spear  and  arrow  was  used  exclusively,  but  now 

the  shotgun  and  rifle  are  used  instead.     About  50  per  cent  of  the  seals 

are  lost  when  shot  with  shotguns;  a  much  larger  i^er  cent  are  lost 

when  shot  with  a  rifle.     Most  all  seals  that  I  have 

nauuemalef!.^'™^^'^*^^  takcii  wcrc  COWS  witli  pup.     Tliiiik  cows  are  less  active 

and  require  more  sleep  than  the  young  male  seal.    A 

few  male  seal  have  been  taken  by  me  from  one  to  four  years  old. 


TAKEN    AT    OR    NEAR    SITKA.  265 

Have  never  killed  but  few  old  bidls  in  my  life.     The  only  seal  tliat  can 

be  distinguished  iu  the  water  is  the  old  bull,  which  can  be  told  by  itvS 

size.     Everything  iu  shape  of  seal  that  conies  near  the  boat  are  killed 

if  possible,  regardless  of  sex.     Seal,  when  instantly  killed,  will  always 

sink  quick.    1  always  shoot  seal  in  the  head  when  i)ossible.     Seal  are 

not  nearly  as  plentiful  as  in  former  years;  have  noticed 

the  decrease  in  the  last  three  or  four  years.     Think 

the  cause  of  the  decrease   is  the  great  number  of  schooners  sealing 

in  the  North   Pacific  Ocean   and  Bering  Sea.     Have     „     ,    .  ,.  , 

never  heard  ot  ]iups  being  born  m  the  water  or  on  the 

land  along  the  coast  of  Alaska.     Have  never  known  of     „         ,     i       . 

„  111-  -111  J.1  i.         i-       ^  "'■    ^6als     do    not 

tur-seals    hauling   up   on  the  land  on  the  coast    ot  iiaui  up  on  the  Aias- 

Alaska,  but  have  heard  that  they  haul  up  on  the  Pribi-  ^^^  '^"'***- 

lof  Islands.     I  think  if  schooners  were  prohibited  from  sealing  in  the 

open  waters  of   Bering  Sea    and  the  North  Pacific      j. 

Ocean,  seal  would  again  become  x'l<?idiful  along  this 

coast. 

liis 

George   x  Lacheek. 

nmik. 

George  Kastrometinoff, 

United  states  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition   of    Capt.  A.    W.  Lavender.,  special    Treasury  agent  on  St. 

George  Island. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Personally  api)eared  before  ine,  Cajit.  A.  W.  Lavender,  who  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says:  1  am  49  years  of  age,  a  citizen  of  the  IJnited 
States,  and  a  resident  of  Scotland,  South  Halcota,     I      y.     ■ 
am  now,  and  have  been  for  two  years  past,  employed        ^penence. 
as  special  agent  of  the  Treasury  Department,  assigned  to  duty  as  agent 
in  charge  of  St.  George  Island,     While  in  Unalaska  in  September,  1891, 
awaiting  transportation  to  San  Francisco,  I  had  an  opportunity  to  ex- 
amine personally  the  seal  catch  of  the  steam-sloop  Ghal-      chuiicn,  e  isoi 
lenge.,  which  had  been  warned  out  of  the  sea,  and  was        '"  '^"^^' 
undergoing  repairs  at  the  harbor  named.     The  catch      (..,j,.,,    j^    r.mn"- 
amounted  to  172  skins,  which  were  all  taken  in  Bering  sta." 
Sea  at  various  distances  from  the  seal  islands,  and  of 
this  number  only  three  were  those  of  male  seals,  one      '^'i"':'*'   '"■''''   .^''^a!" 
of  these  being  an  old  bull,  and  the  other  two  being 
younger  males, 

A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  June,  1892. 
[seal.]  C.  L.  Hooper, 

Notary  PhIiHc,  District  of  Alasla. 


2G6  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  George  McAlinne,  sealer  (hoat-steerer). 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

George  McAlpine,  being-  duly  sworn,  deposes  aud  says:  I  reside  at 
Juueau.     Spent  the  last  season  on  the  Allie  1.  Alger,  himting  seal,  as 

boat-sfeerc^r.  First  seal  were  taken  otf  Cape  Flattery 
Experience.  about  the  middle  of  February.     We  followed  them  u]) 

the  coast  asfaras Mount  Edgecnmbe.  Tlielastof  April 
we  went  into  Sitka,  and  had  taken  402  seals.     The  shotgun  was  used 

exclusively.  Over  50  per  cent  of  the  seal  shot  were 
m^e"iwithpup!*'°  ^^    lost.     Most  of  the  seal  taken  were  females  with  pup. 

A  few  male  seal  were  killed,  ages  ranging  from  1  to 
5  years.     One  old  bull  was  taken.     Everything  was  killed  that  came 

near  the  boat;  we  did  not  use  any  discrimination. 
_^indiscriminate  kill-  q^^^^  ^^.^^  ^^.j^l^  ^^^p  ^^^^  fl,^.^^  lighter  than  a  male  when 

killed.     l!sever  knew  of  pups  being  born  in  the  water 

J.0  pelagic  birth.      nor  auywhere  else.    Never  knew  any  fur-seal  to  haul 

Do  not  haul  up  on   ^p  q^  the  hiiid  aloiig  the  coast  of  Alaska.     I  think  all 

pelagic  sealing  should  be  stopped  for  a  few  years  in 

Proteetioii.  ordcr  to  give  the  seals  a  rest,  for  they  are  now  hunted 

eight  months  in  a  year,  and  if  we  expect  them  to  increase  again,  we 

must  stop  hunting  them  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  Xorth  Pacific  Ocean. 

G.  McAlpine. 

Subscribed  aud  sworn  to  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  J.  D.  McDonald^  sealer  {master). 

pelagic  sealing. 

J.  D.  McDonald,  being  duly  sworn,  dei)oses  and  says:     I  reside  at 

Sitka.    Own  aud  conimand  the  sealing  schooner  Adven- 

Eipeiience.  ture.     Aiu  by  occupation  a  miner  and  hunter.     Huv^e 

been  engaged  in  sealing  two  years.     Have  hunted  from  San  Francisco 

to  Kodiak.    First  start  to  hunt  about  the  lasr  of  March.    They  are  con- 

stantlv  on  the  move  up  the  coast.     Have  always  used 

Migration.  ^^^^  sliotguu  for  scaliiig.     I  think  we  lose  about  CO  per 

cent  of  the  seals  shot  with  shotguns.    Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  me 

have  been  fenniles  with  pup.     The  female  seals  are 

Mostly  pregnant  pasicr  killed  than  the  male,  and  we  aim  to  get  them. 

females  taken.  ■,•■,■,-,  ■,  -,      n 

A  few  yearlings  have  been  killed  by  me,  mostly  lemales. 
The  sex  can  not  be  distingui.shed  in  the  water  unless  it  be  the  case  of 
an  old  bull,  which  is  distinguished  by  its  size.     Everything  is  killed  in 

the  shajie  of  a  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat.  We  al- 
_^indiscrimi„ate  kill-   ^^.^^^.^  ^].,;„t  ^eal  iu  tlic  hcad  when  possible.     If  head  is 

not  exposed,  we  shoot  them  in  the  most  exposed  part 
of  their  body.     When  a  seal  is  killed  instantly,  he  will  sink  at  once, 

and  is  hard  to  secure  under  those  conditions.     Have 

noticed  a  decrease  in  seal  along  the  coast,  and  it  is  the 
general  opinion  that  they  are  decreasing  very  fast.     There  can  be  but 


TAKEN  AT  OR  NEAR  SITKA.  267 

one  reason  for  the  decrease,  and  tLat  is  they  are  hunted  too  much  in  the 

open  waters.    Have  never  known  pups  to  be  born  in  the 

water  or  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  or  on  the  islands  ad-     k^o  pelagic  birth. 

jacent  thereto,  and  I  have  spent  5  years  on  the  coast  of 

Alaska.     Have  never  known  or  heard  of  seal  hauling  ^^^^^"^  ^^"^  ""p  "° 

up  on  the  islands  or  main  coast  of  Alaska,  other  than 

on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     Have  seen  a  few  pups  in  Cordova  Bay  late  in 

December,  where  they  were  driven  by  strong  southeast  gales  prevailing 

on  the  coast  at  that  time.     Think  if  all  pelagic  sealing     pj.j,^ggtij,^ 

was  stopped  the  seal  would  become  plentiful  again.    If 

they  keep  on  limiting  them  they  will  soon  be  exterminated, 

J.  D.  McDonald. 
Witness : 

A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  AV.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  James  McKeen,  sealer  [master). 

PELAaiC   SEALING. 

James  McKeen,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at 
Sitka  and  am  by  occupation  a  seaman  and  seal-hunter.  . 

Have  been  engaged  in  catching  seals  the  last  five  years,        '^pentnce. 
most  of  the  time  as  captain  of  a  schooner.     Have  seen  and  taken  the 
first  seal  off  Cape  Flattery.    When  seal  are  taken  off     iii,rration 
Cape  Flattery,  Indian  hunters  were  employed,  who        igra  ion. 
used  spears.     Farther  west,  the  shotgun  was  used.     Ko  seal  are  lost 
that  are  struck  with  spears.    With  a  shotgun  about  50  per  cent  are 
lost.    About  all  the  seal  taken  are  females  with  young.     Mostly  females  with 
Yery  few  young  male  seal  are  seen  on  the  coast.    A  few  young  taken. 
yearlings  are  caught,  mostly  females.     Sex  of  seal  can 
not  be  told  in  the  water.     We  use  no  discrimination  .  indiscriminate  kiii- 
and  kill  all  seal  that  come  near  the  boat.     Seal  are  not  ^^^' 
shot  in  any  particular  place ;  shoot  them  in  the  head     j)g(.,.gaso 
if  possible,  if  not,  in  the  body.     Seal  are  not  as  plenti- 
ful on  the  coast  as  formerly.     Have  noticed  the  deciease  in  the  last 
three  years ;  caused,  I  think,  by  the  indiscriminate  kill-      ^,^  pelagic  birth 
ing  of  female  seal.     Have  never  known  any  pups  to  be 
born  in  the  water,  or  elsewhere  outside  of  the  Pribilof     j)o  n^t  haul  up  (s 
Islands.     Have  never  known  any  fur-seal  to  haul  up  on  const. 
the  coast  anywhere,  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.     I 
think  that  all  pelagic  seal  hunting  in  Bering  Sea  should     Protortion. 
be  stopped,  or  the  seal  will  soon  become  exterminated. 

James  McKeen. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  0th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Siiccial  Agent, 


2G8  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Martin  Singay,  scaler. 

PELAGIC   SEALING.  ' 

Martin  Singay,  being  (Inly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Am  about  58 

years  old.     IJorn  at  and  reside  in  Sitka  and  am  by  occu- 

.xiMiienw.  pation  a  linnter.     Havelinnted  seal  every  snmmer  and 

deer  every  winter  since  I  was  a  small  boy.     Have  never  been  in  liering 

Sea.     Have  liunted  seal  oil"  Sitka  Sound,  where  they  first  make  their 

_  appearance  about  April  15,  and  remain  in  greater  or  less 

'*^™  ^  "■  numbers  till  the  last  of  Jnne.     In  early  days  I  used  the 

spear,  but  now  I  use  the  shotgun  and  rifle  exclusively.     When  I  used 

a  spear  none  were  lost  that  were  struck.     When  shotgun  is  used  nearly 

50  per  cent  are  lost;  when  rifle  is  used  a  still  larger  percentage  is  lost. 

The  last  three  years  about  hall"  the  seals  I  have  killed 

pi^'kuied!*'^^'"'  "  ''^^   were  females  with  puj).    A  few  male  seals  and  yearlings 

have  been  killed  by  me.    Have  killed  but  four  large  bulls 

lu.iis,  rinnnate  kill-   j,^  (^j^g  ].^^^^  fo^^.  y^ars.     1  cau  not  tell  the  sex  of  a  seal 

"  in  the  water,  but  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the 

boat  in  shape  of  a  seal.     Seal  have  become  very  scarce  the  last  few 

vears.     Too  many  white  men  are  engaged  in  killing 

No  pclauic  birth.         "^       i        -vr  i  r  i      .f  i      •  i  •       ^-i 

seal.  JNever  knoAvn  or  heard  of  pups  being  born  m  the 
water,  but  have  heard  of  them  being  born  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

Never  knew  of  any  fur-seals  to  haul  up  on  the  land 
ASskan^coast.  "''  °"  ^loug  the  coast  of  Alaska.     I  think  that  if  schooners 

were  stopped  from  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North 
Protection.  Paclfic  Oceau  seal  would  again  become  plentiful. 

his 

Martin  x  Sing  at. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 

George  Kastrometinoff, 

United  States  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  April,  1S02. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Jaclc  Sitlrt^  sealer. 

FELAGIC   SEALING — MIGRATION. 

Jack  Sitka,  being  duly  sworn,  dei^oses  and  says:  Am  50  years  old* 
W\as  born  and  reside  in  Sitka.  Am  a  hunter  by  occupation.  Have 
hunted  seal  every  season  since  I  was  a  boy.  Seal  first  make  their 
appearance  about  Ai)ril  15  off  Sitka  Sound,  and  disappear  about  July 

1.     Allien  I  was  a  boy  the  spear  and  arrow  was  used 

Experience.  ^.^^   Sealing,  but  now  the  shotgun  and  rifle  are  used 

exclusively.    No  seal  were  lost  when  struck  with  s]>ear  or  arrow.     Fully 

50  per  cent  of  seal  shot  with  shotgun  are  lost  and  a  nuich  larger  x>er 

cent  are  lost  when  shot  with  a  rifle.  Most  of  the  seals 
feSliiieT""'''"*  taken  are  cows  with  young.    I  thiidc  they  are  taken 

because  they  are  more  tame  aud  less  active  and  more 
easily  approached.     A  few  male  seal  are  taken,  their  ages  being  from 


TAKEN  AT  OR  NEAR  SITKA.  269 

one  to  fonr  years.    A  few  yearlings  are  taken.    A  very  few  old  bulls  liave 

ever  been  taken  by  nie;  tlie  last  three  or  four  years 

have  taken  but  tluee  old  bulls.     Hunters  use  no  dis-   .^^lu-iiscriminate kiu- 

criniination,   but    shoot  everything  tliat  conies    near 

them.     Their  sex  can  not  be  told  unless  in  the  case  of  an   old  bull, 

which   is   distinguishable   by  its   size.     When  seal  are  shot  as  soon 

as  they  put  their  heads  above  water,  they  sink  ininiediately  and  ai-e 

hard   to   secure.     Always  shoot  seal  in   tlie   head  wlien  ])ossi1)le.     If 

not  possible  to  shoot  them  in  the  head,  then  I  shoot  them  in  the  most 

exposed  part  of  their  bodies.     Have  noticed  a  large  de-     ^^^j.^^  ^ 

crease  in  seal  the  last  three  years,  caused  I  think,  by 

pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  ISTorth   l*acific  Ocean.     Have 

never  known  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water  or  any  wliei-e      -^t,,  p,.ia^ic  birth 

else  on  the  coast.     Never  known  fur-seals  to  haul  up  on      i>o  not"  haul  up  on 

the  land.     Have  heard  that  they  do  haul  u])  on  the   ^'""^• 

Pribilof  Islands.     I  think  the  schooners  should  be ]»ro- 

hibited  from  sealing  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and      ^''"te'^t.on. 

Bering  Sea.     If  that  was  done,  seal  would  become  plentiful  along  th<i 

coast. 

his 

Jack  x  Sitka. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 

George  Kawtrometinoff, 

United  ^States  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  1S92. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent, 


Deposition  of  Michael  ThlJcahdaynahJcee,  sealer. 

PELAaic  sealing. 

Michael  Thlkahdaynahkee,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Am 
ab<mt  ()0  years  old;  born  at  and  live  in  Sitka.     Have 
been  a  seal  hunter  all  my  life.     Have  first  seen  and      Expemnce. 
killed  seal  oft'  Sitka  Sound  ab(mt  April  15,  and  dis- 
appear entirely  about  July  1.     When  I  was  a  young     ^^ig™*""!. 
man  the  speai-  and  arrow  Avere  used,  but  of  late  years  the  shotgun  and 
rifle  are  used  exclusively.     Very  few  seal  were  lost  Avlien  struck  with 
spear  or  arrow,  but  when  seal  are  shot  with  shotgun  over  50  per  cent 
are  lost.     A  much  larger  per  cent  are  lost  when  seal  are  shot  Mith  rifles. 
Most  of  the  seal  taken  by  me  were  cows  Avith  i)U]). 
The  cows  are  less  active,  sleep  more,  and  are  more  fewJaufiukeS!^'^^"''"* 
easily  captiu'ed.    A  few  male  seal  have  been  taken, 
fi'om  1  to  4  years  old.     But  very  few  old  bulls  have  ever  been  taken  by 
me.     Have  killed  a  few  yearlings  every  year.     All  seal  are  killed  that 
come  near  the  boat,  regardless  of  their  sex.     I  never  .   . 

1       1     j^  1     0^1         T  1  1  -11     1  1  V  1  1        Indiscniuinate  kill- 

look  to  see  whether  I  have  killed  a  male  or  teniale  seal   ing. 

until  I  have  the  seal  dead  in  the  boat.     Seal  have  been  Decrease. 

growing  scarce  along  the  coast  the  last  four  years. 

Think  there  are  too  many  schooners  engaged  in  sealing  in  the  North 

Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.    Have  never  known  j^opeia-ic  birth. 

pups  to  be  born  in  the  water,  or  on  the  land  elsewhere 

than   the  Pribilof  Islands.     Have  never  known   any  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^ 

fiu'-seals  to  haul  up  on  the  land  or  on  the  coast  else-  coast. 


270  TESTIMONY 

Protection  wlieiG  than  tlie  Pribilof  Islands.    I  think  if  pelagic 

hunting  was  stopped  in  Bering  Sea  that  seal  would  be- 
come plentiful  along  the  coast  of  southern  Alaska,  and  we  Indians 
could  again  catch  jjleuty  of  them  with  the  spear,  which  is  a  much  better 
^vay  to  capture  seal  than  by  shooting  them  with  shotguns,  for  none  are 
lost  when  struck  with  a  spear. 

his 

,^.  Michael  x  Thlkahdaynahkee. 

Witness :  mark. 

George  Kastrometinoff, 

United  States  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Charlie  TlaJcsatan,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

Charlie  Tlaksatan,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:    I  am  43 
years  old;  was  Lorn  at  Sitka,  Alaska.    Have  hunted 
Experience.  j.g,Q    j^^  Diysclf  since  I  was  a  boy,   and  when  very 

small  went  sealing  with  my  father.     Seal  have  been  seen  and  taken 
on  the  coast  by  me  from  the  10th  of  April  till  the  4th  of  July,    At  the 
beginning  of  tlie  season  they  are  plentiful,  but  scarce  at 
Migration.  tlic  closc  of  the  scasou.    They  are  Constantly  goiug  uorth 

along  the  coast.     When  I  first  began  hunting  I  used  a  spear  and  bow 
and  arrow,  but  now  the  shotgun  is  used  exclusively.     When  seal  were 
struck  with  a  spear  none  were  lost;  lose  about  50  per  cent  when  killed 
with  shotgun.    A  much  larger  per  cent  is  lost  when  rifle  is  used,  as  the 
seal  sink  very  quickly  after  being  shot.    Most  of  tlie 
maiesTtakeif *""^*^''    scals  taken  on  this  coast  are  COWS  with  young.     Cow 
seals  sleep  sounder  on  the  water,  and  are  less  active 
and  are  easily  captured.     Quite  a  large  number  of  yearlings  are  taken, 
most  of  which  are  females.     The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the 
water  when  hunting.     We  use  no  discrimination,  but 
_^i]idiscrimmate kill-  ]-j]j  everything  in  the  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes  near 
the  boat.     When  seal  are  shot  dead  they  sink  very  rap- 
idly.    Seal  are  always  shot  in  the  head  Avhen  it  is  possible  to  do  so. 
When  spear  was  used  seal  were  very  plentiful;  since  shotgun  is  used 
Decrease  they  are  becoming  very  scarce.     Have  noticed  a  large 

decrease    the  last  four  years.     I  think  that  pelagic 
No  pelagic  birtii.      seal  huutiug  iu  Bering  Sea  is  the  cause  the  seal  be- 
coming scarce  along  the  coast.    Kever  knew  of  pups 
co?s*t.°°*  ^""^  "^  ""  being  born  in  the  water.     Have  never  known  fur  seal 
to  haul  up  on  the  land  or  on  the  coast  anywhere  in 
rrotection.  Alaska.     I  think  if  pelagic  hunting  is  not  stoi>ped  in 

Bering  Sea  the  seal  will  soon  become  exteiminated. 

hi.s 

Charlie  x  Tlaksatan. 

mark 

George  Kostro^ietinoff, 

United  States  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W,  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN   AT    OR    NEAR    SITKA.  271 

Deposition  of  Peter  Trearslieit,  sealer  {master). 

PELAGIC   SEALING-. 

Peter  Trearsheit,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:     I  am  27 
years  old  and  reside   at  Sitka.     Am  by  occupation 
a  seamau  and  seal  hunter.     Have  been   engaged  in        -^penence. 
catching  seal  three  seasons.     Last  season  I  commanded  the  sealing 
schooner  Sitlca,  of  Sitka.     Took  seal  along  the  coast  as  far  as  Yakutat. 
First  seal  were  seen  and  caught  last  year  oft'  Sitka  Sound  and  last 
year   oft"    Salisbury   Sound  in   April  and  May.     The 
seal   are  working  to   Avestward  all  the  time.     Ha\e      '^^  "*^' 
always  used  a  shotgun  to  take  seal.     About  00  percent  of  the  seal  shot 
with  shotgun  are  lost.     A  much  larger  per  cent  are  lost  when  rifle  is 
used.     The  seals  taken  by  me  have  been  females  mostly 
with  pup.     Have  never  killed  a  bull  in  my  life.     A  few  feSsuken!'"^'"""* 
yearlings  are  taken,  all  of  whicli  are  females.     The  sex 
of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water.     Hunters  use   .  indiscriminate  kiu- 
uo  discrimination  and  everything  in  the  shape  of  a  sejiJ  ""' 
that  comes  near  the  boat  is  killed.     When  seal  are  asleep  lymg  with 
their  heads  on  the  water  and  are  killed,  they  most  always  float,  but  if 
shot  as  they  put  their  heads  out  of  water  they  sink  almost  immediately. 
Always  shoot  a  seal  in  tlie  head  when  it  is  possible  to  do 
so.    Never  heard  of  nor  seen  i)ui)S  born  in  the  water  or  ia^i|;^*irth!'*'^'^  "^  ^'^ 
on  the  coast  of  Alaska,  outside  of  Pribilof  Islands. 
Have  never  seen  or  heard  of  seals  hauling  up  on  the  coast  ""*  ''^"^  "^^"° 
coast,  elsewhere  than  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     They 
very  seldom  come  nearer  this  coast  than  liO  miles,  when  advancing  north 
towards  Bering  Sea.     I  think  if  sealing  was  stopped  in      ^   ^   ^. 
Bering  Sea  that  seal  would  become  more  plentiful  along 
the  coast,  and  if  it  is  not  stopped  the  herd  will  soon  be  destroyed. 

Peter  Trearsheit. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  VV.  Lavj^nder, 

United  iStates  Treasury  A(jent. 


Deposition  of  James  Unatajim,  sealer. 
pelagic  sealing. 

James  TJnatajim,   being  duly  sworn,    deposes   and  says:    I  reside 
in   Sitka;    am    by  occupation   a   seal    hunter;    have    been    engaged 
in  that    business    since  I   was   a  small   boy.     I  am 
now  about  38  years  old.     Have  never  been  in  Bering      'xpenence. 
Sea;  liave  always  hunted  seal  along  the  coast  of  Alaska.     The  seal  first 
make  their  appearance  on  this  coast  oft"  Sitka  Sound.      Mj<rration 
They  are  then  advancing  up  the  coast.     When  I  first      '   " 
began  to  hunt  spear  and  arrow  were  used  exclusively;  the  shotgun  is 
now  used  by  the  Indian  hunters  for  the  same  purpose  in  lieu  of  the 
spear  and  arrow.    When  the  spear  was  used  all  seal  speared  were  se- 
cured.    About  50  per  cent  of  the  seal  are  lost  when  shot  with  shotguns. 
Whenever  I  have  used  a  rifle  for  shooting  seal  a  much  larger  propoi-tion 
of  those  killed  have  been   lost  on    account  of  shooting   them  at  a 


272  TESTIMONY 

longer  distance  from  the  boat.  Most  of  tlie  seal  taken 
iiregu^^  femiiJ"^™  ]>}'  "^^  have  been  females  with  pup.     I  think  the  female 

is  more  gentle,  sleeps  more,  and  is  more  easily  captured. 
A  few  male  seal  have  been  taken  by  me,  ages  ranging  from  1  to  4  years 
old,  I  should  tliink.  Some  yearlings  have  been  taken,  a  majority  of 
which  were  females  also.  Very  few  old  bulls  have  been  killed  by  me. 
Sex  of  seal  can  not  be  distinguished  in  the  water,  except  in  the  case  of 

an  old  bull,  which  can  be  told  by  its  size.  No  discrim- 
_^in,uscrin,iuato kill,  inatiou  is  uscd  iu  taking  seal;  everything  that  comes 

near  the  boat  is  shot  at.  If  the  seal  are  instantly 
killed  they  sink  at  once  and  are  hard  to  secure.     Seal  are  always  shot 

in  the  head  when  possible.     Have  noticed  the  seal  have 

eciease.  bccn  decreasing  along  the  coast  the  last  four  j^ears. 

Tliink  the  cause  of  the  decrease  is  that  there  are  too  many  schooners 

No  peia-ic  birth       engaged  in  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea.     Have  never 

^  seen  or  heard  of  pups  being  born  in  the  water  or  on 

the  land  on  the  coa^st  of  Alaska.     Have  heard  that  pups  are  all  born 

on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  Have  never  known  or  heard 
A?iskan*coa"t!  "^  ""  ^*  ^^"^^  hauliiig  Up  ou  the  land  on  the  coast  of  Alaska. 

Have  heard  that  they  do  haul  up  on  the  Pribilof  Is- 
lands.    Think  if  sealing  by  the  schooners  in  the  open  waters  of  the 

North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  was  prohibited,  the  seal 
Protection.  wouUl  again  become  plentiful  along  the  coast. 

his 

,^.,  James  x  Unatajim. 

VYltneSS:  mark. 

George  Kostrometinoff, 

United  States  Court  Interjyreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


JDeposition  of  Itudoljih   Walton,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

Kudolpli  Walton,  being  duly  sworn  deposes  and  saj^s:  I  am  25  years  of 

age;  born  at  Sitka;  am  at  present  on  the  police  force. 

Experience.  jj^^.^  huutcd  scal  tlircc  scasous,  1881),  181)0,  and  1891, 

around  Biorka  Island.     Have  seen  and  taken  seal  from  the  middle  of 

A])ril  to  the  middle  of  31  ay.     They  are  on  their  way 

'^'"  '""■  north  at  that  time.     I  use  shotgun  and  rifle  to  take  seal. 

Majority    taken   About  50  per  ccut  ai 6  Icst  wLcn  shot  with  shotgun; 

preguaui  lenialet^.  .A.  .-i.       *>ni    ' 

^vlien  ritie  is  used  a  much  larger  per  cent  is  lost.    The 

majority  of  seal  taken  are  cows.    Cows  are  more  easily  captured  because 

they  have  pujis.    A   few  yearlings  are  killed,  mostly  females.     Sex  of 

" seal  can  not  be  distinguished  in  the  water.    No  discrim- 

Indi.strmiiuate  kill-     ■        .•         •  i  •  ,  ,  .■  n  i   -n      i   ^i      j_ 

ing.  Illation  IS  used  111  seal  hunting;  all  are  killed  that  come 

near.    Seal  are  decreasing  ou  the  toast.     Have  no 
ticed  they  have  decreased  rapidly  the  last  two  years. 

The  decrease,  I  think,  is  caused  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  female 

seals.     Some  seal  when  shot  and  killed  dead  sink  at 

No  pelagic  biith.      oncc.     Havc  never  known  a  pup  to  be  born  in  the 

water.     I  have  never  known  of  a  pup  seal  being  boru 


TAKEN  AT  OK  NEAR  SITKA.  273 

Oil  the  rocks  of  the  coast  anywhere.     Have  heard  they 

are  boru  on  the  Pribilof  Ishiuds.     Have  never  known  c,r°t.°"*  ^'^"^  "^"" 

fur-seal  to  haul  np  on  the  coast  on  anywhere  else  out-      p,.otectio 

side  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.     Think  that  all  pelagic 

seal-hunting  should  be  stopped  in  Bering  Sea  in  order  to  keep  the  seal 

from  being  exterminated. 

Rudolph  Walton. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  April,  1891. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  agent. 


Deposition  of  Charlie  WanJ{,  sealer. 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Charlie  Wank,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  30  years 
old.     Was  born  at  and  reside  at  Sitka.    Am  by  occu- 
pation a  seal  hunter.     Have  been  catching  seal  most     Expeikuco. 
all  my  life.     First  seal  are  seen  and  taken  by  me  off' 
Sitka  Sound.     When  I  was  a  boy  seal  came  in  to  the  sound  very  close, 
but  now  I  have  to  go  a  long  ways  to  get  them.     Seal  do  not  stop  off" 
the  sound  long,  but  are  constantly  on  the  move  north 
and  west.     The  spear  was  used  in  early  days,  but  now     -^'gration. 
seal  have  become  scarce  and  shotgun  and  rifle  is  used  exclusively. 
When  the  spear  was  used  no  seal  were  lost.     Isow  a  great  many  are 
lost  when  shot  with  a  shotgun  and  rifle.     Most  all  seals 
taken  are  females  with  young.     They  are  less  active,  takln^pregnanf™'^^*'^ 
sleep  more,  and  are  easier  captured.     What  few  male 
seals  are  taken  are  1,  2,  3,  and  4  years  old.     Quite  a  number  of  year- 
lings are  taken,  mostly  females.     The  sex  of  seal  of  same  age  can  not 
be  distinguished  in  the  water.     The  only  seal  that  can  be  distinguished 
is  an  old  bull.     We  use  no  discrimination  in  seal  hunt- 
ing; everything  is  killed  that  conies  near  the  boat.   .^  i»'iiscriimuatc  kiu- 
Pelagic  hunters  have  become  so  plentiful  and  seals  have 
become  so  wild  that  we  are  obliged  to  take  long  shots  at  them.    When 
seal  are  killed  dead  they  sink  almost  instantly.     All   seal  are  shot  in 
the  head  when  it  is  possible  to  do  so.     Have  noticed 
the  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast,  particularly  the  last       '^^^'^^^  ■ 
four  years,  caused  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  of  seal  by  schooners 
in  the  waters  of  the  Xortli  Paciflc  Ocean  and  Bering      -^,        ^^. 
Sea.    ISTever  have  known  of  pups  being  born  in  the        "  ^'^  ''^''*^ 
water,  nor  elsewhere  on  the  coast  of  Alaska.     Have  never  known  of 
any  seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  or  on  the  coast  of 
Alaska.     Have  heard  that  they  do  haul  up  on  the   ti.o  c,nl"t/"'"'  "^' "" 
Pribilof  Islands.    Think  if  all  i)elagic  seal  hunting      ,..„...- 
was  stopped,  the  seal  would  increase  along  the  coast 
and  become  plentiful  once  more. 

his 

Charlie  x  Wank. 

mark. 

Witness  to  liis  mark: 

George  Kostrometinoff, 

United  States  Court  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  iv.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 
2716 — vol  II 18 


274  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  F.  «Sf.  Weittenhiller,  scaler  (master). 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

P.  S.  Weittenhiller,  bcin.s:  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  have  re- 
sided at  Sitka  the  past  nine  years.    Am  now  owner 
Experienca.  of  the  Sealing  schooncr  Clara  and  have  engaged  in 

sealing-  this  season.     I  first  took  seal  off  Sitka  Sound 
during  the  month  of  March.     Have  done  my  sealing  all  this  year  be- 
tween Cape  Edgcimibe  and  Cross  Sound.     My  hunters  use  shotgun  ex- 
clusively.    They  carry  a  rifle  with  them  in  the  boat  but  have  not  used 
one  this  season  to  my  knowledge.     I  think  as  near  as  I  can  estimate, 
about  33  J  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot  are  lost.     Out  of  60  seal  taken  so  far 
this  season  46  are  females  with  pup  and  14  were  males. 
takenf°'^°*    females   Quly  1  yearling  scal  has  been  taken  this  season.     It  is 
my  opinion  that  female  seal  are  more  easily  captured  and 
appear  to  be  more  tame  than  the  male  seal,  and  I  think  sleep  more.  Only 
1  old  bull  was  taken  this  season  among  the  males.      I  should  think  the 
male  seal  taken  this  year  were  between  2  and  3  years  old.     The  sex  of  a 
seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water  except  it  is  an  old  bull.     Hunters  use  no 
discrimination,  but  kill  everything  that  comes  near  the 
.^indiscrbninate  kiu-  ^^^^     Huntcrs  shoot  all  scal  in  the  head  when  it  is 
possible  to  do  so  and  take  their  chances  of  its  sinking 
before  they  can  reach  them.     From  what  I  krow  seals 
have  been  decreasing  very  fast  in  recent  years.    Think 
the  decrease  is  caused  by  the  indiscriminate  killing  in  the  North  Pacific 
Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.     I  have  never  known  any  pups 
X  o  pe  agic  ir   .  ^^  ^^  bom  in  the  water  or  anywhere  else  except  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands.  I  have  never  known  any  fur-seal  to  haul  up  anywhere 
1 1    1    >  on  ^^  *^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  coast  of  Alaska.    I  have  never  been 
coasl""    '*"  "^'  ""  in  Bering  Sea.     I  think  sealing  should  be  prohibited 
Protection.  fyy  fy^^j.  qp  ^yg,  years  in  order  to  give  them  a  chance 

to  multiply  and  become  as  plentiful  as  they  formerly  were. 

P.  S.  Weittenhiller. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  6th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Michael  Woosl-oot,  sealer. 

PELAGIC  sealing. 

Michael  Wooskoot,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  60 
years  old;  born  and  reside  in  Sitka,  Alaska.     Have 
Experience.  bccu  engaged  in  hiTuting  seal  for  a  great  many  years 

in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  around  Sitka  Sound.    First 
seal  are  seen  and  taken  by  me  about  the  middle  of  April  of  each  year. 
.  There  are  more  or  less  of  them  on  the  coast  till  the  1st 

igration.  ^^  July.     First  part  of  the  season  they  are  plentiful, 

but  towards  the  last  tliey  become  scarce.  During  the  above-mentioned 
period  the  seal  are  on  the  move  to  the  westward.  Many  years  ago,  when 
heal  were  plenty,  the  spear  was  used,  but  now  so  many  schooners  are  en- 
gaged in  sealing  that  the  shotgun  and  rifle  has  to  be  used  in  order  tQ 


TAKEN    AT    OR    NEAR    SITKA.  275 

secure  them,  as  they  have  become  very  wihl.     Wljeii  the  spear  was 
used  very  few  seal  were  lost.     About  50  per  cent  are  h)st  when  shot 
with  shotgun.      A  hirger  per  cent  are  h)st  when  kiHed  witli  a  rifle.     Al- 
most all  seals  taken  are  females  witli  pup;  they  are  less      j^i„^^^^  ^n 
active,  sleep  more,  and  are  more  easily  taken.     Quite  a  pregn^t  females^  ^° 
large  number  of  yearlings  are  taken,  mostly  females. 
During  my  life  I  have  taken  over  100  bull  seals.     The  sex  of    seal 
can  not  be  told  in  the  water.    Ko  discrimination  is  used     injuscriminat  km 
in  seal  hunting;   all  seal  are  killed  that  come  near  the  j^^^ 'scnmmd  e  • 
boat.    The  only  seal  that  can  be  disting-uished  in  the 
water  is  an  old  bull.     When  a  seal  is  shot  dead  he  sinks  at  once.     Seal 
are  always  shot  in  the  head  whenever  it  is  possible  to  do      ^^ 
so.     Have  noticed  the  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast, 
owing  to  so  many  schooners  hunting  seals  in  the  waters  of  the  Xorth 
Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.     Have  never  known  or      ^, 
heard  of  pups  being  born  in  the  water  nor  on  the  coast     "  "  ''*"  ''^"^  '''^^''' 
of  Alaska  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.     Have  never  known  of  any 
fur-seal  to  haul  out  on  the  land  on  the  coast  of  Alaska. 
Have  heard  of  them  hauling  out  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,   AUskan  S.""*  "° 
but  have  never  been  there.     I  think  if  all  pelagic  seal     pj-ojepti^ 
hunting  was  stopped  seal  would  soon  become  plentiful 
on  the  coast. 

his 

Michael  x  Wooskoot. 

iiKuk. 

George  Kostrometinoff, 

United  States  Court  Interirreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Tteasury  Ayent. 


TESTIMONY  TAKEN  IN  OR  NEAK  DIXON  ENTRANCE. 


Deposition  of  Johnny  Baronovitch,  native  sealer  at  Kasan. 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Joliuiiy  Baroiiovitoli,  boinjidiily  sworn,  dcjxi.ses  and  says':  I  was  born 
at  Kasaii,  and  liavr  lived  here  all  my  life.     My  biisi- 
■  xpciunce.  ness  is  that  olhimtiii.n'  and  tishiiig".     Have  liunted  fur- 

seal   in  a  eanoe  in  May  oif  the  Prince   of  Wales  Island.     Always 
nsed  the  shotj;un  for  taking-  seal.     A  very  few  are  lost  when  shot 
with   the  shot|»nn,   as  we  shoot  them   close   to  the   boat.     Most  all 
the  seals  taken  are  females  with  pnp.     I  used  no  dis- 
co wsfakeu  """''''*  crimination,   but  kill  everything-  that  come  near  the 
boat  in  shape  of  a  seal.     Never  stopped  to  ask  if  it  is 
female  or  not.     A  few  old  bulls  have  been  taken  by  me. 
_^  nuhscnn.ii.ate  kill-  rjij^^^,^  .^^^^  ^^^^  nearly  as  many  seal  on  the  coast  astliere 

was  two  or  three  years  ago,  and  they  will  soon  be  all 
^  gone  unless  schooners  are  all  stopi)ed  from  hunting  seal 

along  the  coast  of  Alaska.  1  have  nev€M'  known  any 
„  ^  ,  ,      T)ups  to  be  born  in  the  wat<n'  or  on  the  land  in  this  part 

Isot  bom  III  water     ^,.     .  i       ,  -vy  i  r  i  if  .<:• 

oroncoast.  ot  Ahiska.     2sor  Innc  I  ever  seen  or  heard  ot  any  lur 

seal  being  in  the  inland  waters  of  this  part  of  Alaska. 

I  have  never  heard  of  any  fur-seal  hauling  u]>  on  the  land  in  any  part 

of  Alaska.     I  think  if  the  schooners  were  all   st(>i)ped  from   hunting 

rrotection  scal,  they  would  become  plentiful  once  more,  and  the 

Indians  could  catch  them  as  they  used  to. 

Johnny  Baronovitch. 
Witness  to  his  signature: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  0th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  tStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Maurice  Bates,  scaler. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Maurice  Bates,  being  duly  sworn,  de])oses  and  says:  1  am  40  years 
old.     Was  born  in   British  Columbia,  and  now  reside 

Experience.  lu  Ncw  Mctlakalitla.     I  am  a  hunter  by  occupation  ; 

have  hunted  fur-seal  in  a  canoe  ever  since  I  Avas  old 
27G 


TESTIMONY    TAKEN    IN    OR    NEAR    DIXON    ENTRANCE.  277 

enrmgli.     My  huiitiiij?  lodge  is  on  Dimdas  Island,  and   jj^^^''-  °"  Dandas 

I  hunt  in  liixons  Entrance  aiul  off  Prince  of  Wales 

Island.     Have  always  used  a  vsliotgun  for  taking  seal, 

and  lose  about  40  per  cent  of  what  I  shoot.     Most  of     Mostly  f. male  with 

the  seals  taken  by  me  have  been  female  with  pup.   i"']«kiiied. 

Never  killed  but  one  old  bull  in  my  life.     1  have  killed 

a  good  many  small  bulls,  and  a  great  many  yearling  seals,  but  never 

examined  the  latter  as  to  sex.     I  have  always  hunted  seals  from  March 

to  June.      I^verything  that  comes  near  the  boat  in     indisorhniuate  kiu- 

shape  of  a  seal  is  shot,  regardless  of  sex.     The  seal  are  ing. 

not  near  as  plentiful  as  tliey  used  to  be.     The  cause  of 

the  decrease  is,  I  think,  too  many  schooners  hunting      Decrease. 

them  off  Prince  of  Wales  Island  and  around  Dixons 

Entrance.     Have  never  known  anv  seal  pups  to  be  .  soai  pups  not  bom 

born  in  the  water  or  on  the  kind  anywhere  around  this 

part  of  Alaska.     Have  never  seen  or  heard  of  seals     Do  not  haul  up  ou 

hauling  up  on  the  land  around  this  part  of  Alaska.     I  ^''"'^• 

have  never  seen  any  fur  seal  around  Annette  Island 

or  any  of  the  inland  waters  of  Alaska.     I  think  the      protection. 

schooners  should  be  prohibited  from  hunting  seal  out 

in  the  water  off  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  so  that  the  seal  will  become 

plentiful  again. 

Ids 

Mauric;e  X  Bates. 

mark 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
David  Leask. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Laa^ender, 
United  States  Treasury  A<jent. 


Depositlnn  of  Edicard  Benson,  sealer. 
PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Edward  Benson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  31  years 
old.     Was  born  in  British  Columbia  and  uoav  reside  at 
New  Metlakahtla.     I  have  been  engaged  in  hunting        K>^i'ericnoe. 
five  years.     Have  hunted  seal  in  canoes;  begin  to  hunt 
the  last  of  March  and  hunt  till  the  middle  of  June.    I  have  had  my  iiunt- 
ing  lodge  at  Nicholas  liay  and  on  Dundas  Island.     Hunt  seal  in  (^ucen 
Charlotte  Sound,  Dixons  Entrance,  and  off  Prince  of  \\  jdes   Ishind. 
I  use  the  shotgun  tor  taking  seal.     I  lose  about  li~>  jx'r  cent  of  the  seals 
shot.     Think  the  majority  of  the  seals  taken  are  cows. 
Never  killed  but  two  old  bulls  in  my  life.     Have  killed  ,..,^,^j''°''^>   *"^^*'" 
quite  a  number  of  yearling   seals   and   some  young- 
males  2  and  ,'>  years  old.      We  kill  everything  that 
comes  near  the  boat,  and  use  no  discrimination,  but   .  indiscriminate  kiu- 
shoot  them  regardless  of  sex.     Seal  are  getting  very  '"°' 
scarce.     I  think  the  cause  of  the  scarcity  is  too  many 
peoijle  hunting  seal.     I  have  never  known  any  pups  to 


278  TESTIMONY 

Not  born  in  water    \)q  bOlMI  ill  tllC  WJltCr  Ol'  Oil  tllC  lillld.       KOF  liave  1  kuoWll 

of  any  seal  lla^llill,^  up  on  tlie  land  anywhere  in  Alaska. 

Do  not  hani  up  on  1  havc  iievei'  sceii  any  fur  seals  in  the  water  around 

Alaskan  coast.  Auuette  Islaud.     ]  tliiiik  schooners  slnnild  be  prohib- 

Protectiou.  ited  iioiii  hunting"  seal  in  the  North  Paeitic  Oceaii  to 

give  them  a  chance  to  increase  again. 

Edward  Benson. 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  ine  this  10th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Charlie  Dahtlin,  sealer. 

TELAGIC    SEALING. 

Charlie  Dahtlin,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  in 
.  Shakan  and  have  lived  here  all  iny  life.     Am  a  very 

•.xpeiK'ntc.  ^j^  man.     Have  been  a  hunter  all  my  life,  hunting  both 

seal  and  bear  and  all  kinds  of  land  animals,  and  have  killed  a  great 
many  of  all   kinds.    Have  hunted   seal  off  the  west  coast  of  Prince 
Edward  Island  for  a  number  of  years.     When  I  was  a  boy  spear  was 
used;  now  the   shotgun   and   ritle   are   exclusively    used  for  taking 
seal.     None  were  lost  when   the  spear    was  used.     When  the  shot- 
gun is  used  sometimes  they  are  lost.    A  few  more  are 
Majority  taken  lost  wlieii  riHe  is  uscd.    Majority  of  seals  taken  are 
pregnanifemaies.        ^.^yy^,^  -^j^]^  p,^)_     Qncc  lu  a  wliile  we  take  au  old  bull. 
A  few  yearlings  are  taken  also.     All  seal  are  killed 
Indiscriminate  kill-  that  couic  iicar  tlic  cauoc,  whether  it  is    male  or  fe- 
^"^'  male.     I  make  no  difference.     In  former  years  there 

Decrease.  wcrc  lots  of  seal,  but  DOW  there  are  very  few.     Too 

many  schooners  hunting  them  all  the  time  in  the  water, 
killing  the  mother  seals  as  well  as  others.     Have  never  known  of  any 
pu[)s  being  born  in  the  Avater  or  on  the  land  on  the 
wftT  ""'  ^""'  '"   coast  of  Alaska.     J  have  never  heard  of  any  or  seen  any 
fur-seal  hauled  up  on  the  land  anywhere  around  Prince 
Do  not  iiaui  up  o„   Edwaixl  Island  or  anvwhere  else  on  the  coast.     If  the 

COJlSt.  "^ 

schooners  are  stopped  from  taking  seal  off  Prince  Ed- 
ward Island  tlu'  seal  will  become  ])lenty,  and  the  Indians  cau  kill  them 
-3  .   ..  as  tliev  did  along  time  ago.    Now  the  Indians  cau  get 

Protection.  •  o  s>  e> 

very  lew. 

his 

Charlie  x  Dahtlin. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN    IN    OR    NEAR    DIXON    ENTRANCE.  279 

Deposition  of  William  Duncan,  resident  of  New  Metlalcahtla. 

PELAaiC   SEALING. 

William  Duiicau,  being  duly  vsworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  GO  years 
of  age;  I  have  resided  in  British  Columbia  thirty  years  and  at  New 
Metlakahtla  live  years,  and  have  always  been  with  the 
Tsimsheau    Indians,   both  in  British   Columbia  and       xpenence. 
Alaska.     The  Tsimsheans  are  great  hunters  of  fur-seal.     The  Indians 
left  their  homes  in  March  and  remained  away  until  May.     Their  hunt- 
ing lodges  were  on  some   small  islands  outside  of  Dundas  Island. 
From  what  they  tell  me  the  majority  of  seals  taken 
by  them  have  been  females  ^vith  young.     The  Indians  pr^S^maies*^^" 
report  to   me  that  the  seal  are  very  much   scarcer 
than  they  were  in  former  years,  and  I  know  that  they  don't  bring 
in  as  many  skins  as  they  did  in   former  years,  although  skins  are 
bringing  a  much  better  price  than  they  used  to.     I 
have  never  known  of  any  fur-seal  pups  being  born  ,vateir  """^  ^"™  "* 
in  the  water    or    on   the    land  in  British    Columbia 
or  Alaska,  but  have  heard    they  are   born  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
The  Indians  have  always  reported  to  me  when  they  re- 
turned from  hunting  that  the  seal  had  all  gone  north      M'srat'on. 
to  have  their  young.     I  have  never  known  or  heard  of  any  fur-seal 
hauhng  up  on  the  land  in  British  Columbia  or  Alaska     j)„  ^^^  ^^^^  ,,^j  ^^ 
outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.     My  connections  with  <;oast  outside  of  Prib- 
the  Indians  have  been  such  that  had  there  been  a  fur-  ^^^^' 
seal  rookery  in  British  Columbia  or  Alaska  I  certainly  should   have 
known  it.     The  Indians  have  always   hunted   seal  with   a  shotgun, 
and  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  they  have  killed  a  great  many  more  tliau 
they   secured.     There  can  be  but  one  cause  for  the 
scarcity  of  seal,  and  that  is  the  indiscriminate  killing  .^^in^iscrinunate  kiii- 
of  them  in  the  water,  and  unless  that  is  stoj^ped  the 
seal  must  soon  be  exterminated.     The  sea-otter,  which  were  plentiful 
on  this  coast  at  one  time,  are  now  scarcely  seen  at  all, 
and  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  them  in  the  water 
has  almost  entirely  exterminated  the  animal.     Some  few  remain  in  the 
far  north,  but  they  are  very  hard  to  secure. 

William  Duncan. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Uchon,  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

Echon,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  Am  about  50  years  old 
and  was  born  at  Shakan.  Have  lived  there  all  my  ,  \ 
life.  Am  a  hunter  by  occupation.  Have  hunted  seal  ^-^P«"'nce- 
in  the  summer  time  and  land  game  in  the  winter.  Have  hunted  seal 
off  Prince  of  Wales  Island  in  the  spring.  In  former  years  I  used 
to  catch  seal  with  a  hook  by  j)addhug  up  close  to  them  when  they 
were  sound  asleep  and  hooking  them.  Can't  use  the  hook  now,  as  the 
seal  have  become  very  wild  since  they  are  hunted  so  much  by  schooners. 


280  TESTIMONY 

Now  I  use  the  s1io(,ii-mi  CKclusiNcly  ior  takiiij;'  sciil.     Very  seldom  I  lose 

one,  as   1   always  slioot  them    close  to  the  buat.     1   never   examine 

tliem  to  know  wlictber  tliey  are  men  or  women  seal,     I 

_  jn.iiscriininat.-  kill    (..^j^  j,,)^^  ^^.]l  |]i(.  (linrrence  ill  the  water,  and  slioot  every- 

tliinji'  without  knoAvin<i-  whether  they  aremen  or  women. 

Some  years  ago  the  iiir-seal  were  plenty  off  the  islands,  but  since  the 

schooners  have  hunte<i  them  they  are  nearly  all  gone 

and.  it  is  hard  for  the  Indians  of  this  village  to  get  any. 

Have  never  known  any  \)U])  seal  to  be  born  in  the 

in^vate??''^'^  ""*  '^*""   ^'^'<»ter  or  anywhere  else  in  this  part  of  Alaska.     Have 

never  known  any  to  haul  ii])  on  the  land  anywhere  in 

Alaska,  nor  have  I  ever  seen  any  seal  in  the  inland  waters  wherever  I 

have  been  in  Alaska.     I  think  the  schooners  should  be  stopped  from 

hunting  seal  so  that  the  seal  may  become  plentiful  on 

ro  ec  ion.  ^^^^  coast  aud  the  Indian  may  again  have  a  chance  to 

get  them.     It  makes  me  feel  bad  to  think  the  seal  are  most  all  gone  and 

we  can't  hunt  thein  as  our  fathers  used  to. 

ECHON  (his  X  mark). 
Witnesses  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  aud  sworn  to  before  me  this  7tli  day  of  JVIay,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  IStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Chief  Frank,  second  chief  Kaskan  Indians,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

Chief  Frank,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  the  second 

chief  of  the  Kaskan  Indians.     Was  born  at  and  have  lived  in  Kaskan 

all  my  life,  and  am  now  a  very  old  man.     My  father  lived  here  before 

me.     My  occaipation  has  always  been  that  of  a  hunter.     Have  hunted 

Ex  erienco  furscal  ill  caiiocs.     Have  always  used  the   shotgun 

<xpericnco.  ^.^^  killing  scal,  and  but  very  i'ew  are  hjst.    There  were 

kineT'"'"*  cows  cow  seals  with  ]mp  among  the  seals  that  I  have  taken, 

but  I   don't  know  how  many.     I  have  never  taken 

i.Kiiscrimiiiat.-.  uiii    jm  old   bull  ill  Illy  life.     Everything  in   shape  of  a 

"'^'  seal  that  comes  near  the  boat  is   killed.      Eur-seal 

^'^^''"■'^^-  are  not  as  plenty  as  they  used  to  be,  and  it  is  hard 

for  the  Indians  to  catch  any.     I  think  there  are  too  many  white  men 

in  schocmers  hunting  seals  around  Dixon's  Entrance. 

^  no  >,ot  haul  up  on   J  j^i^y^.y  i^iiew  any  fur-seal  to  be  in  the  inland  waters 

around  this  part  of  Alaska,  nor  have  I  ever  known 

any  fur-seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  anywhere  in  Alaska.     I  have  never 

heanl  of  seal  i)ups  being  born  in  the  water.     I  don't 

wat"r  '""'  '""'"  "'    '^""^^  what  to  think  about  the  schooners.    There  is  one 

thing  certain,  seals  are  getting  scarce. 

liis 

Chief   x   Frank. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  !»fh  day  of  May,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavka'DER, 
United  /States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN    IN    OR    NEAR    DIXON    ENTRANCE.  281 

Deposition  of  Charles  Gibson,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Charles  Gibson,  beiiis"  <^"b'  «worii,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  33  years 
old;  was  born  in  British  Columbia,  and  now  live  at      ^.^^,^.1.1^^,^^ 
Port  Chester.     I  have  hunted  seal  in  canoes  in  Queen 
Charlotte  Sound.     Have  always  used  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.    I 
lose  about  33J  per  cent  of  what  I  shoot.     I  have  never  examined  the 
seal  as  to  sex.     I  shoot  everything  that  comes  near     lu.iisdimiiiate  kiu- 
the  boat  and  use  no  discrimination  whatever.     The  ing. 
seal  are  becoming  very  scarce,  caused,  I  think,  by  the     Decrease. 
white  men   hunting  them   too  much.     I  have  never  ^. 

known  of  pups  being  born  in  the  water  or  on  the  land        "^^*  ^^^^ 
anywhere  around  Alaska.     I  have  never  seen  or  heard    ,f^^\[|j  ""^  '"'"^ 
of  fur-seal  hauling  up    on   the  land  in   this  part  of  "^'"" 
Alaska.     I  have  never  seen  a  fur-seal  in  the  inland  w^aters  between 
Port  Chester  and  Loring.    .1  think  if  the  white  men      protection. 
were  prohibited  from  taking  seal  around  Dixons  En- 
trance, Prince  of  Wales  Island,  and  in  Queen  Charlotte  Sound  the  seal 
would  become  plenty  once  more  and  the  Indians  could  catch  them 
again  as  they  used  to. 

his 

Charles  x  Gibson. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender,  • 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Henrtj  HahJane,  sealer. 
PELAGIC  SEALING. 


Henry  Haldaue,  being  duly  sworn,  de]>oses  and  says:  1  am  33  years 
old:  born  in  Britisli  Columbia,  and  now  resi<le  at  New 
Metlakahtla.     Have  hunted  lur-seal  m  a  canoe.     Have 
had  my  hunting  lodge  on  Dundas  Island  and  Nicholas  Bay,  and  hunt 
seal  from  the  last  of  March  to  the  first  of  June  olf  Prince      Mi-iation 
of  Wales  Island,  in  Dixons  Entrance  and  Queen  Char-         =  •   '  • 
lotte  Sound.    They  all  disappear  about  June  1  on  their  way  north.    Have 
always  used  a  shotgun  for  taking  seal,  and  lose  about      y^^^.^x  immber  oc 
25  per  cent  of  the  seals  I  shoot.     Think  the  seals  taken   maics'and  fomaio.s 
by  me  have  been  about  ecjually  divided  between  females  taken. 
and  nudes.     Have  taken   a  number   of  yearling  seals  and    some  two 
and  three  year  old  males.     Have  never  killed  an  old  l)nll.     I  always 
shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat;    can  not      j.niiscriminate kiii- 
tell  the   sex   in  the  water.     The   seal  are  not   nearly  ing. 
as   plentiful  as  they  once  were,  and  I  think  tlu'y  are      uecre.ise. 
hunted  too  much  by  schooners.     Have  never  known 


282  TESTIMONY 

,    .  ,_,        any  pup.s  to  be  born  in  the  water  or  on  the  ];ind  auy- 

^  wliere  m  Ahiska.     I  have  never  known  any  lur-seal  to 

haul  up  on  tlie  land.     Old  fables  tell  us  that  they 

Do  not  haul  u]>  on  lumied  up  at  ouc  time,  but  I  have  been  una])le  to  learn 

CO '"1st 

that  they  ever  did.     ISTevei-  seen  any  fur-seal  anywhere 
around  this  island  or  in  any  of  the  inland  waters, 

Henry  Haldane. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  nie  this  lOtli  day  of  May,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Jack  Johnson,  sealer. 
PELAGIC   sealing. 

Jaek  Johnson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  39  years 

old,  and  was  born  at  Tongrass,  and  now  live  at  Wrangel.     Am  a  hunter 

by  occupation,  and  have    hunted  fur-seal   in  Queen 

xpcrienco.  Oharlottc  Souud,  using  shotgun  exclusively.     Quite  a 

number  of  seals  are  lost;    1  don't  know  how  many. 

feSs  ""  P^'^suaut  Most  of  the  scals  taken  are  females  with  pup.     Once 

in  a  while  an  old  bull  is  killed.     Everything  in  the 

shape  of  a  seal  that  eomes  near  the  boat  is  shot.     Seal 

are  not  nearly  as  plentiful  on  the  coast  as  in  former 

.     .  times.     Have  never  known  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water 

^opcagiL  jii  I.      ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^  land  in  this  i)art  of  Alaska.     Have  never 

known  or  heard  of  fur-seals  hauling  up  on  the  land  on 
^^^o  not  haul  u,.  01.  ^i^^,  ^.^y^^^  ()f  Alaska.     My  idea  is  \hat  there  are  too 

many  camp-fires  around  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  that 
scares  the  seal  out  to  sea.  Tlie  seal  smell  the  smoke  and  won't  come 
near  the  land;  and  there  are  a  large  number  of  people  shooting  seal, 
which  scares  them  away  also. 

his 

Jack  x  Johnson. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  May,  1892.  . 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Johnnie  Johntin,  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

Johnnie  Johntin,  ])eing  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  belong  to 

Klawak,  where  I  was  born.    Am  now  living  at  Shakan. 

Experience.  Aui  by  occupatioii  a  huutcr;  have  been  hunting  seal 

and  land  animals  since  a  boy.     Have  always  hunted 

seal  off"  Prince  of  Wales  Island  in  spring  and  early  summer.    Have 

always  used   shotgun   and  rifle  for  taking   seal.     I  never  lose  any 

A  larse  proportion   ^cal  whcu  I  shoot  tlnMii,  bccausc  I  always  shoot  them 

killed  pregnant   fo-  closc  to.     A  hirgc  ])i()i)ortion  of  scals  killed  by  mc  wcrc 

'"'^'^^'  cows  with  pup.     Have  killed  a  very  few  old  bulls  and 


TAKEN    IN    OR    NEAR    DIXON    ENTRANCE.  283 

some  yoarliiijiS.     I  slioot  everything  in  sluipe  of  a  seal  that  comes  near 
the  boat  and  use  no  (liscrin^ination.     Tliere  are  too      i^^uscriiuinatekiii. 
many  schooners  hunting  seal  off  Prince  ot  Wales  Is-  ing. 
land,  and  it  is  hard  forindians  to  get  any  in  canoes. 
Have  never  known  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water  or  on      ^o  ])eiasie  i.irtii. 
the  laud  anywhere  on  the  coast  of  Alaska.     Have  never 
known  any  seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  in  Alaska.     I  j^^i|{'  ""*  i'""'  "i-  »■' 
have  never  seen  any  fur-seal  in  the  inland  waters  of 
Alaska  wherever  I  have  traveled.     I  think  all  schooners   should  be 
stopped  from  hunting  seal  off  Prince  of  Wales  Islands,      protection 
so  the  seal  would  become  plentiful  once  more  and  the  In- 
dians could  catch  them  again. 

bis 

Johnnie  x  Johntin. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  ^Stdfcs  Treasury  Agent. 


Dejiosition  of  James  Klonaelcetj  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

James  Klonacket,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born 
at  Klinquan,  and  have  lived  at  Howkan  a  great  many  years.     I  am  now 
a  very  old  man  and  am  a  hunter  by  occupation.     Have  hunted  fur-seal 
for  twelve  seasons  oft"  Prince  of  Wales  Island.     Have      j^^p^rience 
always  hunted  seal  a  mouth  aiul  a  half  before  the  small 
birds  hatch,  and  they  hatch  about  June  1.     The  seal  all      Migration. 
go  north  about  this  time.     I  use  the  shotgun  for  taking- 
seal,  and  sometimes  I  lose  one  or  two  out  of  ten  that  I  kill.     When  I 
first  began  to  hunt  seals  the  females  were  plenty,  but     p^g^ease 
now  they  are  not  so  plenty.    The  majority  of  seals  killed 
the  last  few  years  have  been  young  males  two  and  three  years  old.     I 
have  killed  a  few  old  bulls.     They  were  not  plentiiul  when  I  first  began 
to  hunt,  then  they  got  plenty,  and  now  they  are  nearly  all  gone.     Fe- 
male and  male  seals  look  the  same  in  water,  uidess  it  be  an  old  bull, 
which  I  can  tell  by  its  bigness,  and  I  shoot  ev^erything  that  comes  near 
the  canoe.     Seal  used  to  be  plentiful,but  now  they  are  nearly  all  gone. 
Theyaretoomuchlmnted  bvthe  white  men  with  schoon-      ^^     ,    •  ,  ■  ., 

"^    TT  1  "  J     1       -1  •     ^1  ,1^0  pelagic  birth. 

ers.     Have  never  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water 

or  on  the  land  anywhere  in  Alaska  or  British  Columbia,  and  I  don't  know 

where  they  are  born,     I  don't  know  of  any  fur-seal 

hauling  up  on  the  land  anywhere  in  Alaska  or  British   ^^Z'^f"'^''"'^ 

Columbia,  and  I  don't  know  where  they  do  haul  up. 

his 

Jambs  x  Klonacket. 

mark 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
A.  W.  Lavendi:r. 
H.  K.  Gould,  Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  May,  1802, 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


284  TESTIMONY 

DepoHiiion  of  Edicard  Maltland,  sealer. 

TELAGIC   SEALING. 

Edward  Maitland,  beiiii;'  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born 

in  J]ritisliCohtinbia.    1  reside  now  in  XewMetlalcalitla.    Am 31  yearsold. 

.  1  liave  been  a  liunter  all  my  life.     Have  Imnted  seal  in 

ixpcueuce.  _^  caiioe;  my  lodj^'e  was  on  Dundas  Island,  and  I  hunted 

in  (^)ueen  Cliarlottes  Hound  and  Dixons  Kntrance.    Always  used  the  sliot- 

i;un  for  taking  seal.    About  50  per  <'ent  of  the  seals  shot  Avith  shotgun  are 

lost.     Most  of  the  seals  taken  by  me  have  been  females 

Mostly  i)r(.guaiit  fe-   withi)ui).   I  luive  ucver  taken  abig  bull  in  mv  life.   Have 

iriiiles  taken.  ,-,11^11111  i  i-  tj.    "^     1  t^ 

kdled  small  bulls  and  some  yearlings.  It  makes  no  dif- 
ference if  a  seal  is  a  male  or  female ;  we  shoot  everything  that  comes  near 

enough.  I  have  never  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in 
Nope  agic  11  .  ^^^  water,  or  on  the  land  on  the  coast  around  this  part 
,,      , ,     ,  of  Alaska.     I  have  never  known  any  fur-seal  to  haul 

Do  not  hanl   iip  on    ^  '  •        .  i       i  t    i 

Aiaskuu  (oast.  up   ou  tlie  land  anywhere  in  Alaska.     1  have  never 

seen  any  fur-seal  around  Annette  Island  anywhere. 

Edward  Maitland. 

Witness  to  his  signature: 
J.  M.  Potter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 

United  IStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Fredrriek  Mason.,  sealer. 
PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Frederick  Mason,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  32  years 
old.    Was  born  iuBritish  ('olumbia,  and  now  reside  at  New  Metlakahtla. 

Am  a  hunter  by  occni)ati()n;  have  hunted  fur-seal  in 
Experience.  caiioes  siucc  I  was  a  boy.     The  seal  first  make  their 

ai)pearan(*e  in  March  off  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  and  leave  about  the 
miildle  of  June.  My  hunting  lodge  has  always  been  on  Nicholas  Bay, 
and  I  lia\  ('  imnted  iu  Queen  Oharlotte  Sound,  Dixons  Entrance,  and  off 
Prince  ol'  Wales  Islanil.     1  always  use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal,  and 

lose  ab(mt  25  per  cent  of  what  1  shoot.  The  seals  killed 
killed^''''  tiMnaics  by  me  wcic  ubout  half  iiialcs  and  half  females.     Have 

killed  Vmtoncold  bull  in  my  life.     1  have  killed  quite  a 

nundx'r  of  yearling  seals,  but  never  examined  them  as 
_  T„,iiscrinm,atekiii.   ^^^  ^^.^_     Everything  tliat  comes  near  the  boat  in  shape 

of  a  seal  is  shot;  I  can  not  tell  the  sex  of  a  vsenl  till 
after  it  is  dead.  There  are  not  near  as  many  hunters  hunting  seal  as 
there  used  to  be,  for  tlie  seal  are  decreasing  very  fast.  I  know  be- 
cause I  am  hunting  seal  all  the  time.  Therc^  are  too  many  schooners 
hunting  seal  off  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island  and  Dixons  Entrance  and 

if  they  are  not  sto})ped  they  will  soon  be  all  gone.  I 
Proteciion.  have  never  seen  a  i)up  born  in  the  water,  nor  have  I 

ever  heard  of  a  pup  IxMiig  born  on  the  land  around 
No  pelagic  birth.      tliis  part  of  Alaska.     1  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  a 

fur-seal  being  hauled  np  on  the  land  anywhere  in  this 


TAKEN    IN    OR    NEAR    DIXON    ENTRANCE.  285 

part  of  Alaska,  nor  do  1  l)elieve  that  old  fable  that  is     Do  not  haul  up  ou 
told  by  some  of  the  old  iiieu  that  fur-seal  ouce  did  haul  ''""''^• 
up  here,  or  any  other  part  of  Alaska  outside  of  tlie  Seal  Islands.   I  think 
if  the  schooners  were  inohiblted  from  taking  seal,  they  would  become 
plentiful,  as  they  were  years  ago. 

liis 

Frederick  x  Mason. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
David  Leask. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  /States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Amos  Mill,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Amos  Mill,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:   E  was  born  in  r>rit- 
ish  Columbia;  lam  about  aO  years  old,  and  now  reside  in  New  Metla- 
kahtla ;  have  been  a  hunter  all  my  life ;  have  hunted  fur-   ^^^  ^  .^ 
seal  in  canoes ;  my  lodge  is  on  Dundas  Island,  and  I  hunt    ^^^i'""  "'"^• 
oft'  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  in  Queen  Charlotte's  Sound  and  Dixon's  En- 
trance; have  always  used  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal;  about  20  per  cent 
of  the  seals  I  shoot  with  shotgun  are  lost;  most  all  the 
seals  killed  by  me  have  been  females  with  pu].;  the  femaitUmT"^''"* 
seal  hunting  commences  in  IMarch   and  ends  about 
the  middle  of  June;    the  seal  are   constantly    going      isiismtion. 
north  during  that  time;  I  shoot  all  seal  that  come  near 
the  boat,  regardless  of  sex;  liave  never  killed  but  two 
old  bulls  in  my  life;  I  have  killed  a  few  young  bulls,  111^^ 
and  plenty  of  yearling  seal;  never  examined  them  as 
to  sex;  I  have  never  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  tlie     n.,  pelagic  birth. 
water  or  any  on  the  land  in  this  part  of  Alaska-;  I  have 
never  seen  any  seal  hauled  out  on  the  land  anywhere  ,     , 

-,,-,•  J      <•    1  1       1  T  1  i-         J-  1  Dii  not  haul  ui)  • 

around  this  partot  Alaska;  I  have  seen  a  lewlur-seals  ,.,„,„t. 
in  the  waters  near  Prince  of  Wales  Island  in   the 
months  of  May  and  June. 

his 

Amos  x  Mill. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
David  Leask. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day  of  May,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  IStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Indiscriuiiiiate  kill 


286  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Mattheio  Morris,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

MattliC'Nv  Morris,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 

Kasau  and  am  22  years  old.     Am  a  Imnter  by  occupa- 

Expciicnce.  ^jqj^  ^nd  havc  bunted  fur-seal  in  canoes  off  Prince  of 

iiidiscrimiuate  kill-  ^^^iles  Island.     Always  use  tbe  shotgun  for  taking  seal. 

ing.  '  I  lose  very  few,  as  I  always  sboot  tbem  close  to  tbe  boat. 

Shoot  everything  that  conies  near  the  boat  in  shape  of 

maKken"'"'"""**'*''  »  st^al.  «^'ici  use  no  discrimination.    Most  of  the  seals 

taken  by  me  have  been  cows  with  pup.     First  taken  the 

MigTatioii.  seal  off  this  island  in  May.     Since  the  schooners  have 

Decrease.  Commenced  to  hunt  seal  they  are  becoming  very  scarce 

and  the  Indians  have  to  go  a  long  ways  to  get  the  few 

No  peiiinic  birtii.      that  they  do.     I  have  never  known  any  pups  to  be  born 

Do  not  haul  np  on  in  tlic  watcr,  or  any  fur-seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  in 

coast.  this  part  of  Alaska.     I  have  never  seen  any  fur-seal  in 

the  water  anywhere  around  in  the  inland  waters  of 

rrotcction.  Alaska.     T  tliink  all  the  schooners  ought  to  be  stopped 

catching  seal,  so  the  Indians  could  catch  them  again. 

hit? 

Matthew  x  Morris, 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  May,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  iStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Dan  Nathlanj  sealer. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

Dan  Nathlan,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  on 

Queen  Charlottes  Island.    Am  25  years  old  and  now 

Experience.  rcsidc  at  Howkau.    Am  a  hunter  by  occupation.    Have 

hunted  fur-seal  since  1  was  a  boy.    This  is  the  first 

year   I  ever  hunted  on  a  schooner;   am  now  on  the  schooner  Ad- 

Adventure  Venture.    When  I  was  a  boy  I  hunted  seal  in  Dixon's 

Entrance  and  off"  Queen  Charlottes  Islands.    Always 

hunted  during  April  and  May.     In  June  the  seal  all  leave,  going  north. 

Have  always  used  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.     Sometimes  I  lose  two 

and  sometimes  three  seal  out  of  ten  I  shoot.    About  one- 

femafe^^^  ^"'^°'''"*  ^»alf  of  the  scal  of  the  seal  I  have  taken  were  females 

with  pup.     Have  taken  a  very  few  yearlings.     Once  in 

a  while  I  take  an  old  bull,  but  not  often.     The  male  seals  that  I  have 

killed  are  two  and  three  years  old,  I  think.     We  shoot 

_  i^n.iiscrinunate  kill-   everything  that  comes  near  the  canoe,  regardless  of  sex. 

The  sex  can  not  be  told  in  the  water  unless  it  be  an  old 

bull.     The  last  four  or  five  years  seal  have  been  growing  scarcer  every 

Decrease  Y^ar,  owiug,  I  think,  to  too  many  white  men  huntingseals 

in  schooners  off  Queen  Charlotte  Islands  and  in  Dixous 


TAKEN    IN    OR    NEAR    DIXON    ENTRANCE.  287 

Entrance.     I  think  if  the  schooners  are  not  prohibited      Protection. 
from  huiitiijg'  seal  they  will  soon  become  as  scarce  as  the 
sea  otter  now  is.    There  have  only  been  two  seal  killed  by  the  four  canoes 
hnntiiig"  oif  Cape  Mnzon  this  season,  which  shows  plainly  enough  that 
the  seal  are  most  all  gone.     I  have  never  seen  any      ,,      ,    .  , .  „ 

11  •        ii  j_  j_i        1         T  1  r«o  pelagic  birth. 

pup  seal  born  m  the  water  or  on  the  land  anywhere 
around  British  Columbia  or  Alaska.  Have  never  seen 
any  fui^-seal  liaul  np  on  tlie  land  anywhere  in  Alaska, 
or  British  Columbia,  or  on  Queen  Charlottes  Islands. 


Do  not 
coast. 


Dan  X  Kathlan. 

mark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavp:nder, 
United  tStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Joseph  ReisMaitlc,  sealer. 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Joseph  Neishkaitk,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born 
in  British  Columbia;  am  60  years  old,  and  now  reside 
at  Kew  Melakahtla ;  am  a  hunter  by  occupation;  have     Experience. 
hunted  fur-seal;  hunt  in  IJixons  Entrance  and  Queen 
Charlotte  Sound.     The  seal  make  their  appearence  the  last  of  March 
and  disapi)ear  the  1st  of  Juno,  and  I  hunt  them  dur-      Mioration 
ing  that  time.     Use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal,  and 
lose  about  25  per  cent  of  those  I  shoot.     Think  about  ^iJeJ^takln^"'"'*  ^^' 
half  of  the  seals  taken  by  me  liave  been  cows  with  pup ; 
the  rest  are  yearlings  and  young  males  two  and  three  years  old.    Have 
never  seen  an  old  bidl  in  my  life.     Everything  is  killed     ,  ,.     .  •    .  ,  .„ 

,-,  ,,  .*'-  r.i-n-  Indiscriminate  kill- 

that  comes  near  the  canoe  m  shape  ot  a  seal.      \V  e  can-   ing. 

not  tell  a  male  from  a  female  in  the  water.     Seal  are 
not  near  as  plenty  as  they  used  to  be;  too  many  hunt- 
ers are  catching  them  and  indiscriminately  killing  them.     I  have  never 
known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water  or  on  the  land  around  this 
part  of  Alaska.     I  am  a  verv  old  man,  and  I  have  never     „      ,    .  , .  ., 

-,-„-P  -  i'j.£-  Ifo  pelagic  birth. 

even  heard  ot,     1  have  never  heard  oi  or  seen  any 

seal  hauled  up  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  anywhere.    Have     „      *  x,    , 

^  „  1    •       i  T  ,  -It  Do  not  haul  up  od 

never  even  seen  any  lur-seal  m  the  waters  around  An-  coast. 
nette  Sound  or  in  any  of  the  inland  waters.     I  think  if     Protection, 
the  schooners  were  proliibited  from  taking  seal  they 
would  become  plentiful  again. 

his 

Joseph  x  Neishkaitk. 

mark. 

Witnesse  to  his  mark : 
David  Leask. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  IStates  Treasury  Agent. 


288  TESTIMONY 

])('l)<)siil(m  of  Ntldd-ah^  sealer. 
PELAGIC   SKALOG. 

Ntkla-ah,  beinj^-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  was  bon  at  Howkaii. 
Am  very  old :  al)ont  (JO  years  old.     I  have  been  a  hun- 
ter  all  my  life.     Have  hnnted  iur-seal  every  season 
since  I  was  old  enouffh,  in  a  <'anoe.     The  seal  always  come  here  before 
the  birds  beain  to  sine-  very  much,  and  they  are  all  eone 
when  the  salmon  berries  get  ripe,  which  I  think  is  be- 
tween the  months  of  JNIarch  and  July.     Have  used  a  Hudson  Bay  shot- 
gun since  I  can  remember  for  taking  seal.     I  very  rarely  lose  a  seal, 
because  I  shoot  them  close  to  the  boat.     I  think  about 
naurfonlaks"  ^^'^^'  ^'^^^  tlie  scals  takcii  by  me  are  females  with  pup.     Have 
never  tiiken  but  a  few  old  bulls  in  my  life.     Have  taken 
a  good  many  yearlings,  but  never  examined  them  as  to  sex.     When  I 
was  a  young  man  seals  were  much  more  plentiful  than  they  are  now. 
The  last  three  years,  since  the  schooners  began  hunting  seals,  they 
have  become  very  scarce.     It  is  hard  for  the  Indians 
to  get  any  n(;W,  and  this  year  they  nave  killed  but  two. 
About  the  time  the  wild  geese  are  flying  north  the  seals  are  most  ]>len- 
tiful.     I  can  not  tell  the  difleience  between  a  male  and  a  female  seal  iu 
the  water,  and  I  shoot  every  seal  that  comes  near  the 
indisdiiniDatekiii-  eaui  e.     I  think  if  thc  schooncrs  are  not  stopped  from 
'"f  hunting  seal  the  seal,  like  the  sea-otter,  will  soon  be 

,,.„■.  I- t,        all  gone.     I  have  never  known  or  heard  of  pups  being 
"'''""  '"  '■      born  in  the  water  or  on  the  land  any  where  in  British 
Coliuiibia,  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  or  Alaska.     I  have  never  known 
or  heard  of  fui-seal  hauling  up  on  the  land  anywhere 
^1).,  not  haul  up  ..M   j,,  British  Columbia,  Queen  Charlotte  Islands,  or  Alaska. 

Ntkla-ah  (his  X  mark). 
Witnesses  to  his  mark: 
A.  W.  Lavender, 
H.  E.  Gould,  Interpreter. 

Sn])scribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  ^^^tates  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Fefer  Olson,  ftir  hunter. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Peter  Olson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 
.  Howkan,  and  have  lived  at  Kasan  since  I  was  a  boy. 

xpenence.  Havc  bccu  a  liuuter  all  my  life.     Have  never  hunted 

fur-seal;  always  hunted  on  the  land;  a  great  many  of  our  people  hunt 
fur-seal  along  the  coast  of  Prince  of  Wales  Islands  and  out  in  Dixon's 
Entrance.     I  have  never  seen  any  fur-seal  anywhere  in 
in'^iXn.iTaters.^^''^  tlic  iulaud  watcrs,  m)v  have  I  ever  heard  of  any  being 
around  the  inland  waters  of  this  part  of  Alaska.    I  have 
1  imi' "  "*  '"'"^  "''  ""   ii<^^'^i'  known  of  any  fur-seal  pup  to  be  born  iu  the  water 
or  haul  up  on  the  land  anywhere  in  Alaska.     The  In- 
dian fur-seal  hunters  of  my  people  all  tell  me  that  the  fur-seal  are  be- 


TAKEN    IN    OR    NEAR    DIXON    ENTRANCE.  289 

coming  very  scarce.     Too  many  white  men  are  killing  them  all  the  time, 

and  they  kill  cows  with  pup  as  well  as  other  kinds.     I     _, 

am  the  chief  of  my  people,  and  they  all  tell  me  what 

they  know.     If  the  schooners  were  stopped  liunting  seal,  they  would 

become  plenty  once  more,  and  my  people  would  get      protectio 

plenty  once  more,  and  they  need  them  very  much. 

his 

Peter  x  Olson. 

mark 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Jack  ShucJ{y,  sealer. 

PELAaiC   SEALING. 

Jack  Shucky,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:   Was  born  in 
Shakan;    am  a  hunter  by  occupation;    have  hunted 
seal  in  summer  time  and  bear  in  winter  since  I  was  a       xpenence. 
boy;    have  always  hunted  seal  off  Prince  of  Wales  Islands   in  my 
canoe.     Shotgun  and  rifle  are  used  by  me  for  taking  seal.     About  25 
per  cent  are  lost  when  shot  with  the  shotgun  and  more  are  lost  when 
shot  with  rifle.     The  majority  taken  are  females  with 
pup.     Once  in  awhile  an  old  bull  is  taken,  but  very  sel-  pr^nint  ftmaiJ's''*^" 
dom.    A  few  small  yearlings  are  taken,  but  not  many. 
All  seal  are  killed  that  come  near  the  boat.     I  never 
stop    to    consider   whether    it    is    a  male  or  female,   .  indiscriminate  kiii- 
l)ut  kill  it  off  if  I  can.      Since  the  schooners  have  '°^' 
liunted    seal  off  the  Prince  of  Wales  Island  the  seals  have  become 
scarce,  and  it  is  hard  for  the  Indians  to  get  any  in     Decrease 
canoes.     In   former  times  they  used  to   get  plenty. 
Never  known  of  pups  being  born  in  the  water  or  any-      No  pelagic  imth. 
wherein  this  part  of  Alaska.     Have  never  known  of     no  not  haul  up  on 
seal  hauling  uj)  on  the  land  anywhere  in  Alaska,  nor   ''^"'^" 
have  I  ever  seen  any  fur-seal  in  the   inland  waters      no  not  fmiueut  in- 
between    this    place    and   Wrangel   Island.      If   the 
schooners  are  allowed  to  hunt  seal  any  longer  the  seal     riotectii.n. 
will  soon  all  be  gone.     That's  all  I  have  to  say. 

his 

Jack  x  Shucky. 

mark . 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 
2716— VOL  II 19 


290  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Aaron  SimsoVj  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Aaron  Simson,  being  duly   sworn,  deposes  and  says:    I  reside  at 

Wrangel  and  am  '22  years.     I  liave  limited  seal  some  off  Queen  Cliar- 

ExDcrience  lotte's  Island :  always  use  shotgun  and  rilie.     Most  of 

xptntncc.  ^^^  ^^^j  taken  by  me  were  cows  with  x)np.     In  all  my 

fcimaealaken^^^"""*  traveling  around  in  the  waters  of  southeastern  Alaska, 

I  have  only  seen  one  fur-seal  in  my  life.     I  have  never 

No  pelagic  birth.      ^^^^  ^^  heard  of  pup  seals  being  born  in  the  water  or 

anywhere  in  Alaska;  nor  have  I  ever  seen  or  heard  of  fur-seals  hauling 

^      ..  ,    ,  up  on  the  laud  in  any  part  of  Alaska.     I  think  that  all 

Do  not  haul  up  on       ^  .  x-  i        i  i  i         j.  i  xi  i 

Alaskan  coast.  pelagic  scal  liuuting  should  be  stopped  so  the  seal  can 

Protection.  becouic  plentiful  again,  for  now  the  seal  are  so  scarce 

that  the  Indians  can  catch  but  very  few,  where  in  olden 

Decrease.  ^j^^^  ^^^^^  CaUgllt  plenty. 

Aaron  Simson. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  George  SlcuWca,  chief  of  the  Hyda  Indians  and  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

George  Skultka,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 
Howkan  and  have  lived  there  all  my  life.  I  am  chief  of  the  Hyda 
Indians;  am  about  50  years  old.  Am  a  hunter  by  occupation.  Have 
hunted  fur-seal  since  I  was  about  20  years  old.  We  commence  hunting 
when  the  geese  begin  to  fly  and  hunt  for  a  month  and  a  half.  The 
geese  commence  to  fly  about  the  last  of  April.  I  have 
Experience.  always  uscd  a  shotguu  for  taking  seal.     I  lose  pretty 

Indiscriminate  kill-  uear  half  of  the  scal  that  I  kill.    Always  shoot  every- 
^°^"  thing  that  comes  near  the  boat  in  shape  of  a  seal,  re- 

^  Pregnant    females  gardlcss  of  scx.     I  thiuk  about  thrcc  fcmales  with  pu]i 
out  of  every  ten  killed.     I  kill  lots  of  yearling  seals,  but 
never  examined  them  as  to  sex.     ^STever  shoot  any  old  bulls,  although  1 
Decrease  havc  sccu  a  good  many.     There  are  no  seal  left  now; 

they  ai'e  most  all  killed  olT.  The  last  ten  years  the  seal 
have  been  decreasing  Aery  fast,  ever  since  the  white  men  with  schooners 
,,  ,  •  ,  •  M  began  to  hunt  them.  Have  never  seen  any  fur-seal 
born  in  the  water  or  on  the  laud  anywhere  in  British 
Columbia  oi-  Alaska.  Have  never  seen  or  heard  of  any  fur-seal  rook- 
eries in  P>ritish  Columbia  or  Alaska.  All  the  hunters  went  out  hunting 
this  season,  and  returned  home  discouraged,  only  catching  two  fur- 
seals.     The  fur-seal,  like  the  sea-otter,  are  all  gone. 

his 

George  x  Skultka. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
A.  W.  Lavender. 
H.  E.  Gould, 

Interpreter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN    IN    OR    NEAR    DIXON    ENTRANCE.  291 

Deposition  of  William  G.  Thomas,  fisherman, 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

William  G.  Thomas,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  Have  lived 
in  southeastern  Alaska  the  last  eleven  years,  seven  of  which  I  resided 
at  Fort  Wrangel.     Have  been  engaged  in  the  fishing  business  a  number 
of  years.     I  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  any  fur-seal     Experience. 
being  seen  in  any  of  the  inland  waters  of  Alaska,  nor 
have  I  ever  known  of  or  seen  any  fur-seal  hanled  up  on      y^^^^^,  j^^^^.^^  ^^  ^^^^ 
the  land  in  any  part  of  Alaska.     Have  employed  a  seal  in  inland  waters, 
great  many  Indian  "fishermen,  and  had  there  been  a  fur-  haJ',ii„g''ui,  on  coast" 
seal  rookery  in  any  part  of  the  Alaskan  coast  I  should 
certainly  have  heard  of  it. 

Wm.  G.  Thomas. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  George  Usher,  sealer, 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

George  Usher,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  in 
British  Columbia.     I  am  57  years  old,  and  reside  at 
^N'ew  Metlakahtla.     I  have  been  a  hunter  all  my  life.      Exi.erience. 
I  was  one  of  the  first  to  hunt  fur-seals  among  the 
Tsimpshens,  and  have    hunted  seal    ever  since.     I  always  hunt  in 
canoes.     My  hunting  place  has  always  been  off  Dundas  Island.     Ha\e 
hunted  in  Queen  Charlotte's  Sound,  Dixons  Entrance,  and  off  Prince 
of  Wales  Island.     I  have  always  used  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.    I 
think  I  generally  lose  aljout  75  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot  with  shot- 
gun.    Most  of  tiie  seals  taken  have  been  cows  with 
pup.     I  have  taken  but  a  very  few  old  bulls.     1  have  n.^.^ll'^i,';,".'^""''"""' 
killed  plenty  of  young  males,  and  have  taken  quite  a 
number  of  yearlings,  but  never  examined  them  as  to  .  inaisciiminnte  kiii- 
sex.    'I  always  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  '""' 
boat,  regardless  of  sex.     We  use  no  discrimination.     Last  year  there 
seemed  to  be   a  great  number  of  seals  on  my  old  hunting  gnmnds.     1 
have  never  seen  any  pups  born  in  the  water.    The  seals     -^.^  pelagic  binii. 
at  this  time  of  year  are  always  going  north.     I  have 
never  seen  any  fur-seal  hauled  up  (m  the  rocks  any-      n<>  not  iiaui  up  on 
where  on  the  coast  of  this  part  of  Alaska.    I  have  never  *^"'"' ' 
seen  any  fur-seal  anywhere  around  Annette  Island. 

his 

George  x  Usher. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
David  Leask. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day  of  May,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavendek, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


292  TESTIMONY    TAKEN    IN    OR  NEAR    DIXON    ENTRANCE. 

Affidavit  of  Paul  Young,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING-. 

Paul  Young,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  T  was  born  at 

Kasan,  and  am  30  years  old ;  liave  lived  at  Kasan  all  my 

Experifiice.  jjfg.  r^jjj  .^  hunter  by  occupation;  in  the  spring  and 

early   summer  1   hunt  fur-seal  in  canoe.     Seal  make 

tlieir  appearance  off  Prince  of  Wales  Islands  in  April. 


Migration. 


Always  use  shotgun  for  taking  seal.     I  lose  but  very  few  seal,  as  I 
,^  .   .^     ^    ,         always  slioot  them  very  close  to  the  boat.     Most  of  the 

Maiority     takeu  I'^ri  i-nn  i.  i  -^^i  ^-x 

pregTiant  females.        scals  1  havc  Killed  wcFC  leiuales  With  pup.  .  Once  in  a 
while  an  old  bull  is  taken.    I  use  no  discrimination  and 


Indiscriniiuate  kill- 
ing, kill  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat  in  shape  of  a 

^^^  seal.     Seal  have  been  disappearing  very  rapidly  the 

last  few  years,  and  it  is  hard  for  our  people  to  get 

them.    There  are  too  many  white  men  hunting  them  with  schooners  off 

Prince  of  Wales  Island.     I  have  never  seen  any  fur-seal  in  the  inland 

waters  of  this  part  of  Alaska,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  any  being  there 

,    ,  from  the  peoi)le  of  my  tribe.     Have  never  known  any 

Do  not  haul  upon^  ij.ii  j.i       i        i  i  t 

coast.  No  pelagic  fur-scal  to  liaiil  up  Oil  the  land,  nor  have  I  ever  seen  or 

^"'^^-  heard  of  pups  being  born  in  the  Avater.     I  think  the 

Protection.  schooncrs  should  be  stopped  from  hunting  seal,  and 

th/in  they  would  become  x^lenty  again,  and  the  Indians 

could  kill  them  again  as  they  used  to. 

his 

Paul  x  Young. 

^^  mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  0th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 

United  States  Treasury  Agent, 


TESTIMONY   TAKEN    AT    NICHOLAS    RAY    EROM    INDIANS 
WHILE  THEY  WERE  HUNTING  EUR-SEAL 


Deposition  of  Willi  am  ClarJ:,  sealer. 
pelaCtIC  sealing. 


I  Avas  born  at 


Experience. 


Migration. 


One-half     killed, 
CDW8  with  pup. 


Decrease. 


William  Clark,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says: 
Klinquan  and  bave  lived  tlieie  ever  since;  bave  bunted 
fur-seal  nine  years  in  Uixons  Entrance  and  off  Prince 
of  Wales  Island,  in  and  between  Marcb  and  June. 
Tbe  seal  disappear  early  in  June,  going-  nortli.  I  always 
use  tbe  sbotgun  for  taking  seal,  I  tbink  about  25  per 
cent  are  lost.  About  balf  tbe  seals  killed  by  me  bave 
been  cows  witb  pup.  I  never  sbot  but  two  old  bulls 
in  my  life.  Have  sbot  a  few  yearling  seals.  Tbe  young 
male  seals  I  bave  killed  were  between  two  andtbree  years  old,  I  tbink. 
Tbe  last  five  years  fur-seal  bave  been  growing  very 
scarce,  and  it  is  bard  to  get  any  now.  Tbere  are  too 
many  wbite  men  witb  scbooners  bunting  them  off  Dixons  Entrance, 
and  unless  it  is  stopped  tbe  seal  will  soon  be  all  gone.  Have  never 
known  or  beard  of  any  fur-seal  pui)s  being  born  in  tbe     „  ... 

.  J.1       1        J  ■  •  i-    »  1       1  T>    -i.-    1  Pups  not    born  in 

water  or  on  tbe  laud  in  any  part  ot  Alaska  or  British  water. 
Columbia.    I  have  never  known  of  seal  to  haul  out  on     j^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^^ 
the  land  anywhere  in  this  part  of  Alaska  or  British  Co-  land. 
lumbia  wherever  I  have  been. 

his 

William  x  Clark. 

mark. 

Witness  to  bis  mark : 
J.  W.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  lltb  day  of  May,  1S02. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  states  Treasury  Ayent. 


Deposition  of  Franl;  sealer. 
PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Frank,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  on  Queen 
Charlotte's  Island,  and  am  now  a  viny  old  man.     Don't  know  my  age. 
I  have  hunted  far-seals,  and  when  I  was  a  young  man 
tbere    were    lots    of   senls    around  Queen    Charlotte     Kxperience. 
Islands,  but  now  they  have  become  scarce.    The  bust 

293 


294  TESTIMONY 

few  times  I  was  out  after  them  I  did  not  see  a  seaL  They  have  been 
growing  scarcer  every  year  since  the  Avhite  man  began  hunting  them 
in  schooners.  I  always  hunted  seals  in  Dixons  Entrance,  and  off  Prince 
of  Wales  and  Queen  Charlotte  islands  in  March  and  June.  The  seal 
Mi<rT  tion  disappear  in  June  towards  the  north.    When  I  was  a 

"        ■  young  man  the  Indians  used  the  spear  for  taking  seal; 

now  they  have  learned  from  the  white  man  to  use  the  shotgun.     About 
three  out  of  ten  are  lost  that  are  shot.    I  think  the  schooners  ought 
^  to  be  prohibited   from  hunting  seal,  so  the   Indians 

could  again  get  them  again.     Now  they  are  obliged 
to  go  a  long  way  in  the  canoes,  and  often  go  many  days  without  see- 
ing a  seal,  and  come  back  tired.     I  have  never  known  of  pups  to  be 
1  „•  >,i  ti,       born  in  the  water  or  on  the  laud  anywhere  around 
opeagic  ir  1.      Q^ggu    Charlotte  Islands  or  other  parts  of  British 
Columbia  and  Alaska,  where  I  have  been.     I  have  never  known  any 
seal  to    haul  up  on  the    land  on    Queen    Charlotte 
lana'  ""*  '"'"^  "^^  "°  Islands  or  any  part  of  British  Columbia  or  Alaska; 
nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  any  seal  having  hauled  up 
anywhere  in  British  Columbia  or  Alaska. 

rEANK  (his  X  mark). 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender, 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  !States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Luke  Fran!;,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Luke  Frank,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:   I  was  born  in 
Howkan,  and  have  lived  there  all  my  life;  am  by  oc- 
Experieuce.  cupatiou  a  huiitcr,  and  have  hunted  fur-seal  six  years 

of  my  life;  have  always  hunted  in  Dixons  Entrance 
and  off  Prince  of  Wales  Island  during  the  month  of  May  and  June 
each  year.    The  seal  all  disappear  about  the  first  of 
Migration.  Juuc,  goiug  uortli.     Tlicrc  are  seal  in  Dixons  Entrance 

in  March,  but  the  wind  blows  so  hard  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to 
hunt  them  in  canoes;  have  always  used  the  shotgun 
i,e"uSfonrdeT  ''^''  ^^^'  t'llviug  Seal.     I  losc  about  two  out  of  ten  that  I 
'^'^°"       -  ■     •        s]ioot.     I  think  the  seals  taken  by  me  are  about  half 
females  with  pup,  and  the  rest  are  one  and  two  year  old  males  and 
yearlings;  never  examined  the  yearlings  as  to  sex.     I  can  not  tell  the 
sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water;  use  no  discrimination,  but  kill  everything 
that  comes  near  the  boat.     Since  the  white  men  have 
indisciinniiatekni-  i^ggjj  huiitiug  tlic  Seal  with  schoouers,  they  have  be- 
come very  scarce  and  it  is  hard  for  the  Indians  to  get 
any  in    their   (;anoes.      And   all  seal  hunting  in  the 
Decrease.  waters  should  be  stopped  for  a  few  years  to  give  the 

seal  a  chance  to  become  plenty  again.    Xever  knew  any  fur-seal  to 


TAKEN    AT    NICHOLAS    BAY.  295 

be  born  m  the  water  or  on  tlie  land  around  F.ritisli  >.     .i,,„i^.y,irtL 
Columbia  or  Alaska.     Never  knew  any  fur-seal  to  haul  ^       "^ 
up  on  the  land  in  British  Columbia  or  Alaska.     Have  never  killed  an 
old  bull  in  my  life,  nor  have  1  seen  one  the  last  few  years. 

his 

Luke  x  Frank. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  uie  this  11th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  A(jent. 


Deposition  of  King  Easlica,  seeder. 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

King- Kaskwa,  being  duly  sw^orn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 
Howkan,  and  reside  there.     Have  lived  there  all  my 
life,  and  am  now  a  v^ery  old  man;  about  65  years  old.      Kx-perieace. 
My  occupation  is  that  of  a  hunter.     Have  hunted  fnr- 
seal  thirteen  years  or  more.     Have  always  hunted  tliein  in  Dixon s 
Entrance  and  off  Prince  of  Wales  Island  between  March  and  June. 
Hunt  them  until  the  last  of  May,  when  the  seal  dis-      Miontion 
appear,  going-  north.     I  always  use  the  shotgun  for         "'^"' '"°" 
killing  seal.     I  lose  about  four  out  of  ten  that  I  shoot.     Fifty  per  cent  kUka 
About  50  per  cent  of  the  seals  taken  are  cows  with  pup.  p"-"""*  females. 
Have  killed  a  few  old  bulls,  and  have  taken  a  few  yearlings  every 
season.     We  can  not  tell  the  difference  between  a  male 
and  a  female  in  the  water,  but  kill  everythin  g  that  comes   .^I'l'i incriminate  kill- 
near  the  boat.     When  I  was  a  young  man  the  seal 
were  very  plentiful  around  here,  but  since  the  schooners  began  hunt- 
ing them  they  have  become  very  scarce.     The  white     Decrease. 
hunter  destroyed  the  sea-otter  and  will  soon  destroy 
the  seal.     I  don't  like  to   see  the   schooners   around   here  hunting- 
seal,  for  they  kill  everything  tliey  see,  and  unless  they     pj.otgction 
are  stopped  the  seal  will  soon  be  aU  gone.     The  sea- 
otter  is  already  gone.     Have  never  seen  fnr-seal  pups     ^o  reiagic  butb. 
born  in  the  water  or  on  the  land  in  British  Columbia  or  Alaska.     Have 
never  seen  any  fur-seal  hauled  up  on  the  land  anywhere,  nor  have  1  ever 
heard  of  any  being  haided  up  on  the  land  either  in  British  Columbia  or 
Alaska. 

his 

King  x  Kaskwa. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter, 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  lltVi  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Ageiit. 


296  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Jim  Kasooh,  Healer, 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Jim  Kasooli,  being  «luly  swoiii,  deposes  and  says:    I  was  born  at 

Hovvkan  and  have  lived  there  all  my  life.     Am  about 

seiiJr-'et'.'e.ioucc     ^^  years  oUl.     I  aui  by  occupation  a  hunter.     Have 

.e.iLi,  xpei  o  c  .    j^^^j^^g^i  fur  seal  for  eight  years.     Always  hunted    in 

Migration.  Dixous  Entrance  and  off  Prince  of  Wales  Islands  in 

May  and  June.     In  June  the   seal   all  go  up  north. 

They  come  in  March,  but  it  is  too  stormy  to  hunt  them.     I  always  use 

the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.     Sometimes  I  lose  two 

prSutnSafes!"'^'    and  three  out  of  ten  that  I  shoot.    About  half  of  the 

seals  killed  are  females  with  \ii\\).     Have  killed  some 

yearling  seals,  but  never  killed  an  old  bull.    The  young  males  I  killed 

were  between  two  and  three  years  old.     Seals  have 

been  growing  scarce  the  last  five  years,  since  the  white 

man  began  hunting  them  with  schooners,  and  if  they  are  not  stopped 

the  seal  will  soon  be  all  gone.    I  have  never  known  seal  pups  to  be 

born  on  the  land  or  in  the  water  in  this  part  of  Alaska.     I  never  knew 

fur-seals  to  haul  out  anywhere  on  the  land  in  Alaska, 

Do  not'^Laui'up'on  uor  havc  I  cver  heard  of  any  being  hauled  out. 

laud. 

bis 

Jim  X  Kasooh. 

mark. 

Witnesss  to  his  mark : 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  nth  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Robert  Koolo,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Robert  Kooko.  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  in 

Victoria,  British  Columbia;  moved  from   Victoria  to 

Experience.  Howkan,  Alaska,  when  I  was  a  small  boy.   Have  hunted 

fur-seal  for  three  years  in  Dixous  Entranceaiul  off  Prince 

of  Wales  Island  in  the  month  of  May.     Tlie  seal  all  leave  there  by  the 

.  first  of  June;  think  they  go  north.     I  have  used  the 

igra  ion.  spcar  and  shotgun.     When  a  seal  is  struck  with  a  si^ear 

we  never  lose  him.     About  50  per   cent  are   lost  when   shot  with  a 

shotgun.     The  majority  of  seals  taken  by   me  were 

na^ti'emaies'^^"^^*^  fcmalcs  with  pup,     Ilavc  taken   some  yearling  seals, 

but  never  examined  them  as  to  sex.     Have  killed  one 

or  two  old  bulls  in   my  life.      The  males  I  have  killed   have  been 

one  and  two  years  old,  I  think.     I  kill  everything  that 

idk"  decrease!'**^  ^^'^    couies  near  the  canoe,  regardless  of  sex.     Seal  have 

become  very  scarce  the  last  three  years,  and  what  few 

there  are  are  very  wild  and  hard  to  get  at.     I  think  the  reason  that 

seal  have  become  scarce  is  that  they  are  hunted  too 

o  pe  agic  IT   .      jjjmjij  and  too  many  females  killed  with  pup.     I  have 


TAKEN    AT    NICHOLAS    BAY.  297 

never  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water.     Have  never  known 
any  fur-seal  to  haul  out  on  the  land  anywhere  around      ^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^ 
this  part  of  Alaska.     I  think  the  schooners  should  be    land.  "  "^*  "" 

prohibited  fiom  hunting  seal  off"  Prince  of  Wales  Is-      Protection. 
land  so  they  can  become  plenty  again. 

]iiH 

Egbert  x  Kooko. 

niiuk. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Charles  Martin,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Charles  Martin,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 
Klinquan  and  reside  there;  am  30  years  old,  and  my     ^^^^^.^^^^ 
occupation  is  that  of  a  hunter.     Have   hunted   fur-        ^penence. 
seal  ever    since  I  was    a    boy;    always  hunt  in    Dixons     Entrance 
and    around    Prince  of    Wales    and   Queen   Charlotte's   islands.      I 
use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.     About  50  per  cent 
are  lost  that  are  shot  with  the  shotgun.     About  half  wUMnfils.^"'^*"^ *'*"'''" 
of  the  seals  killed  by  me,  I  think,  were  cows  with  pup. 
Have  never  killed  an  old  bull,  but  have  killed  a  few  yearlings  in  my 
life.    Never  examined  the  latter  as  to  sex.     Since  the  white  man  with 
schooners  has  been  hunting  seal  they  have  been  grow-      ^^^^^ 
ing  scarcer  every  year,  and  unless  they  are  stopped 
the  seal  will  soon  be  all  gone.     The  Indians  now  have  to  go  a  long  way 
and  suffer  great  hardsnips  in  order  to  get  any.     I  have     ^^    ^       ^^.^^^^ 
never  known  any  fur-seal  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water 
or  on  the  land  around  this  part  of  Alaska  or  British  Columbia.     I  have 
never  known  any  seal  to  haul  out  on  the  land  any- 
where around  this  part  of  Alaska  or  British  Columbia,  i.^,^^"  ""'  ^""''^  ""*  "" 
and  I  never  heard  of  any  hauling  out  in  Alaska  or 
British  Columbia. 

his 

Charles  x  Martin. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Naslitoii,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Nashtou,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at  Kas  aanj 
am  ()0  years  old;  and  have  been  a  hunter  all  my  life; 
have  hunted  fur  seal  outside  of  Prince  of  Wales  Island      Expeiience. 
and  in  Dixons  Entrance  during  the  month  of  May  every 


298  TESTIMONY 

year  for  alonjx  time.  The  seal  liist  coinciiito  Dixoiis  Entrance  in  March. 
Mi'M-atioii  ^^^^  weather  is  bad  during  tiiat  montli,  and  1  do  not  hunt 

them  in  canoes.  The  seal  are  constantly  on  the  move 
north.    Ilave  always  used  spear  and  shotgun  for  taking  seal.   None  I  lost 

when  1  used  spear.  About  20  per  cent  are  lost  when 
pnj."  ■'"'"  '"''"  '"*^   l^illed  with  shotgun.  About  half  the  seals  taken  by  me  are 

cows  witli  pup.  I  have  taken  a  few  old  bulls  in  my  life, 
but  not  numy.  Have  taken  quite  a  number  of  yearlings.  The  male  seals 
taken  are  between  two  and  three  years  old.     The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not 

be  told  in  the  water.  Hunters  use  no  discrimination, 
.^B.di8cri,niuute  kill-  ^^^^^  j^jj^  everything  they  can.     When  I  was  a  young 

mau   seal  were  very  plentiful   off  Prince  of   Wales 
Island  and  Dixons  Entrance,  but  since  the  schooners  have  begun  hunt- 
Decrease.  ^^»  ^^'^^  ^^^y  ^i^ve  become  very  scarce,  and  Indians 
now  are  obliged  to  go  a  long  ways  to  kill  any,  and 
sometimes  they  will  hunt  for  days  without  getting  a  seal.     I  have  never 
.  known  any  ])Ui)sto  be  born  in  the  water  or  on  the  land 
opeagic  ir   .      jiiiy^viiere  around  this  part  of  Alaska  or  in   British 
Do  not  iiaui  upon  Columbia.     Have  never  known  any  fur-seal  to  haul  up 
'^'^^'^^'                      on  the  laud  anywhere  in  British  Columbia  or  Alaska. 
I  think  that  all  sealing  should  be  stopped  for  a  number  of  years,  so  that 
Protection              ^^^  '^^^'^  ^^^^  bccome  plcuty  again,  for  the  white  man 
has  almost  exterminated  the  seal. 

Nashtou  (his  X  mark). 
Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1S02. 

A.  VV.  Lavender, 
United  tStates  Treasury  Ayent. 

Depotiitioii  of  Smith  Xatch,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Smith  Xatch,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 
Kas  aan  and  have  lived  there  all  my  life,  and  am  now  a 
Experience.  vcry  old  mau,  about  80  years  old.     Have  been  a  hunter 

all  my  life.     Have  hunted  fur-seal  every  season  for  a 
great  many  years  in  Dixons  Entrance.     When  I  was  a  small  boy  fur- 
seal  used  to  come  into  Clarence  Straits,  but  it  has  been  a  good  many 
years  now  since  any  fur-seal  have  seen  there.     Always  hunted  fur-seal 
,..     ,.  between  March  and  June.     They  make  their  appear- 

Migration.  .        -,.f         ,       .        ,^.  i->     j_  ^       ,        j     n     \  \,  ■ 

ance  in  March  in   Dixons  Entrance,  but  at  that  time 
of  the  year  the  weather  is  so  bad  we  can'r  hunt  them.     May  is  the  best 
time  to  hunt  them,  because  the  weather  is  always  goad.     They  all  dis- 
appear in  June  and  go  north  up  the  coast — 1  think,  to  have  their  pups. 
Wlien  I  was  a  l)oy  I  used  a  shotgun  for  taking  seal,  bought  from  the 
Hudson  Bay  Company  at  Port  Simpson,  and  have  always  used  a  shot- 
gun for  sealing.     I  think  about  two  out  often  seal  shot 
n.!?ieswfthpup''^''    '^I'e  lo-^t.     1  think  about  half  the  seals  killed  by  me  are 
females  with  ])up.     1  think  there  are  a  few  more  males 
kille<l  in  April  than  females,  but  in  May  there  are  more  females  killed. 
1  cannot  tell  a  male  from  a  female  in  the  water,  and  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence; I  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  canoe  in 
^indiscrimmatekui-  shape  of  a  Seal.     Siucc  the  whitc  men  with  schooners 
began  to  hunt  seal,  the  last  five  or  six  years,  seals  have 


TAKEN   AT    NICHOLAS    BAY.  299 

become  very  scarce,  and  it  is  liard  for  the  Indians  to  get  any  now. 
They  have  to  go  a  long  way  and  hunt  a  long  time  in  order  to  get  one 
or  two  seals,  and  unless  all  seal  hunting  is  stopped  in  the  water  the 
seal,  like  the  sea-otter,  will  soon  be  all  gone.     Have 
never  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water  or  on  the     ^°  ^^^^"'^  ^'^^^'■ 
land  in  British  Columbia  or  Alaska,  nor  have  I  known     do^  not  haul  upon 
any  seals  to  haul  up  on  the  land  anywhere  in  British 
Columbia  or  Alaska. 

Ills 

Smith  x  aSTATcn. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter, 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A. W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Dejjosition  of- Abel  Byan,  .scaler. 

PELAGIC    sealing. 

Abel  Ryan,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  22  years  old 
Was  born  in  British  Columbia  and  reside  on  Dundas 
Island.     I  have  hunted  fnr-seal  every  season  since  I      Expeiieuce. 
was  a  boy,  between  March  and  June.     Always  hunted 
in  Dixons  Entrance  and  off"  Prince  of  Wales  Island.     The  nuijority  of 
seals  taken  by  me  have  been  females  with  pup.     Once 
in  a  great  wlule  I  catch  an  old  bull.     A  few  yearlings  ...aie's^S  pup^"  **" 
have  been  taken  and  the  majority  of  males  are  two  and 
three  year  olds.     Shotgun  is  exclusively  used  l)y  me  for  taking  seals. 
Lose  about  20  per  cent  of  those  killed  with  shot  guu.      jipproase 
Have  noticed  the  seal  are  getting  scarce  the  last  few 
years.    The  cause  of  the  scarcity  is,  I  think,  too  many  schooners  hunt- 
ing them  off"  Prince  of  Wales  Island,  and  uidess  they  are  stoi^ped  the  seal 
will  soon  be  aU  gone.     I  have  never  known  or  heard  of     ,,      ,    ■  ,  •  ., 

,      .         ^  .  ,  j-i        1         1  No  pelagic  birth. 

any  pu^js  being  born  m  the  water  or  on  the  land  any- 
where around  this  part  of  Alaska.     Have  never  known     J^^"  "o*  iia"i  "p  on 
any  fur-seal  to  haul  up  on  the  laud  anywhere  around 
British  Columbia  or  Alaska.     I  do  know  that  where  Indijins  formerly 
went  out  and  brougiit  back  f]("teen  seals  thev  scarcely  bring  back  one 
now,  and   unless  something  is   done  to  prohibit  the      •. .,<..(■ 
schooners  from  hunting  seal  off"  (^)ueen  Charlotte's  and 
Prince  of  Wales  islands  there  will  be  no  seals  left  for  the  Imliiins. 
Evervthing  in  the  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes  near  the 
boat  IS  shot.     Hunters  use  no  discrimination,  but  kill   ._  |^"-'i^''""'"='t>'^'»i 
everything  that  puts  its  head  above  water. 

his 

Abel  x  Ryan. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark : 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  lltli  day  Of  IMay,  1802. 

A. W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


300  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Thomas  Slcowl,  chief  of  KnHaah  Indians,  sealer. 

PELAGIC  SEALING. 

Thomas;  SkowlJxMiiiidiily  swoni,  deposes  and  says:  lam  chief  of  the 
Kas-aan  Indians.  Was  born  at  Kasaan  and  liave  lived  there  all  my  life. 
Am  48  years  old.  Am  a  hunter  by  oeenpatioii  and  have  hunted  fur  seal 
the  past  fifteen  years.     Always  hiinted  seal  in  Dixoiis  Entrance  and  oil' 

Thos.  Skowi  chief  Pi-inceof  VV^iles Island, ami Ininted them  earh  year froni 
of  Kasaan  in.iiaus.  MarchtoJuiic.  The  scal  all  Icavc  about  Jnnc  1,  to  i>() 
sealer  for  15  ye.trs.      j^^.^th  iiiid  have  their  piips,  I  tliiuk.     Always  nsed  a 

Experience.  Iludsoii  Bay  .i^iHi  to  take  seal  with.    A  Hudson  Bay 

ouii  is   a  sinQ-ie-barreled  shotgun.     Sometimes  I  lose 

Migration.  ^^^^  _^^^^^  sometimcs  two  out  of  ten  that  I  shoot.     Most 

of  the  seals  taken  by  me  are  females  with  pup.     Never  killed  but  one 

old  bull  in  my  life.  '  Have  killed  but  a  few  yearlings  and  never  looked 

to  see  if  they' were  male  or  iemale.     The  young  males  killed  by  me  were 

between  one  and  three  years  old.     The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told 

ill  the  water.     1  kill  everything  that  comes  near  my 

_  jiuiiscrin.inato  kill    ^..^^^^(^f.  j,i  shape  of  a  seal,  and  all  other  hunters  do  the 

"'°"  same.     Since  the  white  man  has  been  hunting  seal  with 

schooners  they  have  become  very  scarce,  and  Indians  are  obliged  to  go 

_  a  long  way  and  stop  away  from  home  a  long  time  in 

order  to  get  any,  and   after  being  away  there  four  or 

five  days  they  fre(|nently  return  without  killing  one  seal,  they  have 

become  so  scarce.     If  the  schooners  are  not  stopped 

Protection.  ^.^,^^^^^  huiitiiig-  scal  they  will  soon  all  be  gone.     Have 

No  pelagic  birth.      ue\er  kuowu  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water  or  on  the 

Do  not  haul  out  on  huid  ill  British  Columbia  or  Alaska.  I  have  never 
'"^''^*-  known  any  fur  seal  to  haul  out  anywhere  on  the  coast 

of  British  Columbia  or  Alaska,  wherever  I  have  been. 

his 

Thomas  x  Skowl. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Totter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1S93. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  tStates  Treasury  Agent. 


Dcjjosition  of  Billy  WiUiams,  sealer  for  fire  years. 

PELAGIC  SEALING. 

Billy  Williams,  heing  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 
Kas-aan  and  have  lived  there  all  my  life.     Am  25  years 
Experience.  old.     Aui  a  huiiter  by  occupation,  and  have  hunted  fur- 

seal  every  year  for  the  last  five  years,  always  hunting 
in  Dixoiis  Entrance  and  oft  Prince  of  Wales  Island  between  March  and 
June.     About  the  1st  of  June  the  seal  disapi^ear  from  Dixons  Entrance 
and  go  north.     I  always  use  the  shotgun  for  taking 
'«ra  ion.  ii,i^i\].     1  tluuk  I  losc  about  flvc  out  of  cvery  ten  that  I 

One  half  .seai.s  killed  slfoot.  I  tliiiilc  about  oiielialf  the  scal  killed  by  me 
pregnant  females.  j^,^^^  ^^^^  fenuilcs  with  pup  aiid  the  balance 'wcre 
divided  up  between  yearlings  and  one  and  two  year  old  males.    Never 


TAKEN    AT   NICHOLAS    BAY.  301 

examined  the  yearlings  as  to  sex.     Have  never  killed  an  old  bnllin  my 
life.    Can  not  tell  the  difference  bet^'een  a  male  and  a  female  in  the 
water.     Kill  everything-  that  comes  near  the  boat,  re- 
gardless of  sex.     Seal  are  becoming  very  scarce  since   .Jn<^Jscr"ninatokiii- 
the  white  man  began  hunting  them  in  schooners,  and 
hunting  seal  by  white  man  must  be  stopped  or  the  seal     decrease. 
will  soon  be  all  gone.     Have  never  known  any  i)ups  to      No  pelagic  birth. 
be  born  in  the  water  or  on  the  laud  in  any  part  of 
British  Columbia  or  Alaska,     Have  never  known  any  Ahlsk^^oast  "^  °" 
fur-seal  to  haul  u])  on  the  land  anywhere  on  the  coast 
of  Alaska  or  British  Columbia. 

liis 

Billy  x  Williams. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  lltli  day  of  May,  LS92. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Fred.  Wtison,  sealer. 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Fred.  Wilson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  23  years 
old;  was  born  at  Howka;  am  a  hunter  by  occupation;  have  hunted 
fur-seal  the  last  eight  years;  have  always  hunted  in  Dixons  Entrance 
and  off  Prince  of  Wales  Island  in  May.     The  seal  all  disappear  oft 
Prince  of  Wales  Island  in  June;  I  don't  know  where 
they  go,  but  think  they  go  north.     Have  always  used      ^'-™'^^""- 
the  shotgun  for  killing  seal.     Sometimes  I  lose  one  ami  sometimes 
two  out  of  ten  that  I  shoot  Avith  a  shotgun.     Think 
that  most  of  the  seals  I  have  taken  were  females  with      ^^ost  of  tiie  seals 
pup.     Have  also  taken  some  two  and  three  year  old  ulZl  i"*'^"'"'^   ^"" 
males  and  some  yearlings.     Never  killed  but  one  old 
bull  in  my  life.     Everything  in  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes  near  the 
boat  is  shot.     I  can't  tell  the  difterence  between  a  young  cow  seal.     Seal 
have  become  scarce  the  last  there  <u'  four  years,  and 
the  cause  of  it  is,  I  think,  tlie  indiscriminate  killing      ^''^crease. 
of  seals  in  the  water.     1  have  never  heard  of  i)ups  i)eing  born  in  tlic! 
water  or  on  the  land  anywhere  onthe  coast  of  British 
Columbia  or  Alaska.     Have  never  known  or  heard  of     ^°  '"''^"  '"'"'• 
any  fur-seal  hauling  up  on  the  land  anywhere  on  the      „         ,     , 
coast  or  British  Columbia  or  Alaska.     I  think  that  all   coast. 
vessels  should  be  prohibited  from  hunting  seal  in  the 
water,  to  give  the  seal  a  chance  to  increase  again.     If     I'lotcciioa. 
something  is  not  done  the  seal  will  soon  be  "all  gone 
and  will  soon  be  as  scarce  as  the  sea  otter. 

liis 

Fred,  x  Wilson. 

^^  muik. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavendek, 
United  /States  Treasunj  Agent. 


302  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Billy  Yeltacky,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Billy  Yeltacby,  bei  11. t;-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born  at 

Howkan  and  liave  lived  there  all  my  life;  am  about  24  years  old  and 

am  a  hunter  by  occupation.     Have  hunted  fur-seals  the  last  two  years 

in  Dixons    Eulrancc^  and   around    I'rince   of  Wales  Island,  between 

March  and  June,      The  seal  leave  here  in  June  and 

MioTiitioii.  ^^  north.     1  use  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal,  and  lose 

about  two  out  of  ten  that  1  shoot.     About  half  the  seals  I  have  killed 

were  females  with  imp,  and  the  balance  were  yearling 

na^^feuiMil's '^  ^'" "    seals  aud  two  and  three  year  old  males.    Never  killed 

an  old  bull  in  my  life,  nor  have  I  ever  seen  one.     I  can 

not  distingnish  the  sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water,  but  kill  eveiy  seal  that 

comes  near  the  canoe  if  possible.     Seal  have  become 

Decrease.  very  scarce  around  Prince  of  Wales  Island  since  the 

white  men  began  bunting   them  in  schooners,  and  unless  they  are 

stopped  from  hunting  them  in  schooners,  the  seal,  like 

Protection.  ^^^^  seaotter,  will  soon  be  all  gone.     The  Indians  are 

obliged  to  go  a  long  way  now  for  seal.     I  have  been  out  three  times 

this  year  and  have  only  killed  one  seal,  and  only  saw 

No  pelagic  birth.  x  .  i  .i   •  tt  i  ji 

two  or  three  this  season.     Have  never  seen  or  heard 
of  any  pups  being  born  in  the  water  or  on  the  land  around  this  part  of 
Do  not  haul  ui  on   A^''^^^''-     I  Jievcr  heard  of  any  fur-seal  hauling  up  on 
Loa.st.        '  the  land  anywhere  in  British  Columbia  or  Alaska. 

his 

Billy  x  Yeltachy, 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1802. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  iStatc.s   Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Ihistings  Yethnon\  seeder. 

PELAGK! SEALING. 

Hastings  Yethnow,  being  duly   sworn,  deposes   and    says:  I   was 

born  in    Kas-aan.     Have   lived    there   all    my   life  and   am    now    60 

years    old.     Have    hunted    fur-seal    every    season    since    I    was    a 

boy.     Have    always    hunted    in    Dixons    Entrance    and    off   Prince 

of  Wales  Island.    The  seal  make  their  appearance  in 

Migration.  t\i  i  i      i-  •  i  ■  2^  rm 

March  and  tlisai)pear  in  flune,  going  nortli.  The 
reason  we  don't  hunt  the  seal  in  March  is  that  the  weather  is  so  bad 
we  can  not  go  out  in  our  canoes.  We  consider  May  the  best  month  for 
fur-seal  hunting.  When  f  was  a  boy,  bought  a  shotgun  from  the  Hud- 
son Bay  ('ompany  at  Fort  Simpson  and  have  always  used  the  shotgun 
for  taking  seal.  Sometimes  I  lose  one  and  sometimes  two  out  of  every 
ten  that  1  shoot.  I  always  shoot  the  seal  close  to  the  boat,  so  I  don't 
lose  many.    Some  years  ago  there  were  more  male  seals  taken  than  are 

taken  now,  but  now  about  one-half  are  females  with 
feraaieJ."^*'" ^''^^^""*  piip-    1'^^'  TGst  are  yearling  seals  and  one  and  two  year 

old   males.     I    have  never  examined  the  yearlings  to 


TAKEN    AT    NICHOLAS    BAY.  303 

ascertain  their  sex.     Have  not  killed  an  old  bull  seal  for  a  number  of 

years,  but  used  to  kill  them.     I  can  not  tell  tke  sex  of  a     i^^^i.^ri^^i^^te  km- 

seal  in  tke  water,  and  use  no  discrimination,  but  kill  ing.    " 

everytbing  that  comes  near  my  canoe  in  shape  of  a     j^reia-ic  birth 

seal.     Have  never  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the 

water  or  on  the  land  anywhere  in  British  Columbia  or  Alaska.     Have 

never  known  any  fur-seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  in      ^_  ^^^  ^^^^^^      ^^ 

British  Columbia  or  Alaska.      Since  the  white   men   Alaskan  coast. 

with  schooners  began  to  hunt  seal  off  Prince  of  Wales 

Island  the  seal  have  become  very  scarce  and  unless  they  are  stopped 

from  hunting  seal  they  will  soon  be  all  gone.     If  the     -^^^^.^^^^ 

white  men  are  permitted  to  hunt  seal  much  longer  the 

fur-seal  will  become  as  scarce  as  the  sea  otter,  which     Piotectiou. 

were  quite  plenty  around  Dixons  Entrance  when  I  was 

a  boy.     The  Indians  are  obliged  to  go  a  long  way  for  seal  now  and 

often  return  after  two  or  three  days'  hunt  without  taking  any. 

his 

Hastings  x  Yethnow. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter, 
A.  W.  Lavender. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Afjent. 


Deposition  of  Walter  Young^  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

Walter  Young,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  Avas  born  nX 
Howkan   and  have   lived  there  all   my  life.     I  have 
hunted  fur-seal  for  the  past  four  years.    Always  hunted      Experience. 
iuDixons  Entrance  and  off  Prince  of  Wales  Island,      j^j^j.^^j^,^ 
The  seal  all  disappear  about  the  1st  of  June  and  go        '"''' '°"' 
north,  I  think.     Have  always  used  the  shotgun  for  taking  seal.   Think 
I  lose  about  three  out  of  ten  of  those  I  vshoot.     Think  the  seals  I  Imve 
killed  were  about  half  males  and  half  females  with 
pup.    Tlu'.  males  mostly  are  yearlings  and   two  and  p,fVg?/al,t!''\vn,ai!I 
three  year  olds.     I  have  seen  old  bulls  in  the  water,  kiiua. 
but  never  killed  one.     I  (;an  not  tell  the  difference  be- 
tween a  male  and  female  in  the  water.     Use  no   discrimination,  hut 
wshoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat.     Since  the     i,niiscrin.inatf  km- 
white  man  began  to  hunt  seal  they  are  becoming  very  ing.' 
scarce.     LTnless  all  sealing  is  stopped  for  a  number  of     Decrease. 
of  years  the  seal,  like  the  sea-otter,  will  soon  become  ex-      ,^     ,    .  ,•„ 

J.    "^  ,  rr  1,  •       j-1  ^  No  pelagic  bntli. 

tinct.     Have  never  seen  any  pups  born  in  the  water  or 
on  the  land  anywhere  on  the  coast  of    Vlaska  or  British  Columbia. 
Never  known  any  fur-seals  to  haul  up  on  the  land  in      j^,,,,,,,^  ,,,,„i  „.,  on 
Alaska  or  British  Columbia.  coast. 

Walter  x  Young. 

mark. 

Witness  to  his  mark: 
J.  M.  Potter. 
A.  W.  Lavender. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  11th  day  of  May,  1S02. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  /States  Treasury  Ayeni. 


TESTIMONY  TAK1:X  AT  BARCLAY  SOUND  AND  ELSEWHERE 
ON  VANCOUVER  ISLAND. 


Dc])osition  of  Charlie,  Mtnat  Indian,  scaler. 

pklagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

Gounty  of  Clallam,  sk  : 
Oliarlie,  being:  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native  Nitn at 
Indian,  and  belong  to  the  tribe  of  Indians  ou  Vaucou- 
Esperience.  vci"  Islaud,  British  Columbia.     I  am  55  years  old  and 

reside  at  Pacheuah  Bay  ou  Vancouver  Island,  British 
Columbia.     lam  by  occupation  a  hunter  and  fisherman  and  have  been 
so  engaged  ever  since  I  have  been  able  to  paddle  a  canoe  or  spear  a  fish. 
c  G  Perkins  1891    ■"-  '"^^'^^^^^  <^*^^^'  fi'oni  Neali  Bay  in  the  C.  C.  Perldn.s  in 
1891,  and  this  year  I  am  sailing  on  James  G.  Sican. 
^  James    G.    Swan,   ^ntll  the  hist  eight  or  tcu  ycars  I  sealed  out  of  Pache- 
uah Bay  with  my  tribe  in  canoes.    We  used  to  seal  in 
the  Straits  of  Juan  de  I'uca  and  up  and  down  the  coast  from  10  to  20 
miles  off.     Between  that  time  and  last  year  I  went  sealing  from  Pache- 
nah  and  sealed  up  and  dow?,!  the  coast  between  Columbia  River  and 
Barclay  Sound,  from  20  to  60  miles  off  the  coast.     I  am  familiar  with 
all  the  bays  and  inlets  on  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver  Island.     I  do 
not  know  of  any  place  on  this  coast  where  seals  haul 
breeainlolrcLrt^  "'^  i^P  ^^id  breed,  nor  have  I  heard  the  Indians  on  Van- 
_  ,    .,.,,.  couver  Island  talk  about  any  such  place.     Seals  do  not 

Pelagic  birth  impos-        •         u-j.ij.j-i-  •      j.i  j.  j.i       i     i 

Bible.  give  birth  to  their  young  in  the  water  nor  on  the  kelp. 

Years  ago  seals  were  very  plentiful  from  5  to  10  miles 
from  the  shore.     I  could  see  them  all  around  in  bunches  of  from  ten  to 

twenty  each,  but  since  the  wliite  man  has  commenced 

to  kill  them  with  the  rifie  and  shotgun  (in  the  last  five 
or  si.x  years),  they  have  decreased  very  rapidly. 

About  ten  years  ago  the  first  British  schooner  came  into  Pachenah 
Bay  to  get  Indian  hunters,  and  have  been  coming  in  there  ever  since, 
increasing  in  numbers  year  by  year,  till  now  there  are  nearly  one  hun- 
dred sealing  schooners  on  the  coast  hunting  seals.     About  seven  years 

ago  they  commenced  to  kill  seals  with  rifles  and  a  lit- 
Mrearma.  tie  later  they  uscd  shotguns,  but  I  have  always  hunted 

with  the  s])ear;  but  very  few  Indians  that  go  from  Pachenah  Bay  or 
from  Neah  Bay  use  guns;  we  prefer  the  spear,  because  we  are  afraid 
that  if  we  use  guns  they  will  get  frightened  away  and  not  come  bai^k 
again,  and  also  because  we  lose  a  great  many  of  the  seals  that  we 

shoot,  but  with  the  S])ear  we  make  no  noise  and  get 
^poan^""   '""'   "'*"   almost    all   that  we   liit.      There  are  about  100    seal 

hunters  that  live  at  Pachenah  Bay  and  make  their 
304 


TESTIMONY   TAKEN  ON  VANCOUVER  ISLAND.  305 

living  by  hunting  seals.     I  am  a  King  George  Indian,  and  sell  my 

skins  at  Victoria,  B.  C     The  Pachenah  Indians  use 

almost  every  part  of  the  seals  in  some  way.     We  seU  most^nto^sear  ^' 

the  skins,  eat  the  flesh,  take  the  oil  out  of  the  blubber 

and  use  the  paunch  for  holding  it.    Not  quite  half  of  aU  seals  caught 

along  the  coast  are  cows  with  pups  in  them.    About 

half  are  young  seals,  both  male  and  female,  and  the  pr^^^^femiiL*"^^ 

rest  (a  small  number)  are  medium-sized  males.    We 

never  get  any  old  bulls  worth  speaking  of,  and  we  do  not  catch  as 

many  gray  pups  now  as  formerly.    Have  not  caught  any  gray  pups 

this  year.    Do  not  know  what  has  become  of  them.    Have  never  caught 

any  full-grown  cows  without  pups  in  them,  and  have  never  caught  any 

cows  in  milk  along  the  coast.    I  never  hunted  seals  with  a  gun ;  neither 

have  I  been  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

Charlie  (his  x  mark). 
Witness : 

John  P.  McGlinn. 

C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  1892. 
[seal.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  Clat-Tca-Tcoi,  native  chief  and  sealer, 
PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Olat-ka-koi,  of  the  village  of  Toquat  (Barclay  Sound),  and  one  of  the 
chiefs  thereof,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says : 
That  he  is  50^  years  of  age,  and  belongs  to  the  villages     Experience. 
of  Toquat  and  Sechart,  at  present  residing  in  Toquat, 
and  is  a  native  of  the  village  of  Sechart.   He  states  that  to  his  knowl- 
edge the  seals  do  not  breed  in  the  waters  of  Barclay     g^^^  ^^  ^^j,  ^^^.^^^ 
Sound,  but  go  ashore  for  that  purpose  a  longdistance  in  Barclay  sonmi. 
to  the  northward.    He  does  not  hunt  seal  in  schooners. 
He  began  sealing  in  his  canoe,  just  ofl'  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver 
Island,  shortly  after  last  New  Year,  and  fished  for  seal  from  five  to 
seven  miles  off  the  coast  and  caught  from  five  to  ten  seals  a  day.    He 
says  he  averaged  about  five  a  day,  in  one  canoe  manned  by  two  natives. 
This  season  this  village  (Toquat)  got  eighty-six  seals,  and  four  canoes 
were  manned  from  this  village.    He  has  never  seen     ^  , 

„„i„„i  -Ti         1         f,®!  1-1  ,1  Seals  never  seen  on 

seals  on  shore  m  Barclay  Sound,  or  on  kelp  or  other  shore  in  Barclay 
objects.  When  fishing  outside  he  has  never  seen  baby  ^'"'°'^- 
seals.  Sometimes  a  few  seals  follow  schools  of  herring  into  sound  and 
go  out  hurriedly.  On  such  occasions  a  few  are  killed.  No  sealing  ves- 
sels touched  here  last  year.  His  son  is  only  Indian  who  went  north 
from  this  village  last  year.  He  went  in  schooner  Ariel,  and  caught 
one  thousand  and  eighty  (1,080),  all  in  Bering  Sea.  No  Indians  have 
gone  north  from  this  viUage  this  year.  He  states  that  Ohiat  is  largest 
village  in  Barclay  Sound.  Population  260.  The  towns  and  popula- 
tions are  as  follows:  Mchuelet,  184;  Toquat,  22;  Sechart,  170;  Mchuck- 
leset,  34 ;  Hopucheiset  and  Ohiat,  260. 

Clat-ka-koi  (his  X  mark). 
Attest : 

E.  T.  WiTHERSPOON. 

Harry  George. 
2716— VOL  II 20 


306  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Kiclciana,  sealer. 
Pi:LAGIC   SEALING. 

Kickiana, being  duly  sworn, deposes  and  says:  That  lie  is  20  years  of 
age;  is  a  native  of  Secliart  village,  and  a  son  of  Clat-ka-koi.  Last  year 
he  went  north  in  schooner  Ariel,  and  spent  one  and  one-half  months  in 
Bering  Sea,  with  a  crew  of  eiglit  white  men  and  sixteen  Indians,  and 

spent  half  of  Aj^ril  and  month  of  May.     He  canght 

Seals  never  show  1,080  scal.    They  ucver  show  themselves  out  of  water 

wate^^Tn  ° Barclay  "1  the  locality  of  Barclay  Sound.    He  has  seen  them 

Sound.  on  beach  in  the  Bering  Sea.     He  never  knew  of  one  to 

be  born  in  the  water,  and  never  heard  of  it.  He  has 
^Pnps  not  bom  in  ^^^,^^,  ^^^^  ^^^^^  g^^jg  ^^  ^-^^  vicinity  of  Barclay  Sound. 

The  white  men  lose  a  great  many  by  shooting.  The 
Indians  lose  fewer  in  their  method  by  sjjearing.  He  thinks  white  men 
lose  three  out  of  five,  on  an  average. 

KiCKiANA  (his  X  mark). 
Attest: 

E.  T.  WiTHERSPOON, 

Haery  George. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  21st  day  of  April,  1802;  and 
I  further  certify  that  the  foregoing  affidavits  were  read  to  Clat-ka-koi 
and  Kickiana,  and  the  contents  fully  made  known  to  them  by  J.  T.  A. 
Bulfinch,  duly  sworn  as  interpreter,  and  that  they  fully  understood  the 
same. 
[seal.]  Oliver  Wood, 

U.  S.  Commissioner  for  the  district  of  Washington, 

Residing  at  Port  Toicnsend. 

Clat-ka-koi  understands  and  speaks  English  fairly  well.  Kickiana 
understands  and  speaks  English  fairly  well. 

Oliver  Wood, 
U.  S.  Commissioner  for  the  district  of  Washington, 

Residing  at  Port  Townsend. 


Deposition  of  Diclc,  or  Elienchesut,  one  of  the  chiefs  of  Agtiis  et  al. 
PELAGIC   SEALING  AND  HABITS. 

Dick,  or  Ehenchesut,  first  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  That 
he  is  about  40  years  of  age,  and  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
Experience.  village  of  Aguis,  Barclay  Sound;  is  a  native  of  this 

village,  and  a  resident  of  the  same.    He  states  that 
during  the  last  five  months  twentj'-five  canoes  belonging  to  the  village, 
manned  by  fifty  men,  have  been  engaged  in  sealing  off 
o/vanXvlr  ifianT*  the  coast  of  Vaucouvcr  Island.    They  obtained  in  this 
time  10  skins  per  capita,  in  all  500  skins.     To  his 
knowledge,  no  seals  ever  came  inside  Barclay  Sound, 
ciJsT^d.^''*®'"^*^'  and  that  he  never  caught  any  inside,  and,  moreover,  he 
and  his  fiieuds  never  heard  of  any  entering  these  wa- 
ters.   He  states  that  there  are  no  kelp  patches  outside,  where  seals- 
resort  or  where  they  breed.     The  50  men  who  went  out  from  this  vil- 
lage joined  schooners,  two  in  number,  one  of  them  commanded  by  Capt. 


TAKEN   ON  VANCOUVER  ISLAND.  307 

Douglass,  and  the  seals  were  caugiit  about  20  miles  to  southward  and 

westward  of  Cape  Flattery.     Of  the  number  caught  300  were  caught 

and  killed  by  the  natives  of  this  village,  and  were  sold 

at  Victoria  and  Port  Townsend  at  $12  per  pelt.     La?t  ^^^ices  received  per 

season  the  natives  went  out  by  themselves  in  canoes. 

No  seals  are  ever  killed  in  Barclay  Sound  by  being  dashed  on  the  rocks, 

and  none  ever  breed  in  Barclay  Sound  or  vicinity,    Aguis  is  a  small 

village  situated  1  mile  east  of  Sechart.     Witness  was  born,  here  and 

has  always  lived  here.    Witness  states  that  there  are 

six  villages  on  Barclay  Sound,  with  a  total  population  go™""^  °°  ^^''''^^^ 

of   about  1,000.     The  largest  is  Ohiat;  Cleashun  is 

chief  or  tgee;  population  240,  100  being  females. 

Dick,  or  Ehenchesut  (his  x  mark). 
Attest : 

E.   T.   WiTHERSPOON. 

W.  C.  Herbert. 


Clappa,  first  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  50  years 
age;     a    native   and   resident   of   Aguis;   up   to  two 
years  ago  he  hunted  seals;  his  last  hunt  took  i)lace  in  seit^^^'  ^'^^^^^ 
a  schooner  manned  by  twenty  men  and  ten  canoes; 
hunted  two  months  and  caught  200  seals.     Certifies      vermes  statements 

.  I  .  -I        -rx-    ^  1-11  1  ,    i      1       .  of  Dick  or  Ehenchesut 

evidence  given  by  Dick  or  Ehenchesut  to  be  true. 

Clappa  (his  x  mark). 
Attest : 

E.  T.  WiTHERSPOON. 

W.  C.  Herbert. 


Saisun,  being  first  duly  sworn,  dex)oses  and  says  that  he  is  60  years 
of  old;  a   native  and  resident  of  Aguis;    quit  seal- 
hunting  four  years  ago.    Last  hunted  in  small  schooner  seaier.^'^'^'    °  ^*° 
Pictou  or  Victor,  William  Gilbert,  alias  Billy  the  Butch,      p,„,„,  „^  rr-  ,„ 

,.  .  '.__  ,'  ,«'  ,.,.'        Jrictou  or  victor. 

being  in  command.     He  spent  two  months  outside  in 
schooner  with  eight  canoes  and  sixteen  men.    Obtained 
200  skins.    All  were  caught  off  Cape  Flattery  and  Bar- 
clay Sound,  about  40  miles  off  the  shore.     Certifies     verifies  statements 
evidence  given  by  Dick  or  Ehenchesut  to  be  true.  of  Dick  or  Ehenchesut. 

Saisun  (his  x  mark). 
Attest : 

E.  T.  WiTHERSPOON. 

W.  C.  Herbert. 


Chakatt,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  Qo  years 
of  age,  and  a  resident  of  Aguis.     Certifies  evidence     „.  ,      ,  ,. 
given  by  Dick  or  Ehenchesut  to  be  true.  verifies 'state^nta 

Chakatt  (his  x  mark).      fJ!'"^  ""^  EUenche- 

Attest: 

E.  T.  WiTHERSPOON. 

W.  C.  Herbert. 


308  TESTIMONY 

Imihap,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  lie  is  65  years 
indi  n      ^^^^'  ^^^^  ^  resident  of  Ayuis.    Certifies  evidence  given 
Verifie8^8ta"ement9  by  Dick  or  Elieucliesut  to  be  true. 

of  Dick  or  Ehenche-  IMIHAP  (llis   X   mark). 

Attest : 

E.  T.  WitherspoojST. 
W.  C.  Herbert. 


Oponyak,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  65 

years  old.     Is  a  native  and  resident  of  Aguis.     Cer- 

veriiies  statements  tifies  the  evidcuce  given  by  Dick  or  Ehenchesut  to  be 

of  Dicli  or  Ehenche-    frno 

Oponyak  (his  x  mark). 
Attest : 

E.  T.  WiTHERSPOON. 

W.  0.  Herbert. 


Chillta,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  a  native 
^.„^  ^  ,.  and  resident  of  Aguis.     This  year  he  and  Mend  went 

Chillta,  Indian.  ,.  „^  iiij?  xi  j  ij_ 

Verifies  statements  out  lu  cauoe  lor  ouc  and  a  halt  mouths,  and  caught 
of  Dick  or  Ehenche-  20  scals  picking  them  up  here  and  there.     Certifies  that 
e^adence  given  by  Dick  or  Ehenchesut  is  true. 

Chillta  (his  x  mark). 
Attest : 

E.  T.  WiTHERSPOON. 

W.  C.  Herbert. 


Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  21st  day  of  April,  1892,  and  I 
further  certify  that  the  foregoing  affidavits  were  read  to  Dick  or  Ehen- 
chesut, Clappa,  Saisuu,  Chakatt,  Imiliap,  Oponyak,  and  Chillta,  and 
the  contents  fully  made  known  to  them  by  J.  T.  A.  Bulfinch,  duly  sworn 
as  interpreter,  and  that  they  fully  understood  the  same. 
[L.  s.]  Oliver  Wood, 

United  States  Commissioner  for  the  District  of 

Washington,  residing  at  Fort  Townsend. 


Deposition  of  John  Margathe,  storeTceeper,  Barclay  Sound. 

habits. 

John  Margathe,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  for  23 

years  he  has  resided  on  the  west  coast  of  Vancouver 

Experience.  Island,   Victoria,   Barclay   Sound,   etc.,   and   that  at 

present  he  OAvns  a  store  in  Uchulet,  Barclay  Sound, 

B.ar!fu'^sound^^''°  ^"  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  whitc  mau  residing  in  same.  He  states 
arc  aj   oiin  .  ^^^^  fur-scal  are  rarely  seen  in  Barclay  Sound,  and  are 

usually  found  off  the  coast  at  a  distance  of  from  5  to  15  miles.  They 
are  found  in  clear  water,  and  never  close  to  the  land. 

loSiit^."*  ^"^^  ^^  Seals  do  not  breed  in  the  locality.  A  few  one-year  old 
imps  have  been  caught  during  the  winter.    Last  sea  -on 

otr^coast.^^  °''*'^''  "^'^  01'  ^W)  seals  were  caught  off  the  coast  by  the  na- 
tives of  villages  on  Barclay  Sound.     There  are  about 


TAKEN   ON  VANCOUVER   ISLAND.  309 

100  natives  in  this  village.    He  is  also  agent  for  five  sealing  vessels 
owned  in  Victoria. 

his 

John  x  Margathe. 

mark. 

Attest :         » 

E.  T.  WiTHERSPOON. 

Harry  George. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  21st  day  of  April,  1892,  and 
I  fm-tber  certify  that  the  foregoing  affidavit  was  read  to  John  Mar- 
gathe and  that  he  fiilly  understood  the  same. 
[L.  s.]  Oliver  Wood, 

United  States  Commissioner  for  the  District  of 

Washington,  residiiig  at  Fort  Toivnsend. 


Deposition  of  Moses,  Nitnat  Indian  scaler. 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss : 

Moses,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native  Mtnat 
Indian,  and  reside  at  Pachenah  Bay  on  Vancouver 
Island,  at  Vancouver,  British  Columbia.    I  am  50  years     Experience. 
old,  and  am  by  occupation  a  hunter  and  fisherman,  and 
have  been  so  engaged  for  about  thirty  years.     1  have  sealed  out  from 
Keah  Bay  in  the  sealing  schooner  C.  G.  PerMns  (that 
was  last  year),  and  this  year  I  am  sealing  on  the      c.  o.  Peri-ins,  is9i. 
shooner  James  G.  Swan.     Formerly  I  sealed  out  of 
Pachenah  Bay  with  my  tribe  in  canoes.    We  used  to  isoT'  ' 

seal  m  the  straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca,  and  all  along 
the  coast  from  the  Columbia  Eiver  to  the  upper  end  of  Vancouver 
Island.    I  am  familiar  with  all  the  bays  and  inlets  on  the  west  coast  of 
Vancouver  Island.     I  do  not  know  of  any  place  along 
the  coast  where  seals  haul  out  upon  the  land  and  give  co^sl""*  ^'^^'^  "^'  °° 
birth  to  their  young;  nor  have  I  heard  the  Indians  on 
tbe  Vancouver  Island  talk  about  any  such  a  thing.     Seals  do  not  give 
birth  to  their  young  in  the  water  nor  on  the  kelp.     Years  ago  seals 
were  much  more  plentiful  than  they  are  now,  and  I  could  see  them  all 
around  in  bunches  on  the  water,  but  since  the  white  man  came  here 
and  commenced  to  kill  them  with  the  rifle  and  the     j^ggj-eage 
shotgun,  within  the  last  five  or  six  years,  they  have 
rapidly  decreased  in  number. 

Ten  years  ago  a  British  schooner  came  up  to  I'achenah  Bay  to  get 
Indian  hunters,  and  schooners  have  been  coming  in  there  for  that  pur- 
pose every  season  since,  increasing  in  number  year  by  year  until  now 
there  are  nearly  one  hundred  sealing  schooners  engaged 
in  hunting  seals  along  the  coast.  About  seven  years  aeet"^^*  of  sealing 
ago  they  commenced  to  hunt  seals  with  rifles,  and  lately 
they  use  shotguns.  Very  few  Indians  that  go  from  Pachenah  or  Neah 
Bay  use  guns.    In  hunting  Avith  the  spear  we  make  but  little  noise  and 


310  TESTIMONY 

get  almost  all  thatTre  hit.  There  are  about  one  hmidred  seal  hunters 
that  live  at  Pacheiiah  Bay,  and  make  their  living  by  hunting  seals. 
There  is  hardly  any  part  of  the  seal  but  what  is  used  in  some  way  by 
the  Indians.  About  half  of  all  seals  caught  along  the 
on^oast  ftmaies*.'^''^"  coast  are  cows  with  pups  in  them;  a  few^ medium- sized 
males  are  also  taken,  and  the  rest  are  young  seals  of 
both  sexes.  "We  scarcely  ever  see  an  okl  bull  seal,  nor  can  we  tell  the  sex 
of  the  seals  in  the  water.  I  have  never  caught  any  full-grown  cows 
along  the  coast  that  did  not  have  pups  in  them. 

In   1887  I  went  sealing  in  the  Bering  Sea  on  the 
British  or  Japanese  schooner  Ada.    I  do  not  know  the 
name  of  her  master,  but  he  was  a  white  man.     She  carried  seven  canoes, 
each  manned  by  two  Indians,  and  one  stern  boat  with  three  white  men. 
The  Indians  hunted  with  spears  and  tlie  white  men  with  guns.     We 
sealed  around  Unalaska,  but  did  not  go  toward  the 
mSti*'''^^nufshf*  ^^^'^^^i^of  Islands.     We  caught  1,900  seals,  all  of  which 
Tows.^         nursing  ^.^^.^    capturcd  iu  the  sea,  close  to  Unalaska;   most 
all  of  them  were  cows  in  milk ;  but  when  we  tirst  en- 
tered the  sea  we  killed  a  few  cows  that  had  pups  in  them.    We  were 
seized,  while  in  there,  about  the  1st  of  August,  by  the 
^'^®  ■  United  States  revenue-cutter  Bear,  and  all  of  our  skins 

were  taken  away. 

.  In  1 889 1  went  again  to  the  sea  in  the  sealing  schooner 

*"""'       ■  Minnie^  Jacobson,  master.     She  carried  eight  canoes 

and  two  boats.     Two  Indians  who  used  spears  were  emj^loyed  in  each 
canoe,  and  three  white  men,  using  guns,  were  in  each  boat.     One  boat 
with  three  white  men  got  more  seals  than  one  canoe  with  two  Indians. 
The  white  men  shot  a  great  many  seals  that  they  did  not  get,  but  the  In- 
dians seciu'ed  nearly  all  that  they  speared.    That  year 
mosn?iiur?ing°ol8^  ^^  sculcd  cast  of  the  island  and  caught  about  800  seals. 
I  do  not  know  how  far  we  were  from  the  islands,  for  we 
could  not  see  them.    The  seals  Ave  caught  were  mostly  cows  with  milk. 
In  1891  I  went  up  to  the  Bering  Sea  in  the  same  vessel,  and  she  had 
the  same  master  and  carried  the  same  number  of  boats 
MinnieMox.  ^^^^  cauocs.    That  year  we  sealed  to  the  northwest  of 

Catch  in  Bering  Sea.  the  islauds  and  caught  700  or  800  seals.     When  I  was 
in  the  sea  in  1887  seals  were  very  xDlentiful  there,  but 
in  1889  there  were  not  so  many,  and  in  1891  there  were  fewer  still,  and 
Decrease  "'■  ^^^^^^  after  a  while  they  will  all  soon  be  destroyed  if 

they  keep  on  hunting  them  with  guns.     When  in  Ber- 
ing Sea  I  had  an  opportunity  to  observe  the  diflerence  in  the  number 
Waste  of  life  ^^  scals  lost  l)y  killing  them  with  shotguns  and  by  tak- 

ing them  with  spears.  The  hunters  that  used  shot- 
guns lost  more  than  one-half  they  shot,  while  the  hunters  that  used 
spears  seldom  ever  lost  one  that  they  hit. 

Moses  (his  x  mark). 
Witness : 

C.  P.  Brown. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  iState  of  WasJiinf/ton, 

liesiding  at  Port  Angeles,  Washington, 


TAKEN    ON    VANCOUVER    ISLAND.  311 

Deposition  of  Francis  VerbeJce,  residing  at  Port  Angeles,  Wasliington^ 
Roman  Catholic  priest,  in  charge  of  mission  in  village  of  Chapies. 

Francis  Yerbeke,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  lie 
is  a  Eoman  Catholic  priest,  in  charge  of  Eoman  Catho- 
lic mission  in  village  of  Chapies,  on  Todgers  Cove.    He     Dewlase.**^""^" 
has  resided  in  Chapies  four  winters.     He  has  never 
seen  or  heard  of  seals  inside  Barclay  Sound.    They  are  all  found  out- 
side.   Last  year  was  a  very  bad  season.    The  Indians  think  scarcity 
of  seals  is  due  to  the  method  of  hunting  them  adopted  by  the  whites, 
by  which  the  seals  are  scared  away.    He  has  never  heard  of  seal  breed- 
ing here  and  has  never  seen  any  seal.    Witness  states  he  is  only  white 
resident  of  village. 

Eev.  F.  Yerbeke. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  21st  day  of  April,  1892;  and 
I  further  certify  that  the  foregoing  affidavit  was  read  to  Francis  Yer- 
beke and  that  he  fully  understood  the  same. 
[l.  s.]  Oliver  Wood, 

U.  S.  Commissioner  for  the  District  of  Washington, 

Residing  at  Fort  Townsend, 


Deposition  of  Weclcenunesch,  Indian  chief  of  the  village  of  MchuJet. 

HABITS. 

Weckenunesch,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  a  chief 
of  the  village  of  Mchulet  (Barclay  Sound),  and  a  resi-  ^   . 

dent  of  this  village.    He  states  that  fur-seal  do  not        '^renence. 
come  in  close  to  shore  in  this  locality,  and  are  never 
found  on  land.     Seals  are  caught  off  the  coast  at  from  oifcols?''"*^""^  "^ 
5  to  20  miles.     They  do  not  breed  in  this  locality,  and 
nothing  of  the  kind  is  known  in  the  memory  of  the  oldest  inhabitant. 
Formerly  the  Indians  hunted  them  for  food,  but  nowadays  white  men 
and  Indians  hunt  them  for  their  fur,  and  they  are  rai)idly  diminishing 
in  number.     Heretofore  the  natives  have  always  used 
canoes,  but  the  white  men  hunt  them  from  schooners, 
use  firearms,  and  get  about  two  out  of  five.    Last  year  tbere  were  fewer 
than  ever  before.    This  season  the  natives  caught  about 
one-half  as  many  as  last.     In  his  opinion  the  seals  will 
soon  be  exterminated,  and  in  three  years  there  will  be  no  more  sealing, 

Weckenunesch  (his  x  mark). 
Attest : 

E.  T.  Witherspoon. 

W.  C.  Herbert. 

Makeshow,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  a  resident 
of  this  village  and  that  the  evidence  given  by  Weckenunesch  is  true. 

Makeshow  (his  x  mark). 
Attest : 

E.  T.  Witherspoon. 
W.  0.  Herbert. 


312  TESTIMONY    TAKEN    ON    VANCOUVER    ISLAND. 

Clahowto,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  be  is  a  resident  of 
the  village,  and  that  the  evidence  given  by  Weckeniinesch  is  true. 

Clahowto  (his  x  mark). 
Attest: 

E.  T.   WiTHERSPOON. 

W.  0.  Herbert. 

Charley  Hayuks,  beitig  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  that  he  is  a 
resident  of  this  village  and  is  chief  of  police  of  same.  He  certifies  that 
the  evidence  given  by  Weckenunesch  is  correct. 

his 

Charley  x  Hayuks. 

mark. 

Attest : 

E.   T.   WiTHERSPOON. 

W.  C.  Herbert. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  21st  day  of  April,  1892;  and 
I  further  certify  that  the  foregoing  afltidavits  were  read  to  Weckenun- 
esch, Makeshow,  Clahowto,  and  Charley  Hayuks,  and  the  contents 
fully  made  known  to  them,  by  J.  T.  A.  Bulflnch,  duly  sworn  as  inter- 
preter, and  that  they  fully  understood  the  same. 
[SEAL.]  Oliver  Wood, 

Z7.  S.  Commissioner  for  the  District  of  Washington, 

Residing  at  Fort  Toicnsend. 

Charley  Hayuks  understands  and  speaks  English  fairly  well. 


TESTIMONY  TAKEN  AT  VICTORIA,  BRITISH  COLUMBIA. 


Deposition  of  Peter  Anderson,  sealer  (boat-steerer), 

PELAGIC   SEALING-. 

Peter  Anderson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  reside  in  Victo- 
ria, British  Columbia ;  am  by  occupation  a  seaman  and 
hunter;  have  been  engaged  in  the  last  three  years  in     Experience. 
taking  seal  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea 
incapacity  of  boat-steerer.    The  vessels  I  was  employed     Black  Diamond, 
on  are  as  follows:  Black  Diamond,  Ariel,  and  Umhrina,  ^'^*''  ^^  Tjmbnna. 
all  British  schooners.     First  saw  and  took  seal  ofl'Cape     Appearance  of  seaia 
Flattery  in  March  and  we  followed  them  clear  up  the  ***  ''°''^*- 
coast  into  Bering  Sea,  where  we  arrived  about  July  1.    We  used  the 
shotgun  and  rifle  exclusively  in  the  boats  I  was  in.    From  my  expe- 
rience I  am  satisfied  that  33 J  per  cent  shot  with  a, 
shotgun  are   lost,  and  when  a  riflp,  is  used  a  larger        asteofhte. 
per  cent  are  lost  when  killed.    A  large  majority  of  seal  taken  on  the 
coast  and  in  Bering  Sea  are  cows,  with  pup  in  the  Pa- 
cific Ocean  and  with  milk  in  Bering  Sea.    A  few  young  nu^s'ing^cowt^'^''* "'' 
male  seal  are  taken  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  from 
2  to  3  years  old.    Have  never  taken  an  old  bull  in  the  North  Pacific 
Ocean  in  my  life.    A  few  yearlings  have  been  taken  by 
me,  but  not  many.     Use  no  discrimination,  but  kill  all  ^indiscriminate  kiu- 
seal  that  come  near  the  boat.    The  best  way  to  shoot 
seal  to  secure  them  shoot  them  in  the  back  of  the  head  when  they  are 
asleep  with   their   noses  under  water.     Have  never 
known  any  seal  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water  nor  any-  no^outskiconsiluda^ 
where  else  in  Alaska  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands, 
nor  have  I  ever  known  fur-seal  to  haul  up  anywhere  on  the  land  except 
on  the  Pribilof  Islands.    Have  taken  females  that  were     ^     ,    ^  ^• 
fiiU  of  milk  60  miles  from  the  Pribilof  Islands.    I  think     ^'""^ ''       "^• 
seal  ought  to  be  protected  in  the  North  Pacific  and 
Bering  Sea  from  April  1  to  September  1,  in  order  to     ^•'"t^^***''^- 
give  them  a  chance  to  raise  their  young. 

his 

Peter  x  Anderson. 

mark. 

Witness : 

J.  M.  Potter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  5th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 

313 


314  TESTIMONY 

Dejgosition  of  IT.  Axdricius,  sealer  (bont-stcerer). 

pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  of  Canada, 

Victoria,  British  Columbia,  ss.: 
H.  Anclricius,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  My  age  is  21 
years;  occupation,  seaman;  and  live  in  Victoria,  Britisti 
Experience.  Colundiia.     I  first  Sailed  in  1891  in  the  vessel  N.  E. 

^  p^.^^^  ^gg^      Faint,  Bisit,  master,  as  boat-steerer.    We  cleared  in 
April  from  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  and  had  six 
boats,  with  three  men  to  each  boat.     The  hunters  used  shotguns.    We 
Mosti    re-^nant  fe-  sealed  aloug  the  coast  and  captured  151 ;  most  all  of 
maiesf.  ^Lost^tiiree-  them  wcrc pregnant  females;  we  lost  fully  three  out  of 
^°^^^^-  four  that  we  killed.     We  did  not  enter  the  Bering  Sea 

this  year.    There  is  no  place  on  the  coast  where  the  seals  haul  up  and 
give  birth  to  their  young;  they  never  give  birth  on  the  kelp.     I  re- 
turned to  Victo'^ia  and  was  discharged  in  OctoDer.     On  January  27, 
1892,  I  went  seal  hunting  again  as  boat-puller  on  the 
Labadore,m2.        Zabaclove,  Whitly,  master.     She  carried  three  boats, 
three  men  to  each  boat,  all  white  men.    We  commenced  sealing  out- 
side of  Cape  Flattery  and  sealed  to  the  northward  up  the  coast.    I 
know  that  the  seals  are  more  scarce  this  year  than  they 
Decrease.  ^^^,^  j^^^  ^^^^     j  ^^  ^^^  think  It  is  right  to  kill  the 

mother  seals  with  pups  in  them.    It  is  almost  impossible  to  distinguish 
the  male  from  the  female  at  a  distance  in  the  water. 

I  came  back  in  the  schooner  Minnie,  Tyson,  master,  about  the  4th  of 

Minnie  189"  March;  I  shipped  trom  Clayquot,  as  steerer;  she  had 

*    "^ '     *"  three  boats,  and  two  men  to  each  boat,  all  white  men, 

who  used  shotguns.     This  year  the  shotguns  were  used  more  than 

rifles.     We  only  got  live  seals.    They  are  very  wild  this  year  and  very 

difficult  to  catch  on  account  of  their  having  been  hunted  so  much.   The 

captain  returned  to  Victoria  with  his  vessel  because  he 

83^.°^^''^*^''°  "^"^^    could  not  make  it  pay  in  the  seal-hunting  business.     I 

returned  to  Victoria  on  the  20th  of  April.     I  do  not 

think  it  is  right  to  kill  the  mother  seals  before  they  have  given  birth  to 

their  young,  as  it  is  a  fact  tliat  when  we  kill  the  mother  seal  we  also 

kill  her  pup.    They  should  not  be  hunted  for  six  weeks  after  giving  birth 

to  their  young. 

H.  Andricius. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Levi  W.  Myees, 

United  States  Consul. 


Deposition  of  Bcrnliardt  Bleidner,  sealer  (boat-puller), 

pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  op  Canada, 

Victoria,  British  Columbia,  ss  : 

Bernhardt  Bleidner,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and 

Experience.  sajs:  I  reside  at  Victoria,"  Briti'sh  Columbia;   am  32 

years  of   age;    my  occupation,    seaman.     In    1887   I 


TAKEN   AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  315 

s"hippecl  on  the  schooner  Challenge,  Jones,  master,  as 
boat-paUer.     She  carried  four  boats  and  three  men  to  aeiicd"*"^"'  ^^"' 
each  boat,  all  -white  men,  -who  used  shotguns  in  hunt- 
ing the  seals.     We  left  Port  Townseiid  in  May  and  sealed  south  to 
Cape  Flattery  and  then  went  north  along  the  coast  until  we  came  to 
Unimak  Pass,  and  captured  from  three  to  four  hundred  seals.    Most  all 
were  females  and  had  pups  in  them.     I  think  fully  two-thirds  of  all 
we  caught  were  females,  and  a  few  were  bulls.    On  an 
average  we  saved  one  out  of  three  that  were  killed.  caSt^^''^"''''^''"^ 
We  were  seized  in  the  Unimak  Pass  and  taken  to  Una- 
laska  and  all  the  skins  were  taken  away  from  us.    The  vessel  was  re- 
leased and  we  returned  to  Seattle  the  latter  part  of  September.    We 
tried  to  shoot  the  seals  in  the  head  or  heart,  for  if  we  shot  them  in  any 
other  place  we  would  lose  them,  and  if  we  killed  them  dead  they 
would  sink  and  many  of  them  we  could  not  get. 

In  January,  1889,  I  again  shipped  from  Victoria,  British  Columbia, 
in  the  schooner  Walter  Eich,  Siewart,  master;  we  car-      water  Rich  isso 
lied  6  boats  and  1  stern  boat,  3  men  to  each  boat,  all  *  .      • 

white  men,  who  used  rifles  and  shotguns.     We  always  tried  to  slip 
up  on  them  and  shoot  them  while  they  were  asleep. 
We  secured  500  skins  along  the  coast,  most  all  of  which  prlnc^aiTy  taker^^' 
were  pregnant  females,  and  returned  to  Victoria  the 
latter  part  of  Aj)ril.     There  is  no  place  on  the  coast 
where  the  seals  haul  up  on  the  land  and  give  birth  to  PrfbTiof  SanS^  "'' 
their  young,  nor  do  they  ever  give  birth  to  their  young 
on  the  kelp.    It  is  almost  impossible  to  distinguish  the  female  seals 
from  the  male  in  the  water,  unless  it  is  an  old  bull.    I  don't  think  it  is 
right  to  kill  the  mother  seal  before  they  give  birth  to  their  young,  for 
it  is  a  fact  that  when  you  kill  the  mother  you  also  kill     j^^^.^.^^^^ 
her  pup.    I  don't  think  the  seals  are  as  plentiful  as        ^^  ^'^^  ' 
they  were  last  year,  and  the  hunting  of  them  should  be  sao™^^^^*'°°  ^^^^^' 
stopped  in  the  North  Pacitic  Ocean. 

Bernhd.  Bleidner. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D 
1892. 
[SEAL.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul, 


Deposition  of  Mels  Bonde,  sealer  {mate). 
PELAGIC  SEALING. 

Province  of  British  CoLinvreiA, 

City  of  Victoria,  ss : 
Niels  Bonde,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  24  years  of 
age;  residence,  Victoria,  British  Columbia;  occupation, 
seaman.    I  went  sealing  as  deck  hand  in  the  British     Experience. 
schooner  Kate,  Caiit.  Moss,  master,  in  1887.     We  had     ^^^^  jgg^ 
twenty  canoes  and  Indian  hunters  who  used  spears, 
except  in  calm  weather,  when  they  would  use  shotguns.     We  sailed 
from  Victoria  the  15th  of  March,  sealing  off  Barclay  Sound,  between 
there  and  Cape  Cook,  and  caught  522  seals.     Came  back  to  Victoria  in 
May,  discharged  our  skins  and  then  went  to  Boring      ^^^.^   ^^^ 
Sea,  arriving  there  in  July.    We  came  out  of  the  Bering       ^'""^ 


316  TESTIMONY 

Sea  tlie  latter  part  of  August,  and  bad  caught  about  1,700  seals  between 

the  Pribilof  Islands  and  Unalaska;  we  caught  them 

Seals  canght  from  from  10  to  100  01  morc  uiiles  ofi"  St.  George  Island.    The 

stGeorgeTsW?""  largest  catch  we  had  that  year  in  any  one  day  was  20C 

seals.    We  only  took  eight  canoes  and  one  boat  into 

Bering  Sea. 

In  1888  I  left  Yictoria  on  the  11th  of  April  as  mate  and  interpreter 

on  the  British  schooner  Arannah,  H.  F.  Siewart,  master, 

isfs^bTKussianl^^'    ^^^^  Carried  sixteen  canoes  while  sealing  on  the  coast 

and  Indian  hunters  with  spears,  but  in  calm  weather 

they  used  shotguns.    We  caught  about  100  seals  on  the  coast,  and  then 

in  the  latter  part  of  May  left  for  the  Commander  Islands,  on  the  Russian 

side  of  the  Bering  Sea,  and  was  seized  on  the  1st  of  July  by  the  Eus- 

sian  authorities. 

I  left  Victoria  on  the  28th  of  May,  1889,  in  the  British  schooner  Kate 

as  deck  hand,  with  ten  canoes  and  Indian  hunters  with 

£■«(«,  1889.  spears     and    shotguns.      The    Indians    used    spears 

chiefly.    We  went  directly  to  the  Shumagin  Island,  where  we  took  in 

water   and    provisions,  and   went    into    Bering   Sea 

Bering  Sea.  through  Unamak  Pass,  and  sealed  in  those  waters  till 

Ordered  out.  somc  time  iu  Augusfc,  whcu  we  were  ordered  out  by 

the  revenue  cutter  and  went  to  Victoria.    We  caught 

a  little  over  800  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea  that  year. 

In  1890  I  left  Victoria  on  the  ITthof  January  in  the  British  schooner 
Pioneer,  Morgan,  master.    I  shipped  as  a  deck  hand. 
Ftoneer,  1890.  -^^  ^^^  ^^,^  boats  and  whitc  hunters,  who  used  shot- 

guns and  rifles.    We  commenced  sealing  oft'  the  California  coast,  near 
Cape  Blanco,  and  worked  our  way  up  the  coast  to  Barclay  Sound,  and 
^  ^  caught  about  400  seals  and  put  them  aboard  another 

errng  ea.  vcsscl  and  then  sealed  along  the  coast  to  Bering  Sea, 

and  caught  on  our  way  up  and  in  the  sea  about  1,000  more,  and  left 
Bering  Sea  for  Victoria  the  latter  part  of  August. 
The  seals  caught  along  the  coast  after  the  1st  of  April  are  mostly  preg- 
nant females,  and  those  caught  in  Bering  Sea  were  fe- 
males?^ *"*'^*^^  ^^'  males  that  had  given  birth  to  their  young.     I  often  no- 
ticed the  milk  flowing  out  of  their  breasts  when  being 
skinned,  and  have  seen  them  killed  more  than  100  miles  from  the  seal 
islands.     I  have  seen  live  pups  cut  out  of  their  mothers  and  live  around 
on  the  decks  for  a  week.     On  the  Pioneer  we  had  a  couple  of  good  hun- 
ters who  would  get  almost  all  tliey  shot  at,  while  some  of  onr  hunters 
Waste  of  Ufe  would  losc  a  g()()(l  nuuiy  that  they  would  kill  and  wound. 

A  green  hunter  will  not  get  more  than  one  out  of  five, 
and  I  have  known  one  hunter  on  our  vessel  who  shot  eighty  shots  and 
got  only  four  seals.  Indian  hunters  that  use  spears  seldom  lose  any 
that  are  struck,  and  there  is  no  wounded  to  go  away  and  die.  I  can 
not  say  positively  as  to  the  decrease  in  numbers,  but  I  know  they  are 
much  more  shy  now  than  Avlien  I  commenced  se^iling. 

I  know  of  no  place  where  seals  haul  up  on  the  coast, 
on^coit"^^"'"^^^^"^  iior  do  I  believe  there  is  any. 

KlELS  BONDE. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892.  ^     ' 

[sEAL.j  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


TAKEN   AT   VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  317 

Deposition  of  Henry  Brown,  sealer  (boat  jauller), 

pelagic  sealing. 

Province  of  British  Columbia, 

City  of  Victoria,  ss : 

Henry  Brown,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  42  years  of 
age,  and  reside  in  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     I  am 
by  occupation  a  seaman.     On  or  about  February  21,      Experience. 
1890,  I  shipped  as  an  able  seaman,  but  did  service  as 
a  boat  steerer  on  the  sealing  schooner  Miiinie,  which     ifi«me,  isoo. 
cleared  from  Victoria.     She  carried    twelve    canoes 
and  a  stern  boat.    Each  canoe  was  manned  by  two  Indians,  who  used 
spears  principally.     The  stern  boat  was  manned  by  white  men,  who' 
used  rifles  and  shotguns,  principally  shotguns.    I  acted  as  steererman 
in  the  stern  boat.    We  hunted  seals  all  along  the  coast  from  Grays 
Harbor  to  the  passes  leading  into  Bering  Sea.    The     Appearance  off 
first  seals  seen  were  about  30  miles  south  and  west  of  coast. 
Cape  Flattery.     We  then  followed  the  herd  north-     catch  off  coast. 
ward,  capturing  about  1,000  seals  on  the  coast,  which 
we  transferred  to  the  American  steam  schooner  il/u-     Transfer  of  cargo  to 
cliief  at  sea,  about  15  miles  from  Sand  Point.     We  then  schooner  jifwcWe/. 
proceeded  to  the  Bering   Sea,  entering  through  the 
UnamakPass  about  the  middle  of  July.    We  captured  ^^^^i^l  ^®^'  *^®  '^^ 
over  1,200  seals,  all  the  way  from  24  to  100  miles  away 
from  the  Pribilof  Islands.     We  then  returned  to  Sand   24^to too^ues  froS 
Point,  and  arrived  back  at  Victoria  about  the  last  of  islands. 
November. 

On  January  19,  1891, 1  shipped  at  Victoria  as  an  able  seaman,  and 
took  the  boat  steerer's  billet  on  the  sealing  schooner     jif^g^ot  isoi. 
Mascot,    Lawrence,    master.     She  carried  one  stern 
boat  and  ten  canoes.    The  cauoes  were  manned  by  Indians,  who  used 
spears  in  hunting  the  seals,  and  the  stern  boat,  in  which  I  was  steerer, 
was  manned  by  three  white  men.     The  hunter  used  a  shotgun.     We 
sealed  all  along  the  coast  from  Cape  Flattery  up  to  Cape  Cook,  on  Van- 
couver Island,  and  captured  9  seals.     The  only  one     ^^^^^j^ 
taken  by  the  stern  boat  was  a  female  with  a  i)up  in 
her.    The  pup  was  thrown  into  the  ocean.     On  the  22d  of  May  we 
arrived  back  in  Victoria. 

On  the  25th  of  February,  1892,  I  shii>ped  at  Victoria,  British  Colum- 
bia, on  the  sealing  schooner  3Iay  Belle,  Smith,  master,      j/av  .Be^ie,  i892. 
I  shipped  as  an  able  seaman  and  did  service  in  the 
stern  boat  as  boat  steerer.    She  also  carried  ten  canoes,  each  being  manned 
by  two  Indians,  who  used  the  spear  in  hunting.     We  sealed  along  the 
coast  from  Destruction  Island  as  far  north  as  Triangle     (.^^^ 
Island,  off  the  Vancouver  shore,  and  captured  but  one 
female  seal.     On  the  18th  of  April  I  left  the  May  Belle  at  Clayaquot 
Sound,  and  returned  to  Victoria  on  the  5th  of  May  on  the  steam  schooner 
Matid. 

The  seal  captured  by  us  along  the  coast  in  1890  were  all  gravid 
females.  I  do  not  know  the  sex  of  those  taken  by  our  coaatcatch  in  i89o. 
Indians  on  the  coast  in  that  year.  We  did  not  capture  Pregnant  cows. 
any  gravid  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea.  Nearly  all  the  Nearly  aii  taken  in 
seals  taken  in  Bering  Sea  were  cows  in  milk.  We  Bering  sea  nursing, 
captui-ed  a  few  young  seals  in  the  sea  of  both  sexes.  ^^^^'^     ®* 


318  TESTIMONY 

In  1890  our  liunter  in  the  stern  boat  secured  60  seals,  and  lost  over  200 
seals  tliat  lie  woundeLl.     The  Indians  make  a  sure  work 

Superiority  of    in-        ,.•.-,  i  ij-ij.ii 

diau  hunters  and  ot  it,  and  securc  nearly  every  seal  that  they  spear, 
methods.  They  do  not  make  so  much  noise  in  approaching  a  sleep- 

ing seal  as  the  "white  hunters  do.     When  an  Indian  in  a  canoe  is  ap- 
proaching a  bunch  oi"  seals  asleep  on  the  water  he  does  not  remove  his 
paddle  from  the  Avatcr,  but  dexterously  and  noiselessly  moves  it  in  the 
water,  because  the  least  sound  Avould  awaken  the  seals.    The  hunter 
who  uses  a  gun  not  only  disturbs  the  seal  he  shoots,  but  awakens  and 
disturbs  the  others,  who  then  make  their  escape. 
In  1891  I  noticed  that  there  was  a  considerable  decrease  in  the  num- 
ber of  seals  seen  in  the  water;  also  tliat  they  were 
ecrease.  morc  sliy  and  wakeful  as  compared  wath  my  observa- 

tions in  1890.    A  cow  seal  that's  heavy  with  pu^)  is  sluggish,  and  sleeps 
more  soundly  than  the  males,  and  for  that  reason  they  are  more  readily 
approached.    I  have  never  known  a  black  pup  to  be  captured  on  the 
coast.     Seals  do  not  haul  out  upon  the  land  along  the 
Do  not  haul  up  on  coast,  uor  give  birth  to  their  young  on  the  kelp  or  in 
ta  wateATon  keip.^'^  the  Water.     I  have  never  heard  the  Indians  or  white 
sealers  say  that  there  is  a  place  on  the  coast  where 
seals  haul  out  and  breed.     A  great  many  seals  that  are  shotwould  sink 
before  we  could  secure  them.     Sometimes  the  water  above  the  sinking 
seal  would  be  so  discolored  by  the  blood  that  it  was  impossible  to  see  it 
and  secure  it  with  the  gaff-hook,  which  all  sealing  boats  oarry  for  that 
jiurpose.    If  pelagic  sealing  is  continued,  especially  with  guns,  in  a  few 
years  the  seal  herd  will  become  commercially  destroyed.    Nearly  every 
seal  captured  causes  the  death  of  either  an  unborn  pup,  or  the  death 
of  a  young  pup  by  starvation  on  the  islands.    All  pe- 
Protection  by  a  laoic  Sealing  should  be  prohibited  after  April  1  of  each 

close    season    neces-         °  --i  i    j.-  j.i  i  i     ^  i 

Bary.  year  until  such  time  as  the  young  pups  areable  to  sub- 

sist without  nourishment  from  their  mothers.  It  is 
practically  impossible  to  distinguish  the  age  or  sex  of  seals  in  the  water 
while  approaching  them  while  at  a  reasonable  gunshot  distance  from 
them,  excepting  in  the  case  of  old  bulls.  Old  bulls  and  male  seals  ap- 
pear to  enter  Bering  Sea  before  the  cows  leave  the  coast.  Our  last 
catch  of  seals  on  the  coast  were  almost  exclusively  gravid  females. 

his 

Henry  x  BROT\Tsr. 

mark. 

John  McLeod. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  May,  1892. 
[seal.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


Deposition  of  Thomas  Broion  (Ko.  1),  sealer  (boat  jyuller). 

PELAGIC  SEALING. 

D03IINI0N  OF  Canada, 

Victo)-ia,  British  Golumhia,  ss: 

Thomas   Brown,   being    duly  sworn,   deposes    and    says:   My  ago 

is  31  years,  my  residence  is  Victoria,  British  Columbia;    occupation, 

seaman.    I  went    sealing    in   1889  from  San  Francisco,   Cal.,    (I  do 

not  remember  the  name  of  the  vessel)    Capt.  Scott    was    master; 


TAKEN    AT   VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  319 

vre  sealed  as  far   soutli  as   San  Diego,   Cal.,   tlien  weut  along  the 

coast  to  Farallone  Islaiids,  opposite  Sau  Francisco.    We  had  five  boats, 

three  men  to  each  boat,  and  one  stern  boat,  all  white  menj  we  used 

shotguns  and  rifles;  the  seals  were  very  plentiiul  that 

year;  most  all  the  seals  that  we  shot  and  secured  were       "«=arms 

females  and  had  young  pui)S  in  them,  and  we  would  sometimes  skin 

them.    If  we  didn't  get  to  a  seal  soon  after  it  was  shot  it  would  sink, 

and  we  lost  a  great  many;  probably  got  about  one  out 

of  five  of  all  the  seals  shot.    We  sealed  as  far  as  Queen  p^l^anu-emaiTs'!""'' 

Charlotte  Islands  and  got  about  195  seals  in  the  two 

months'  sealing.     We  did  not  enter  Bering  Sea  that  year. 

In  1890  I  went  sealing  again  in  the  schooner  iSca  Lion,  Madison,  mas- 
ter; had  five  boats  and  three  men  to  each  boat;  I  was 
boat  puller;  we  were  sealing  about  three  months  and       ^"   ^''"' 
got  about  400  seals,  most  all  females.    This  year  the  seals  were  wilder 
than  the  year  before;  I  think  it  was  because  they  were  being  hunted  so 
much.     We  did  not  capture  as  many  in  proportion  to  the  number  shot 
as  we  did  the  year  previous,  and  did  not  save  more 
than  one  out  of  six  that  we  shot.    We  did  not  enter  Ber-  feSis.°^^"^^'°'°^*^^ 
ing  Sea,  and  returned  to  Victoria  in  April.     Our  catch 
was  fully  80  per  cent  females.    I  do  not  think  that  seals  give  birth  to 
their  young  on  the  kelp. 

In  1891,  in  the  month  of  February,  I  sailed  from  Victoria,  British  Co- 
lumbia, on  the  schooner  Thistle,  Nicherson,  master,  on 
a  sealing  voyage.    We  had  seventeen  boats  and  three     ^'«"«i89i- 
men  to  each  boat ;  all  white  men.    I  signed  as  boat  puller.     Commenced 
sealing  ofi"  Cape  Flattery  and  all  the  seals  which  we  caught  were  preg- 
nant females.     I  did  not  see  as  many  seals  as  the  years  previous;  I  left 
the  vessel  in  April  at  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     The  seals  ujion  this 
voyage  were  more  shy  than  in  1889  and  more  difficult  to 
capture.    During   the   trip  of  1891  1  don't  think  we     Wasteonife; mostly 
got  more  than  one  seal  out  of  six  that  we  killed;  many  p^®°"'^"   '^^  '^^• 
were  wounded  and  others  were  shot  dead  and  sank  before  the  boat 
could  get  to  them.    The  seals  are  decreasing  in  num- 
ber rapidly,  and  in  order  to  prevent  the  extermination     Decrease. 
of  seals  the  hunting  of  them  should  be  prohibited  until  after  the  mother 
seals  give  birth  to  their  young.     Sealers  should  be  no- 
tified of  a  closed  season  before  they  go  to  the  expense     ciose  season  necea- 
of  fitting  out.  '^"y- 

Thomas  Bkown. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


Dejyosition  of  Christ  Clanscn,  sealer  {master).  . 

pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  of  Canada, 

Victoria,  Bi'itish  Cohimhia,  ss: 

Christ  Clausen,  being  duly    sworn,   deposes  and   says:    I   reside 
at  Victoria,    British    Columbia;    occupatiou,    master    mariner,    and 


320  TESTIMONY 

.  am  33  years  of  a.ue.     I  AYcnt   seal  hunting  in   1889, 

xpe  ence.        ^^^  mate  of  the  British  seliooner  C.  H.  Tupxyer,  Capt. 

Kelly,  master.     She  carried  seven  boats  and  white  hunters,  who  used 

mostly  shotguns.     Sailed  from  Victoria  in  February, 

o.H.Tupi^er^im.    ^^^^  commenced  sealing  off  the  California  coast  and 

hunted  seals  all  along  the  coast  to  Unamak  Pass,  and  went  into  the  sea 

the  2d  of  Jul}'  and  caught  seals  around  the  eastern  part  of  Bering  Sea 

until  the  latter  part  of  September,  and  then  returned  to  Victoria.    We 

had  very  poor  hunters  and  only  caught  600  that  season,  400  of  which 

we  took  in  the  sea. 

In  1890  I  was  navigator  in  the  British  schooner  Minnie^  and  was 

equipped  with  canoes  and  Indian  hunters,  who  used 

Minnie,  1890.  gpears  chiefly.     Sailed  Irom  Victoria  and  hunted  along 

the  coast  up  the  Unamak  Pass  and  entered  Bering  Sea  about  the  10th 

of  July,   and  hunted  off  the  Pribilof  Islands  until  about  the  1st  of 

September  and  tlien  returned  to  Victoria.    My  catch  that  year  was 

2,600,  of  which  abcmt  2,000  were  caught  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

In  1891  I  went  as  navigator  in  the  same  vessel  and  with  the  same 

.  crew,  and  they  used  spears  in  hunting.     We  sailed 

innxe,  1   1.  ft-om   Victoria  and  hunted  along  the  coast  over  the 

same  course  we  did  the  year  before,  and  went  into  Bering  Sea  through 

the  Unamak  Pass,  about  the  middle  of  July,  and  caught  only  about 

400  that  season,  none  of  which  were  taken  in  Bering 

iJ^^I^^'^  °^^*  '^^  ^^'^'  Sea.    We  were  warned  out  of  the  sea  before  we  lowered 

any  boats  and  returned  to  V  ictoria. 

The  Indian  hunters,  when  they  used  spears,  saved  nearly  every  one 

they  struck.    It  is  my  observation  and  experience  that 

epear^^^  ^^'^  *^^  ^^^  Indian,  or  a  white  hunter,  unlo  •    very  expert,  will 

kill  and  destroy  many  times  more  tiian  he  will  save,  if 

Waste  of  uie  witii  \^q  uggg  fircarms.    It  is  our  object  to  take  them  when 

rearms.  aslccp  ou  the  watcr,  and   any  attempt  to  capture  a 

breeching  seal,  generally  ends  in  failure.    The  seals  we  catch  along  the 

coast  are  nearly  all  pregnant  females.     It  is  seldom 

femafe's.^ ''^^  ^'^^^^"*  ^^  capture  an  old  bull,  and  what  males  we  get  are 

usually  young  ones.     I  have  frequently  seen  cow  seals 

cut  open  and  the  unborn  pni)s  cut  out  of  them  and  they  would  live  for 

several  days.     This  is  a  frequent  occurence.     It  is  my  experience  that 

fully  85  per  cent  of  the  seals  I  took  in  Bering  Sea, 

mUkmFfemaies! "^^"^  Were  femalcs  that  had  given  birth  to  their  pups,  and 

their  teats  would  be  full  of  milk.     I  have  caught  seals 

Prohibition  of  shot-  of  this  kind  from  100  to  150  miles   away  fi'om  the 

gun  neces.saiy.  Pribilof  Ishuids.     It  is  my  opiuiou  that  spcars  should 

be  used  in  hunting  seals,  and  if  they  are  to  be  kept  fi'om  extermination 

the  shotgam  should  be  discarded. 

Chr.  Clausen. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  23cl  day  of  April,  A.  D, 
1892. 
[seal.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


TAKE.N'    AT    VICTORIA,    BllITISH    COLUMBIA.  321 

Vqyosition  of  Louis  Culler,  sealer  {hoat-piiUer). 

PELAGIC    SEALI^'a. 

Province  of  British  Columbia, 

City  of  Victoria,  ss: 
Louis  Culler,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  aud  says:  I  am 28 years  old, 
and  reside  at  Tort  Towusoiid,  State  of  Washington.     I      j.^     . 
am  by  occupation  a  civil  engineer.     In  1888  I  shipped       ^p<^rieuce. 
at  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  as  a  boat-puller  on  the      q^^^,.  „„^  ^^^^^^^^ 
sealing  schooner    Oscar   and   Hattie,    Gault,    master,  wsi 
She   carried  seven  boats,  each  being  manned  bj'  three  white  men, 
who  used  shotguns.     We  sealed  along  the  coast  Irom  Cape  Flattery  up 
to  the  passes  leading  into  Bering  Sea,  capturing  about 
1,400  seals  before  entering  the  sea.    We  entered  the  sea      ^''''*^^  ''^  '°'''*- 
through  the  Unamak  Pass,  and  captured  seals  therein,      Entered BeriugSea. 
after  which  we  returned  to  Victoria.     In  1889  I  8hipi)ed 
at   Victoria    as    a    hunter   on   the   sealing    schooner 
Maggie  Mac.     She  carried  seven  boats,  each  manned     Maggie  Mac,  i8S9. 
by  three  white  men,  who  used  shotguns  in  hunting  the 
seals.     We  .sealed  along  the  coast  from  Cape  Flattery  up  to  the  Aleu- 
tian Islands,  and  cai)tured  310  seals  before  entering      ^    ,    ^ 

T~i       •  n  TT^  1  J.  1       •        J.1  xi      I        Catch  oil  coast. 

Bering  Sea.     V\  e  caught  more  seals  m  the  sea  that 
year  than  we  captured  before  entering  therein.    After     Entered  Bering sea. 
sealing  there  awhile  we  returned  to  Victoria.     In  June, 
1891, 1  shipped  as  a  hunter  on  the  sealing  schooner  Otto,      ^^^^  ^gg^ 
Eiley,  master.     There  were  two  neAvspaper  correspond- 
ents aboard.  King  Hale,  representing  the  New  York  Herald,  and  Mr. 
McManns,  of  Victoria.     The  Otto  carried  three  sealing  boats,  each 
manned  by  white  men,  who  used  shotguns,  and  two  canoes,  manned 
by  Indians,  who  used  spears.    We  sailed  up  along  the  coast  toward 
Bering  Sea  and  cayjtured  five  seals,  all  being  gravid 
females.     I  noticed  these  seals  particularly,  because  xmiT^tm^Alf^'  ^"^'"°' 
there  were  but  few  of  them.     I  kept  a  memorandum  of 
the  transactions  of  the  voyage,  and  noted  in  my  book  the  number  of 
seals  taken  and  their  sex.     We  entered  the  sea  through 
the  Unamak  Pass,  and  captured  tlierein  about  40  seals,  nuSi^gS,ws"""^'''" 
most  all  of  which  had  milk  in  their  breasts.     After 
taking  these  seals  we  returned  to  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  about  the 
2r>th  of  September. 

My  observation  of  the  seal-lumting  by  white  hunters  in  1888  is  that 
they  do  not  secure  more  than  2  or  3  out  of   every 
lOO'  shot.      The  number  of  shots  fired  by   a  hunter  ^J^fl  ^  i"^^  •''^^* 
in  an  ordinary  day's  sealing  is  something  enormous, 
aud  the  waste  of  seal  life  in  the  water  is  dreadful  to     waste  of  life. 
contemplate.    My  observations  and  experience  in  1889 
were  about  the  same  as  in  the  previous  year,  except  as  to  the  number  of 
seals  seen,  which  was  much  smaber.   There  was  a  percep- 
tible decrease  iu  the  number  of  seals  seen  by  me  in  the     ^<=<='''^*^s'=- 
year  1889  as  compared  with  the  year  1888.     The  proportion  of  loss  of 
seals  shot  by  white  liunters  iu  the  Otto  was  quite  as  great  in  1891  as 
by  the  hunters  in  the  year  before  stated.     I  have  never  seen  any  black 
pups  in  the  North  Pacflc  Ocean.    The  seals  do  not  give 
birth  to  their  young  in  the  water,  nor  upon  the  kelp,   ^ffel-or^n  keip."  "* 
If  the  present  practice  of  seal-hunting  be  continued,  it 

2716— VOL  II 21 


322  TESTIMONY 

Avill  be  a  matter  of  a  short  time  wlien  the  seal  herd  will  he  commercially 

destroyed.     J  think  there  should  be  what  is  called  a 
seasoi'^nec'c^^wy.''^"^^  closc  scasoii  ill  seal-hiiiitiiig  ill  the  water,  to  extend  from 

the  1st  of  Ajiiil  till  such  time  after  the  cow^s  have  given 
birth  to  their  young  and  ha\e  reared  them  to  aii  age  at  which  they  can 

live  without  sustenance  from  their  mother.    The  Indian 
as^iumlers""'"^'"""  huiitcrs  sccuie  at  least  eight  out  of  every  ten  of  the 

seals  that  tltoy  sjiear.    They  do  not  make  as  much  noise, 
nor  frighten  the  seals  as  badly  as  hunters  who  use  guns. 

Louis  Culler. 

Suliscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  7th  day  of  May,  1892. 
[seal.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


Deposition  of  Alfred  Dardean,  sealer  {hoat-jjuUcr.) 

pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  of  Canada, 

Victoria^  British  Colnnthio,  ss: 
Alferd  Dardean,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at 
Victoria,  British  Columbia.  My  occupation  for  the  last 
Experience.  (-^yQ  yenis  lias  bccu  that  of  a  seaman.    I  went  sealing 

Moiiie  Adams, after-  in  the  sclioouer  Mollie  Adams  (aiterwards  changed  to 
wards  the  £.  i'.' Ji/ar-  E.  B.  Mariin)  as  boat-puller.    We  left  Victoria,  British 
tu«,i89o,inBeringSea.  Columbia  OH  the  27th  of  May,  1890,  and  commenced 
sealing  up  the  coast  toward  Bering  Sea;  entered  Bering  Sea  through 
the  Unaniak  Pass  about  Juh^  7  and  sealed  around  the  eastern  part  of 
Bering  Sea  until  late  in  the  fall.    We  caught  over  900  skins  before 
entering  the  sea  and  our  whole  catch  that  year  was  2,159  skins.     Of 
the  seals  that  were  caught  oil"  the  coast  fully  90  out  of 
maufs.^'^  ^''^'"'''"*  ^^'  every  100  had  young  pups  in  them.    The  boats  would 
bring  the  seals  killed  onboard  the  vessel  and  we  would 
take  the  young  pups  out  aud  skin  them.    If  the  pup  is  a  good,  nice  one 
we  would  skin  it  and  keep  it  for  ourselves.    I  had  eight  snch  skins  my- 
self.   Four  out  of  five,  if  caught  in  May  or  June, would  be  alive  when  we 
cut  them  out  of  the  mothers.  One  of  them  we  kept  for  jiretty  near  three 
weeks  alive  on  deck  by  feeding  it  on  condensed  milk.    One  of  the  men 
finally  killed  it  because  it  cried  so  pitifully.     We  only  got  three  seals 
with  pu])s  in  them  in  the  Bering  Sea.     Most  all  of  them  were  females 
that  had  given  birth  to  their  young  on  the  islands,  and  the  milk  Avould 
1  .  f   1  ,r       ^'^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^e  teats  on  the  deck  when  we  would  skin 
ema  es,  cc(  ing.       ^j^gjjj^     ^Yg  eaught  female  seals  in  milk  more  than  100 

miles  off"  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

We  had  seven  boats,  and  a  stern  boat  and  three  men  to  a  boat.    Our 

hunters  used  shotguns,  and  were  good  hunters.    They  lost  a  good  many 

seals,  but  1  do  not  know  what  proportion  was  lost  to 

those  killed.     Some  of  the  hunters  would  lose  fimr  out 

every  six  killed.    We  tried  to  shoot  them  while  asleej),  but  shot  all  that 

^  ,.     .  .    ,  came  in  our  wav.     If  we  killed  them  too  dead  a  great 

many  would  sink  betore  we  could  get  them  and  were 

lost.     Sometimes  we  could  get  some  of  these  that  had  sunk  witli  the 


TAKEN   AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  323 

gaff  liook,  bat  could   not  save  many  that  way.     A  good  many  are 
wounded  and  escape  only  to  die  afterwards. 

Hunters  talk  ab(»ut  the  seals  increasing  from  year  to  jy^^^.^^^^ 
year,  but  I  know  they  are  decreasing,  and  if  they  keep 
on  killing  them  the  way  they  do  now  there  will  not  be  any  left  in  a  few 
years. 

his 

Alferd  X  Dardean. 

mark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  the  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
181)2. 
[SEAL.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  states  Consul. 


Experience. 


Deposition  of  George  DisJiow,  sealer, 

PELAGrIC    SEALING. 

George  Dishow,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  reside  at  Vic- 
toria, British   Columbia;     am    by  occupation    a   seal 
hunter;  have  been  engaged  in  the  business  six  years. 
Was  on  the  Triumph,  Favorite,  Penelope,  two  seasons  on  the  Umbrina, 
and  one  season  on  the  American  schooner  Walter  Rich' 
hunting  seal  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  Bering  Sea,  and  on  the  Eussiau 
side  of  the  Bering  Sea.     First  found  and  taken  seal  off     . 
Cape  Flattery  in  January  and  followed  them  up  the  ^'S''''*io°- 
coast  into  Bering  Sea,  which  they  enter  about  June  20.     I  nse  a  shot- 
gun exclusively  for  taking  seal.     Old  hunters  lose  but  very  few  seal, 
but  beginners  lose  a  great  many.     I  use  the  Parker     j^^^„.,,     proportion 
shotgun.     A   large  i^roportion  of  all  seals  taken  are  tateu"  females  with 
females  with  pup.     A  very  few  yearlings   are  taken.  ^"^' 
Never  examine  them  as  to  sex.     But  very  few  old  bulls  are  taken,  but  five 
being  taken  out  of  a  total  of  900  seals  taken  by  my 
schooner.     Use  no  discrimination  in  killing  seal,  but  .  indiscnminate  kiii- 
shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat  in  shape  of     "' 
a  seal.     Hunters  shoot  seal  in  the  most  exposed  part  of  wft^r^.oT'^ain'where 
tlie  body.     Have  never  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in  ou'tside  Priwiof  isi- 
the  water,  nor  on  the  land  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  any-   ^^'^^' 
where  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands,     Have  never  known  fur  seal  to 
haul  up  on  the  land  anywhere  on  the  coast  except  on      ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^ 
tlie  Pribilof  Islands.     Most  of  the  seals  taken  in  Ber-   banrup^on  in"ti  ex* 
ing  Sea  are  females.     Have  taken  them  70  miles  from  ',';/,',',, °"  Piibiiof  is- 
the  islands  that  were  full  of  milk.     I  tliink  a  closed 
season  should  be  established  for  breeding  seal  from  Jan-  .J^!^^'^  '•''''"""  '''°- 
nary  1st  to  August  loth  in  the  North  Pad  tic  Ocean  and 
Bering  Sea. 

George  Disiiow. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  1st  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


324  TESTIMONY 

Dejmsition  of  E.  M.  Grcotlcaf,  scaler  [master). 

PELAGIC    SEALING. 

Province  of  British  Columbia,  Victoria,  ss: 

E.  M.  Gieeuleaf,  beiug  duly  sworn,  dei)Oses  and  says:  I  have  resided 

in  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  since  1884.     My  occupa- 
Experieiice.  tlou  is  that  of  a  scafariug  man  and  have  a  commission 

as  master  mariner.  Was  shipping  agent  in  this  port 
for  three  years.     In  ]891  I  went  on  a  sealing  cruise  as  master  of  the 

schooner  Mountain  Chief]  leaving  Victoria  on  May  12. 
^^Mountain  Chief,   I  ^veut  to  the  mouth  of  San  Juan  Kiver,  on  the  coast 

of  Vancouver  Island,  opposite  jSTeah  Bay,  and  contin- 
ued sealing  along  up  the  coast  almost  as  f;ir  north  as  Kodiak  Island. 
JNIy  vessel  then  sprung  a  leak  and  I  was  compelled  to  return  to  this 

port,  which  I  reached  about  July  1.     We  captured  63 
^"rmn/""^^'*'^'  ^^^  seals,  all  of  which  were  females,  and  all  were  pregnant, 
pregiian  .  With  regard  to  pregnancy  I  may  note  that  the  seals 

taken  off  the  coast  of  Vancouver  Island  were  not  as  far  advanced  as 
those  taken  farther  north.  I  had  six  canoes,  with  Indian  hunters,  who 
used  both  spears  and  shotguns.  Indians  lose  a  less  number  of  the  seals 
shot  at  and  wounded  or  liilled  than  white  hunters.     When  they  use 

spears  they  get  nearly  all  they  wound.  When  they  use 
ei^ift  struck.  °"*  "^  shotguus  they  do  not  get  more  than  one  out  of  eight 

killed  or  wounded. 
I  was  interested  in  the  schooner  Sarah  W.  Hunt  that  made  a  voyage 
from  New  York  to  the  South  Atlantic  in  1882-83,  leaving  in  September 
of  1882,  0)1  a  sealing  venture.  The  intention  was  to  visit  the  Georgian 
and  South  Shetland  Islands.  Since  then  I  have  been  interested  in  the 
sealing  business,  and  am  well  acquainted  with  it  and  the  men  engaged 
in  it  and  the  methods  they  employ.  I  am  acquainted  with  the  hunters 
and  masters  who  sail  from  this  port,  and  board  all  incoming  and  out- 
Nri  utikcuott  S^^^^S  vessels  of  that  class.  These  men  all  acknowl- 
Pacifict^oast  pregnant  edge  that  nearly  all  the  seals  taken  oft"  the  Pacific 
females.  coast  are  females,  and  that  they  are  nearly  all  with 

young.  The  seals  are  found  oft'  the  coast  of  California  in  January  of 
each  year,  and  the  sealing  fleet  goes  along  with  them  as  they  proceed 

uorth^Yard,  never  losing  track  of  them  and  fishing  every 
ifoSfuS'!5^^''^■   g^'><-^  *^'iy-     ^y  ^^^^  letter  part  of  June  fleet  and  seals 

have  arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Aleutian  Island 
grasses.  Pregnancy  is  now  far  advanced  and  young  ones  taken  from 
their  dead  mother's  womb  have  lived  several  days  on  the  decks  of  the 
ships.  Those  that  I  caught  last  year — the  pups,. I  mean — were  thrown 
overboard. 

In  conversation  with  boat-steerers  and  boat-pullers  I  have  frequently 
hoard  them  state  that  hunters  would  sometimes  lire  from  75  to  100 
shots  without  bringing  in  a  single  seal.  The  hunters  would  claim 
they  secured  nearly  all  they  fired  at  or  killed,  but  it  is  known  that  this 
is  not  true.  It  is  iini)ossible  to  say  what  proportion  of  the  seals  fired 
at  are  killed  or  wounded,  but  taking  the  run  of  hunters,  good  and  poor, 

I  should  say  that  the  best  get  about  50  per  cent  of 

pcr^^cent  and  ifforcst  tliosc  shot  at,  whilc  the  jjoorcst  do  not  get  more  than 

lout  of  15.  Qjn>  Q^i^  of  fifteen  fired  at.     I  have  also  learned  by  con- 

Miiking  cows  killed  versatlou  with  Bering  Sea  hunters  that  they  kill  seal 

rookwies  ^""^  ^"^"'   ^'*^^^^  "^  ^'^  -^- ^  miles  from  the  breeding  griiuuds  and  that 

these  cows  had  recently  given  biith  to  .^ouug.     I  have 


TAKEN    AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  325 

observed  in  the  skins  tliat  tlie  size  of  the  teats  shows  either  an  advanced 
state  of  pregnacy  or  of  recent  delivery  of  yonng-.  To  my  knowledge, 
and  from  conversation  with  others,  I  can  state  posi-  £)ecrease 
tively  that  seals  have  decreased  rapidly  in  numbers  off 
the  Pacific  coast  in  the  last  five  or  six  years.  A  schooner  used  to 
secure  from  700  to  1,400  skins  for  a  spring  catch,  whereas  now,  with 
all  the  improved  appliances  of  arms  and  vessels,  the  Largest  catch  is 
less  than  500. 

The  boat-steerer  is  supposed  to  be  the  most  intelligent  and  compe- 
tent man  on  the  boat,  as  he  has  charge  and  bears  the  same  relation  to 
the  boat  that  the  captain  does  to  a  vessel.  A  very 
large  number  of  shots  are  thrown  away.  In  the  case  tid"'*^  °^  ^mmmn- 
of  the  Thistle,  in  her  voyage  of  1891,  she  brought  in  but 
9  skins,  while  her  hunters  had  tired  away  260  pounds  of  shot.  She 
had  poor  hunters. 

E.  M.  Greenleaf. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  at  my  office  in  Victoria,  British 
Columbia,  this  20th  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1892.  Wit- 
ness my  hand  and  seal  of  office. 

[l.  b".]  Levi  W.  Meyers, 

United  States  Consul  at  Victoria,  British  Columbia. 


De;position  of  Arthur  Griffin  {sealer),  boat  ])nUer  and  stccrer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

DoMiNioisf  OF  Canada, 

Victoria,  British  Columbia,  ss: 

Arthur  Griffin,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  My  age  is  24 
years,  and  am  by  occupation  a  seafaring  man  and  re- 
side at  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     On  February  11,      Experience. 
1889,  I  sailed  from  Victoria,  as  a  boat-puller,  on  the 
sealing  schooner  J.n'<??,  Buckman,  master.     She  carried     ^"«^i889. 
six  hunting  boats  and  one  stern  boat,  and  had  a  white  crew,  who  use 
shotguns  and  rifles  in  hunting  seals.     We  began  sealing  off  the  north- 
ern coast  of  California  and  followed  the  sealing  herd  northward,  cap- 
turing about  700  seals  in  the  Xorth  Pacific  Ocean,  two- 
thirds  of  which  were  females  with  pup;  the  balance  nanrcows^*"^  i>i'"S- 
were  young  seals,  both  male  and  female.     We  entered 
the  Bering  Sea  on  the  13th  Jul}^,  through  the  Uuimak  Pass,  and  cap- 
tured between   900  and  1,000  seals  therein,  most  of 
which  were  females  in  milk.     We  returned  to  Victoria  rnlicn^^^  miikmg  le- 
on  31st  of  August,  1889. 

On  January  10,  1890,  I  sailed  from  Victoria  as  a  boat-steerer,  in  the 
schooner  ^S'eft  ii'oM,  Magason,  master,  and  proceeded  to  „  ,.  ,„„,, 
San  Francisco,  where  we  fitted  out  for  sealing;  from 
there  a  month  later  we  went  sealing.  Our  vessel  carried  a  white  crew, 
five  boats,  each  boat  manned  by  three  men.  We  captured  about  300 
seals  from  San  Francisco  to  Cape  Flattery,  by  the  use  of  shotguns  and 
rifles.     We  returned  to  Victoria  about  April  1. 

I  went  out  sealing  again  the  same  year  on  the  E.  B.  Marvin,  McKiel, 
master.     I  shii^ped  as  a  boat  steerer.     We  had  a  white      ^  „  „     .   ,„„„ 
crew  and  seven  boats,  and  used  shotguns  and  rifles 


326  TESTIMONY 

cows.^*'^     pregnant  ^'\xi\Q  iiuiitiiig  the  seals.    We  captured  between  900 

and  1,000  on  the  (X)ast,  most  all  of  which  were  females 

femakJ.''""  "'"^'""  ^^^^^^   l*"!''^'     ^^*^  entered  the  sea  on  July  12,  through 

Uuamak  Pass,  and  ca])tiired  about  800  seals  in  those 

waters,  about  90  per  ceut  of  wliich  were  females  in  milk. 

A  good  huuter  will  olteu  lose  one-third  of  the  seals  he  kills.     A  poor 

Waste  of  life  huuter  will  lose  two-thirds  of  those  he  shoots.     On  an 

average,  hunters  will  lose  two  seals  out  of  three  of 

2o^to^'o"o^S*fr^om  ^^^^^  ^ticy  shoot.     We  captured  females  in  milk  from 

rookeries.  20  to  100  milcs  froui  tlic  lookerics.     Seals  do  not  haul 

i)o  uot  iiaui  upon  ^i^t  upou  tlic  huul  aloug  the  coast,  nor  do  they  give 

coasf-  birth  to  their  young  on  the  kelp.    We  seek  to  shoot 

Not  born  on  kelp,      thc  scals  whilc  tlicy  are  asleep  on  the  water,  because 

Prohibition   ueces-  ^  ^^'^^  ^^^^^t  whilc  brecchiug  is  more  likely  to  be  lost. 

sary.  Scals  ouglit  uot  to  bc  killed  in  the  water  during  the 

months  of  April,  May,  June,  July,  and  August. 

Arthur  Griffin. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D, 
1892. 

Levi  W.  Myers, 
United  States  Consul. 


[L.  S.] 


I>epositio7i  of  James  R(()ri.son,  sealer  [boat  iJuUer). 

pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  of  Canada, 

Victoria,  British  Columbia,  ss: 

James  Harrison,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at 
j,^  e,.j,.,„.e  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  and  am  by  occupation  sea- 

faring man.     I  have  had  experience  in  the  seal-hunting 
business.     First  went  out  sealing  as  boat  puller  along  the  Northern 
Trimn  h  1891  Paciflc  coast  about  tlie  2Gtli  of  June,  1891;  sailed  from 

imvipi,       .         Victoria,  British  Columbia,  in  the  schooner  T>-in w<j>7<, 
Whidden,  master;  we  had  two  boats  and  one  stern  boat,  three  men 
with  each  boat;  we  commenced  sealing  right  oft'  the  coast;  went  as 
far  south  as  the  California  coast  and  then  hunted  north  to  the  west 
„.   ,    „,.,  coast  of  Vancouver  Islands:  cauuht  500  skins  during 

^  ast€  of  life.  , ,  1  X     1 1      f  j_i      '  ■"  i    /I  1 

the  season;  almost  all  ot  them  were  pregnant  temales; 

Mostly  pregnant  fe-  out  of  a  huiidrcd   scals  taken  about  90  per  ceut  would 

'""^'^^'  be  females    with  young  pups   in  them;   I  can't  tell 

a  male  from   a  female   while   in   the   water  at  a  distance.     On  an 

average,  I  think  the  hunters  will  save  about  one  out  of  three  that  they 

kill,  but  they  wound  many  more  that  escape  and  die 
Entered  Bering  Sea.  afterwards.     We  entered  the  Bering  Sea  about  the  1st 

of  June,  and  caught  about  200  seals  in  those  waters. 
^^Mostiy   milking  rj^j^^y  ^^^^^^  mostly  motluMs  that  had  given  birth  to  their 

young  and  were  around  the  lishing  banks  feeding.  Tlie 
hunters  UvSed  shotguns  and  rifles.  In  the  Bering  Sea  Ave  killed  both 
male  and  female,  but  I  do  not  know  the  ])roportion  of  one  to  the  other. 
I  returned  and  was  discharged  at  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  about  the 
last  of  August. 


TAKEX    AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  327 

T  sailed  ajiain  about  February  12,  1S92,  in  the  same  vessel,  and  the 
same  master:  we  carried  two  boats,  and  three  men  to  y,^,,,^^,;,  ig,,o 
each  boat;  all  wliite  men  in  the  boats,  but  we  had  six- 
teen Indian  canoes  with  two  Indians  in  each  canoe,  and  the  Indians 
used  shotaans,  but  did  not  capture  any  seals,  and  returned  to  Victoria, 
British  Columbia,  the  1st  of  April,  and  I  was  discharged  at  the  custom- 
house at  Victoria,  British  Columbia. 

Seals  were  not  as  plentiful  along  the  coast  this  year  as  they  were  in 
1891.    I  thinlc  that  for  the  proper  preservation  of  the      ^>^^^^^^^ 
seals  all  pelagic  hunting  should  be  prohibited  until  the 
mother  seals  have  given  birth  to  their  young.  ,Jy™^^^^«°°  "^^•^^■ 

James  Haerison. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.l    ■  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


Deposition  of  James  Hay  ward,  sealer  (boat  steerer). 

pelagic  sealing. 

Province  of  British  Colu^ibia, 

City  of  Victoria,  ss  : 

James  Hay  ward,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  My  age  is  32 
years;  I  reside  at  Victoria,  British  Columbia;  occupa-      t.^„„,v^,„ 
tion,  seaman.     I  went  on  a  sealing  voyage  in  188/  as 
boat  steerer  on  the  American  schooner  Vanderbilt,  Capt.  Myers,master. 
She  carried  six  boats,  and  white  hunters,  who  used  shot-      yanacrhm  iss? 
guns  and  rifles.    I  joined  her  here  with  five  others 
about  the  middle  of  May  and  sealed  along  the  coast  to  Bering  Sea,  and 
entered  those  waters  in  the  fore  part  of  July  and  was 
ordered    out    of   the    sea   by   a  revenue  cutter,  but  ii^gslr*^  ""*"""  ^'"" 
kept  on  sealing  until  Septeml3er,  and  then  returned  to 
Victoria,  British  Columbia.     Our  catch  that  year  was  2,000,  or  there- 
abouts. 

In  1888  I  went  in  the  American  schooner  Chas  D.  Wilson,  Turner, 
master,  as  boat  steerer,  hunting  otter  and  seals.  She  ^^^^^  ^  wihon  isss 
carried  four  boats,  with  white  hunters,  and  they  used  '  •  *  .  • 
shotguns  and  rifles.  Left  Victoria  the  13th  of  Tilay  and  went  towards 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  and  hunted  along  the  coast  to  Sliu- 
magin  Islands.  We  caught  over  100  otters  and  a  number  of  seals. 
We  did  not  go  into  the  Bering  Sea  that  year.  In  1889  I  did  not  go  out 
hunting.  In  1890  I  went  in  an  American  schooner  (I  can  not  give  her 
name)  as  boat  steerer.  She  carried  five  boats  and  had  white  hunters, 
who  used  both  shotguns  and  rifles.  Sailed  from  Victoria  the  latter 
part  of  April,  and  went  over  on  the  Eussian  side  of  Bering  Sea  and 
sealed  in  those  waters  and  caught  almost  1,800  seals  that  season,  apart 
of  which  we  caught  along  the  coast  before  we  went  into  Bering  Sea. 

In  1891  I  went  as  boat  steerer  in  the  American  schooner  City  of  San 
Diego,  George  Weston,  master.     Slie  carried  five  boats, 
and  white  hunters,  who  used  shotguns  and  rifles.     We  ^^^^^  "-^  '''""  ^''^''' 
left  Victoria  in  April  and  went  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  Kiver,  but  fished  only  one  day  and  caught  only  one  seal. 


328  TESTIMONY 

We  then  went  directly  north  of  Sitka  and  commenced  sealing  off  that 
coast,  and  were  warned  not  to  go  into  the  American 
in^BeTii.g'sea!°  ^°  P^i't  of  Bering  Sea,  and  then  went  over  to  the  Russian 
side,  near  the  Copper  Island.     I  was  under  monthly 
pay,  and  did  not  keep  track  of  the  number  of  seals  killed  and  cap- 
tured. 
Most  of  tlje  seals  killed  on  the  coast  are  pregnant  females,  while 
Waste  of  life  thosc  Avc  killed  in  the  Bering  Sea  after  the  1st  of  July 

were  femaU's  that  had  given  birth  to  their  young  on 
mSg^towsf '"''*  °'"  the  seal  ishmds  and  come  out  into  the  sea  to  feed. 
Have  caught  them  150  miles  off  from  the  shore  of  the 
seal  islands,  and  have  skinned  them  when  their  breasts 
ema  ea  tec  mg.      y^Q^e  full  of  milk.     Scals  travcl  very  fast  and  go  a  long 
way  to  feed.     I  do  r^ot  think  we  got  over  one-half  that  we  killed   and 
wounded.    Have  seen  six  out  of  seven  killed  sink  and  were  lost  before 
we  could  get  to  them.     This  happened  last  year  in  a  boat  I  was  in.     I 
Decrease  thiuk  the  scals  are  not  near  as  plenty  as  a  few  years 

ago,  and  they  are  much  more  shy  and  harder  to  catch 
now  than  they  were  when  I  first  went  out  sealing.  I  think  this  is 
caused  by  hunting  them  so  much  with  guns. 

James  Hayward. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  23d  day  of  April.  A.  D 
1S92. 
[seal.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


Deposition  of  Victor  JacJxohson,  sealer  (master). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Victor  Jacobsou,  being   duly  sworn,  deposes   and   says:    I  am  31 
..  years  of  age,  by  o('cu[)ation  a  seal-hunter.     I  reside 

xpenence.  ^^  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     I  am  a  British  sub- 

ject.   Have  been  engaged  in  sealing  for  eleven  years,  ten  j^ears  as 
master.    Am  now  master  and  owner  of  schooner  Mary  Ellen  and  owner 
Mar  Eiien\nAMin    ^^   schooiicr  Minnie.      I  havc  sealed  fi"om   Columbia 
?»•«.  '^    '""""    "     liiver  along  the  coast,  north  and  west,  to  the  Aleutian 
Time  of  entrance  of  Ishiuds,  passagcs,  and  iu  Bering  Sea.      The  female 
females  into  Bering  scals  go  tlirougli  the  ])asses  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  into 
Bering  Sea  between  J  une  2otli  and  July  15th.   Females 
killed  in'evious  to  this  time  I  found  with  pups,  but  none  with  pups  after 
Killed    nursin"^  that  latter  date.     I  have  killed  female  seals  with  milk 
cows  200  miles  from  200  milcs  froui  the  Pribilof  Islands.    I  think  of  the 
"'^^Perffntage  of  fe-  scals  takcii  by  me  that  three  in  five  are  females,  and 
juaies  taken.  ucarly  all  witli  pup.     Seals  are  diminishing  along  the 

coast,  and  unless  pelagic  sealing  is  stopped  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean  the  seal  will  become  exterminated.  In  order  to  prevent 
the  entire  extermination  of  the  fur-seal,  I  think  all  pelagic  sealing  in 
Prohibition  in  Paci-  ^^^^  Pacific  Occan  Oil  the  coast  of  the  United  States, 
lie  and  close  season  in  British  Columbia,  and  Alaska,  should  be  stopped;  also 
Boring  Sea  necessary,  j,^  Bcriug  Sca  uiitil  the  fcmalcs  havc  brought  forth 
their  young,  about  the  15th  of  July,  after  which  all  vessels  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  Bering  Sea  and  take  seals  without  restraint  any  place 


TAKEN    AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  329 

outside  of  the  legal  jurisdiction  of  tlie  United  States.     I  liave  never 

known  fur  seal  to  haul  out  upon  any  part  of  the  coast 

of  the  United  States,  British    Columbia,  or  Alaslva,   igS"!^™^^*^'''^'' 

except  the  Pribilof  Islands.    All  parts   of  the  coast 

have  been  visited  by  the  seal-huuters,  and  if  seal  hauled  out  any  place 

it  Avould  have  been  known  by  the  hunters.    I  have     ^.^^ ^^^^  .^  ^.^^^^ 

never  known  the  fur-seal  to  give  birth  to  their  young 

in  the  water. 

Victor  Jackobson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  June,  1892. 
[SEAL]  C.  L.  Hooper, 

Notary  Public^  District  of  Alasl-a. 


Deposition  of  James  Jamieson,  scaler  [Ijoat-puUcr  and  mate). 

PELAGIC    SEALIXa. 

Province  of  British  Columbia, 

City  of  Victoria,  ss  : 

James  Jamieson,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:    I  am  23 
years  old,  and  am  by  occupation  a  seaman ;  I  reside  at      Experience. 
Victoria,  British  Columbia.  In  March,  1887, 1  joined  the      ^^^   la  lor  issj 
British  sealing  schooner  Mary  Taylor,  McKiel,  master,        "''^  "^'"' 
at  A^ictoria,  British  Columbia.     We  went  on  a  cruise  for  seal ;  I  was  a 
boat  puller.     She  carried  five  sealing  boats,  manned  with  three  white 
men  each.     There  were  three  Indians  with  us  part  of  the  season.     We 
used  breech-loading  shotguns  and  Winchester  rifies.     We  began  to 
seal  when  about  20  miles^  off  Cape  Flattery.     We  worked  toward  the 
northwest  and   captured  between   GO   and   100   seals    on   the    coast, 
about  two-thirds  of  which  were  females,  with  pup;  the 
balance  were  yearlings  consisting  of  male  and  female;  pregnaut  frma\es" '  * 
after  which  we  ran  into  Barclay  Sound  for  supplies, 
from  which  place  we  worked  to  the  northward  toward  the  Bering  Sea. 
We  captured  about  80  seals  W'hile  en  route  to  the  sea;  about  two-thirds 
of  these  were  females,  with  pup,  the  balance  being  yearlings  about 
one-half  male  and  one-half  female. 

In  the  latter  part  of  January  we  entered  the  Bering  Sea  through  the 
Uuamak  Pass,  and  commenced    sealing  there.     We     t  t?   •     c:  „ 

1      1         ;   ,-./.rv  T         ■         T    i  /.  n  1  In  Bering  oea. 

captured  about  800  seals  at  a  distance  from  the  rook- 
eries on  the  Pribilof  Islands  of  from  20  miles  to  200      xhree-fomths  of 
miles;  about  three-fourths  of  the  catch  in  the  sea  was  miikinL"feumiesf2o'to 
female  seals  in  milk,  the  balance  consisting  of  year-  200  miles  from  rook- 
lings  and  male  seals.    We  returned  to  Victoria,  British 
Columbia,  some  time  in  August. 

In  January,  1888,  I  joined  the  Mountain  Chief,  Jacobson,  master,  at 
Victoria,  British  Columbia.     I  was  mate  on  tliis  vessel. 
She  carried  ten  canoes,  each  manned  by  two  Indians,   igHS?""'"'"  ^'"'■^' 
who  used  spears  while  hunting  the  seal.     We  began 
sealing  along  the  coast,  and  captured  about  85  seals,  after  which  Ave 
sailed  into  Barclay  Souiid,  when  I  left  the  Momitain  Chief  and  joined 
the  German  schooner  Allele  as  a  cook.     Hanson  was       ^^^^^  ^ggg 
captain  of  the  AdcJe.     We  proceeded  up  the  coast  and 
took  on  sixteen  Indian  sealers  and  eight  canoes.    We  then  sealed 


330  TESTIMONY 

along'  the  coast  toward  tlie  sea,  capturing  about  100  seals  en  route. 
.  ^  .  In  the  latter  part  of  June,  we  entered  the  Bering  Sea, 

eiiiig  ea.         and  proceeded  to  take  seals  in  tliose  waters.     Captured 
alxmt  700  in  the  sea.     We  arrived  back  to  Victoria  on  the  2l'(l  of 
Sei)teniber. 
In  January,  1889,  I  sliipped  as  a  boat-steerer  on  the  British  sealing 
schooner  Theresa,  Lawrence,  master.     She  carried  six 
leiesa,     ..  boats,  including  the  stcm  Ixiat.     Our  crew  and  hunters 

were  white  men,  and  were  equijiped  with  Winchester  rities  and  breech- 
loading  shotguns,  with  which  to  capture  seals.     We  began  sealing  off 
the  ('olujnl)ia  Biver,  and  then  worked  up  along  the  coast  capturing 
about  380  seals  before  entering  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  in  Apiil. 
In  January,  1890,  I  shipped  as  a  boat-steerer  on  the  sealing  schooner 
Moll ie  Adams,  McKeil  master.  She  carried  six  boats  and 
Moiiie  Adams,  1890.  ^  ^^^j^-^^  ^^.^^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^  shotguus  and  riflcs.    We  saded 

as  far  soutb  as  Cape  Mendocino,  when  we  met  the  herd  and  i^roceeded 
to  take  them,  up  along  the  coast,  capturing  about  400  seals,  and  then 
returned  to  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  where  we  fitted  out  for  the  west 
coast  and  the  Bering  Sea.  About  the  last  of  April  I  again  sailed  on 
a  cruise  for  seals  on  the  same  vessel,  liaving  the  same  crew.  Sealed  up 
along   the  coast  to  Northeast  harbor,  cajjluring  (JOO  skins,  which  we 

transferred  to  the  American  steamer  Mischief  lAnd  ship- 
to^h?St>/.*'''''^°  V^^^  ^^  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     We  then  sailed 

through  the  Unamak  Pass  into  the  Bering  Sea,  when 
In  Bering  Sea.  wc  at "ouce  bcgau  taking  scals.     Captured"^  1,000  seals 

in  that  sea,  and  after  remaining  in  those  waters  for  about  two  months 
we  set  sail  for  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  on  the  1st  day  of  Septem- 
ber, and  arrived  at  Victoria  on  the  21st  of  the  same  month. 

In  January,  1891, 1  shipped  as  a  seaman  on  the  British  sealing  schooner 

3Iaseot,  Lawrence,  master,  for  a  cruise  for  seals  on  the 

west  coast.  Our  vessel  carried  one  stern  boat  manned 
by  white  men,  and  eight  canoes,  with  two  Indians  to  each  canoe..  We 
began  sealing  off"  Barclay  Sound  and  caught  three  skins  only,  all  of 
winch  were  females  with  puj).    We  theuran  into  Clayquot  Sound,  when 

I  left  the  Mascot  and  joined  the  British  schooner  Ven- 

^  '"'"'^  1891.  turc.  Smith,  master.     I  shipped  as  a  seaman  and  hunter 

on  the  British  schooner  Venture.     She  carried  an  Indian  crew  and  six 

canoes.     The  Indians  used  spears,  and  breech-loading  shotguns  while 

hunting  the  seals.     After  securing  our  Indian  hunters   we  went  to 

the  Bering  Sea,  and   proceeded   along  the  coast.     We  captured  50 

.  ^  skins.    We  entered  the  sea  through  the  Unamak  Pass 

enng   ea.         ^^^  ^^^^  latter  part  of  June,  and  commenced  to  catch 

seals.    We  captured  GIO  skins  while  in  the  sea.     In  the  latter  part  of 

July  we  were  ordered  out  of  the  sea  by  the  U.  S.  S. 

ing  self.*^^  °"  °    "*'     Thetis.     We  returned  to  Victoria.     In  February,  1892, 

nr-    •  T       1C00    I  ioined  the  British  sealing  schooner  Minnie,  Tyson, 

J^f^^m^e,  Tyson,  1892.         •'  x  x-v     i       ,    /,  •     *Yi         i        o  i         r     i-  i 

master,  at  iJodge  s  Cove,  m  Barclay  Sound.  I  slnpped 
as  cook.  The  Minnie  was  equii)ped  with  three  sealing  boats,  all  manned 
with  white  men.  We  caught  five  seals  along  the  coast.  We  then  re- 
turned to  Victoria,  B.  C,  about  the  20th  of  April. 

Ill  hunting  along  the  coast,  I  think  about  80  per  cent 
„„wu-*vrr,.„?,nn+  *'*'"*  of  those  we  caught  were  females,  and  most  of  them 

were  carrying  their  young.  \\  e  seldom  caught  any  old 
bulls,  but  caught  a  few  of  the  younger  males.  I  have  seen  the  unborn 
young  cut  out  of  the  mother  seal  and  live  for  a  week  without  food. 
We  used  to  skin  some  but  threw  most  of  them  overboard. 


TAKEN    AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  331 

Nearly  our  whole  catch  in  the  Bering  Sea,  after  the     ^,  ,  ,  .  t?   •     <= 

,,,r."Vi  1  j-1  II         11^       Catch  in  Benrig  Sea 

first  of  July,  each  year  were  females,  ami  nearly  all  ot  mostly  miikino  cows. 

them  in  milk,  and  had  evidently  given  birth  to  their  ^fiii'^g^'lj.."^  ^"'^'•'^^^ 

young  but  a  short  time  before.     The  milk  would  run 

out  on  the  deck  as  we  skinned  them.     The  Indian  hunters  with  spears 

would  not  wound  or  lose  but  very  few  seals  that  they  struck,  but  the 

ordinary  white  hunter  will,  on  an  average,  lose  over 

half  that  he  kills  and  wounds.     We  try  to  take  the  seals  ^J^^l^l  '>""t«^-  ^"^''^ 

when  asleep  on  the  waters,  but  the  hunters  are  usually 

l)aid  a  certain  sum  for  each  seal  taken  and  they  try  to 

kill  everthiug  without  reference  to  age,  sex,  or  coudi-   .^^J^^iscnnnnate  kiii- 

tiou. 

I  do  not  think  that  they  haul  up  on  the  land  on  the 
coast  and  I  have    never  known  of  anyone  taking  a  ^^°t"°*  ''''"^  "^'  "" 
young  seal  on  the  coast  that  was  born  that  year,  nor 
do  we  catch  any  cow^  seals  on  the  coast  that  have'  given  birth  to  their 
young  that  year. 

James  Jamiesox. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  23d  dav  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 

[SEAL.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


J)eposition  of  J.  Johnson,  sealer  {sailing  master). 

PELAGrIC  SEALING. 

J.  Johnson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  reside  on  Doug- 
las Island,  Alaska.     I  have  spent  six  years  of  my  life 
sealing.     I  have  been  sailing-master  of  the  schooner     ^^reneuce. 
San  Diego,  the  Fenelope  of  Victoria,  the  Ada  under 
the  German  flag,  the  Uoscoe  of  San  Francisco.     Have     pmeiope!'' 
been  either  master,  mate,  or  hunter  on  all  these  ves-     j.*^^- 
sels.     Have.first  struck  the  seal  off  the  California  coast 
below  San  Francisco  in  January,  and  followed  the  seal      ,,„   .. 
to  Bering  Sea,  which  we  entered   about  July  IGth.        '^''''  '"'^' 
Have  always  used  a  shotgun  for  taking  seal.     About  40  per  cent  shot 
with  shotgun  are  lost.      When  the  rifle    is  used,  a  larger  per  cent 
is  lost.     A  large  majority  of  the  seal  taken  on  the 
coast  are  cows  with  jjup.     A  few  young  males  are  taken,  femail!'"^-   i""*^?"-''"^ 
the  ages  ranging  from  1  to  5  years.     Once  in  a  while 
an  old  bull  is  taken  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean.     I  use  no  discrimina- 
tion in  killing  seal,  but  kill  everything  that  comes  near 
the  boat  in  shape  of  a  seal.     Always  shoot  seal  in  the  .^^Tnaiscrin.iuatc  idu- 
back  of  the  head  if  j)ossible.     Sometimes  seal  are  shot 
in  the  shoulders  and  wound  them  ;  then  they  can  not  get  away,     I  never 
have  seen  a  pup  born  in  the  water,  nor  have  I  ever     ^o  leiaoicinitii 
seen  one  born  on  shore  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.      -  "i   --  *^ 
Never  knew  any  seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  on  the  coast  elsewhere 
than  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     The  maiority  of  seals  killed  in  Bering 
Sea  are  females.     I  have  killed  female  seals  75  miles     j.-jirsuu'^  female  a 
from  the  islands  that  were  full  of  milk.    If  hunting  kuied.""'" 


332  TESTIMONY 

.  is  not  stopped  on  the  islands  in  Bering  Sea  and  the 

ro  ection.  North  Pacitic  Ocean  the  seal  mnst  become  extermi- 

nated. 

J.  Johnson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Francis  Eohert  King-Rail,  journalist. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

DiSTEICT   OF  COLUMIJIA, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 
Francis  Eobert  King-Hall,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
j^^  ^^  ..^^  a  subject  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  late  of  the  Eleventh 

'xpenence.  Hussars,  a  SOU  of  Sir  William  King-Hall,  K.  G.   B., 

admiral  in  the  British  navy.  I  am  35  years  of  age,  a  journalist  by 
profession,  residing  in  New  York  City.  In  1891,  as  a  correspondent 
of  the  New  York  Herald,  I  was  detailed  to  investigate  into  the  meth- 
ods of  i)elagic  sealing.  1  proceeded  to  Victoria,  arriving  about  the 
25th  of  June,  and  procured  passage  on  board  the  seal- 
""'  ^"^  ■  ing  schooner  Otto,  85  tons  burden,  Lunenburg,  Nova 

Scotia.     Her  managing  owner  was  Walter  Borns,  of  Victoria,  British 
Columbia,  and  her  captain  was  John  Riley,  a  British  subject,  who  liad 
had  several  years  experience  in  pelagic  sealing,  having  entered  Bering 
.  Sea  as  long  ago  as  1883,  as  mate  of  the  schooner  Favor- 

ite. On  July  2nd  we  left  Victoria,  the  crew  consisting 
of  the  captain,  mate,  4  hancls  before  the  mast,  a  cook,  and  a  Patago- 
nian  boy,  it  being  the  intention  of  the  captain  to  pick  up  Indian  hunt- 
ers on  our  way  out.  The  Otto  had  no  difficulty  in  gct- 
the  o«r'''' ^^^^'^  °^  ting  her  clearance  papers  for  hunting  in  Bering  Sea, 
although  tlio  Queen's  order  in  council  had  been  pro- 
mulgated, and  Lieut.  Hadley,  of  H.  M.  S.  Pheasant,  informed  me,  when 
I  met  him  in  Bering  Sea,  that  he  had,  by  orders  of  Commander  Tur- 
ner, requested  Collector  Milne,  of  the  port  of  Victoria,  to  warn  the  Otto 
and  not  to  give  her  clearance  papers  for  hunting  iu  Bering  Sea. 

We  had  much  difticulty  in  getting  Indian  hunters,  putting  in  at  sev- 
eral villages  along  the  Vancouver  coast.     Most  of  the  hunters  were 
absent,  having  been  employed  previous  to  our  arrival.     At  the  village 
of  Hesquiat  I  met  Father  Brabant,  a  Belgian  priest,  who  had  lived  for 
twenty-seven  vears   among  the   Indians  of  the  west 
lagfc^eaihlr'  ''^  ^^'  ^"'^^^-     '-^'l^rougli  him  I  obtained  the  Indian  view  of  the 
present  condition  of  the  Alaskan  seal  herd.     I  found 
that  by  the  use  of  the  spear  very  few  seals  were  lost,  and  that  the  In- 
,r     f  ,•  dians  of  Vancouver  had  at  one  time  a  law  among  tliem- 

hiiuted  ijy  ludiaus  sclvcs  prohibiting  the  use  of  guns  in  taking  seals.     He 
amoug  themselves.       ^^jg^  ^^^]^^^  j^^^  ^^.^^^^^  jj|g  ^^^.^^  knowledge  that  the  Uchuck- 

elset  Indians  had  a  few  years  ago  caught  off  the  coast  1,600  seals  iu  a 
season,  and  that  now  they  could  catch  hardly  any;  that  the  white  men's 
guns  were  not  only  destroying  the  seals  but  driving  them  further  from 
the  coast.  At  every  village  (and  we  stopped  at  over  nine  on  Vancou- 
ver Island)  I  interrogated  the  Indians  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  and 
Decrease  ^^^^^  ^^^  agreed  tlicrc  were  very  few  seals  now  compared 

witii  the  great  numbers  which  were  found  formerly, 
and  that  this  decrease  began  five  or  six  seasons  ago.    We  finally  picked 


TAKEN    AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  333 

up  two  Indian  himteis  and  two  cauoes,  besides  wliich  we  liad  a  sealing 
boat  and  two  other  ordinary  boats.  On  Thursday,  July  30th,  we  left 
Yancouver  Island,  making  toward  Bering  Sea  by  way  of  the  Fair- 
weather  Ground  and  Portlock  Bank,  which  are  the  late  spring  sealing 
grounds.  The  first  seal  sighted  vf  as  August  4th,  longitude  136°  32'  west, 
latitude  52°  4G'  north. 

During  the  days  following  August  4tli,  the  canoes  were  lowered,  but 
their  search  for  seals  was  fruitless.  On  August  14th,  before  entering 
Bering  Sea,  a  seal  was  speared  by  the  Indians  off  Marmont  Island, 
which  was  bearing  NW.  ^  W.  35  miles.  We  entered  the  sea  at  6:30 
p.  m.  on  the  22d  day  of  July  [August!  and  at  9  o'clock     ^  .     -. 

i,        ,,  1,         .  V  "    L  j>      i  1   •      ji        Tj  Entered    sea    July 

the  tollowmg  morning  we  got  our  first  seal  m  the  Ber-  22,  i89i. 
ing.  It  was  shot  by  one  of  the  white  men  in  a  boat,  catch  in  the  sea. 
We  were  at  this  time  about  25  miles  west  by  north  of 
Northwest  Cape  on  Unimak  Pass.  On  the  same  day  4  other  seals  were 
shot,  and  3  not  recovered.  Two  sank,  and  the  other  escaped  badly 
wounded.  The  following  day  the  captain  shot  2,  losing  1,  and  the 
other  boat  brought  1  seal  on  board.  "  On  the  25th  of  August  we  were 
125  miles  southeast  of  St.  George  Island.  The  Indian  hunters  were 
out  all  day,  and  brought  in  3  seals,  the  white  hunters  getting  none. 
The  captain  informed  me  that  day  that  the  i)reYious  year  lie  had  taken 
in  this  locality  148  seals  in  one  day,  and  that  one  of  Ids  hunters  got  38 
and  lost  40,  which  he  shot.  The  next  day  the  two  boats  and  canoes  were 
out,  and  the  captain  brought  back  1,  but  had  shot  and  lost  G  others, 
1  of  which  sank.  The  other  boat  reported  that  they  shot  7,  but  all 
sank  before  they  could  get  them,  the  water  being  so  colored  with  blood 
that  it  was  im])0ssible  to  see  the  bodies  sufiiciently  to  recover  them 
with  the  gaff'.  The  two  Indians  brought  back  10  seals,  all  speared. 
Out  of  the  number  taken  on  board  4  were  full  of  milk.  On  the  27th 
the  Indians  brought  in  2  seals,  and  the  captain  1,  which  were  all  they 
had  seen.  On  the  29th  17  seals  were  taken:  the  captain  got  3,  having 
lost  4,  killed  or  wounded.  Tlie  other  boat  brought  in  3,  having  lost  2, 
and  the  cook  shot  1  from  the  schooner's  deck.  Out  of  these,  7  were 
females,  which  covered  the  decks  with  milk  while  they  were  being 
skinned. 

On  August  30tli,  the  two  boats  got  3  seals,  and  both  reported  hav- 
ing hit  and  lost  several  others,  but  they  were  unable  to  tell  how  many. 
The  following  dav  we  si>oke  the  British  schooner  O.scrtr      ^  ,   „    . 

7     Tf    jj-  1  "1  1   •  i^       4-    r\     14.    1  11  Oncar  and    Hattie, 

and  Mattie,  and  her  skipper,  Capt.  Gait,  boarded  us  i89i. 

and  reniained  to  dinner.     In  a  conversation  I  had  with 

him  he  states  that  his  season's  catch  was  1,510  skins,      seasons catcii. 

That  on  the  i^roclamation  tbrbidding  the  taking  of  seals 

in  Bering  Sea  becoming  known,  the  schooners  which  had  escaped  being 

warned  by  the  U.  S.  ^.Thetis  at  Alitak  Bay  at  once  made  <or  the  Prib- 

ilof  Islands,  to  catch  all  they  could  before  receiving  the  official  warning. 

This  statement  accounts  for  so  many  vessels  having  l)een  warned  near 

the  islands  which  previous  to  the  modus  vivandi  being  declared  they 

had  refrained  from  approaching,  because  they  feared  being  seized. 

The  same  day,  after  a  chase  of  an  hour,  we  were  seized     ^.^j^^j 

b}^  the  U.  S.  S.  Mohican.    The  total  catch  of  seals  at     " 

the  time  of  seizure  was  48,  and  at  least  20  were  females,  the  majority 

of  which  were  in  milk.     All  the  setils  were  taken  from  120  to  180  miles 

from  St.  George  Island.     I  am  convinced  that  at  the     -waste  of  life 

very  least  white  hunters  lose  50  per  cent  of  the  seals 

they  hit,  and  probably  the  majority  of  those  wounded  will  ultimately 

die.     All  killing  of  seals  in  the  water  must  of  necessity  be  indiscriminate 


dc3-i  TESTIMONY 

slaughter,  as  it  is  impossible  to  tell  the  sex  or  the  exact  age  of  a  seal 
until  it  has  been  taken  into  the  boat,  whereas  ou  land  careful  discrimi- 
nation can  be  made. 
Granting  that  open-sea  seal  lumting  is  to  be  allowed,  the  use  of  the 
gun  should  be  absolutely  prohibited,  and  a  close  time 
Protection.  established  which  should  extend  from  the  beginning  of 

the  year  until  all  gestation  is  tlnished.  Further  to  i^rotect  the  nursing 
female  seals,  it  will  be  necessary  to  prohibit  sealing  within  a  zone  ex- 
tending at  the  very  least  100  miles  from  the  rookeries,  in  order  that 
the  females  may  be  nnmolested  while  feeding,  and  even  nnder  snch  re- 
strictions there  is  no  doubt  many  pups  would  die  of  starvation  through 
the  death  of  their  mothers,  which  would  be  killed  outside  the  protected 
zone.  This  method  of  ijrotection  I  suggested  to  several  owners  and 
captains  of  the  sealing  vessels  at  Victoria,  who  all  apjoroved  of  the 
plan,  naturally,  to  a  certain  extent,  from  seltish  reasons.  In  my  own 
opinion,  however,  the  most  perfect  method  of  protecting  the  Alaska 
seal  is  to  kill  only  the  young  bachelors,  and  as  this  discrimination  can 
be  made  ou  shore  alone,  it  naturally  restricts  all  killing  to  the  Pribilof 
Islands. 

Francis  E.  King-Hall. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  this  2r)th  day  of  July,  1892. 
[seal]  Sevellon  a.  Brown. 

The  above  statement  is  made  by  me  on  oath  without  regard  to  any 
international  question,  as  I  regard  both  the  Canadian  and  American 
pelagic  sealers  equally  destructive  of  the  seals. 

Francis  E.  King-Hall. 

July  25th,  1892. 


I)eiioH\tion  of  Andrew  Lairuj,  trader  and  sealer  (mate). 

pelagic  sealing. 

Province  of  British  Columbia, 

City  of  Victoria,  ss  : 

Andrew  Laing,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  42  years  of 

age:  residence,  Victoria,  British  Cohunbia;  occupation, 

Expeiience.  trader.    I  went  out  as  trader  on  the  W.  P.  Sayicard, 

w.p.sayn-arcLi8S2-  of  which  I  was  part  owucr,  in  the  vears  of  1882,  1883. 

Ib90,  except  i«b».  ^gg^^  ^gg.^  _^ggg^  ^^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^   ^_^^^^j^      j^^  ^^^^  J  ^^^^^^ 

Favorite, -[sss.  as  mate  OU  the  Favorite,  my  hoat  having  been  seized 

the  year  before  by  the  revenue  cutter  Ktish,  but  Avas  finally  released, 
.so  that  I  went  in'her  again  in  1889  and  1890.     My  vessel  carried  In- 
dian hunters  in  all  her  trips  previous  to  this  year  (1892) 
Crews  and  weap-  ry^^([  they  uscd  cauocs  aud  spears  in  hunting  seals  ex- 
clusively.    Prior  to  188(5  I  nor  my  vessel  had  ever  been 
in  the  Bering  Sea  hunting,  but  had  cruised  along  the  coast  each  year 
from  tlie  Columbiar  Eiver  to  Kodiak  Island,  and  then  returned  to  Vic- 
toria and  had  caught  seals  in  greater  or  less  numbers  each  year:  but  in 
188(5  and  each  year  thereafter,  excei)ting  1891,  I  have  not  only  sealed 
on  the  coast  but  have  also  been  in  the  Bering  Sea  hunting  seals. 
My  vessel  went  to  the  Bering  Sea  in  1891,  but  I  did  not  go  with 


TAKEN    AT    VKJTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  335 

her.     The  year  I  was  ou  the  Favorite  she  carried  In- 
dian hunters  also,  who  used   spears.     It  is  now  the  iJA^,Zgs'JZ1.TJi. 
practice  to  hunt  -aIowj;  the  coast  early  in  the  season 
from  the  Oolunibiu  liivcr  to  the  Berinj>-  Sea,  and  enter 
those  waters  the  tore  part  of  July.     Indian  hunters  will  deling  sel  ^""^"''''^ 
not  stay  out  over  ten  days  at  a  time  when  we  are  on 
the  coast,  so  we  have  to  come  in  and  out  quite  often.    This  year  I 
have  changed  my  crew  to  white  hunters,  who  use  shotguns  and  rifles. 
When  in  Bering-  Sea  we  are  usually  from  50  to  150 
miles  from  the  Pribilof  Islands.     I  did  not  pay  any  i.,.^;'°5V"o^f5o°ile3 
particular  attention  to  the  sex  of  the  seals  we  caught  from  the  isiauds. 
on  the  coast  or  in  the  sea  any  further  than  we  got  a 
number  of  the  yearlings  and  2-year-olds  on  the  coast,  and  that  I  have 
seen  young  hve  pups  "cut  out  of  their  dead  mothers  and  they  would 
walk  around  on  deck  arid  bleat  for  three  or  four  days,  and  then  die  of 
starvation.     In  the  Bering  Sea  I  have  noticed  that  in 
skinning  seals  milk  would  run  out  of  the  teats  of  fe-  i^f''l^J^''ll\^''l^o 
males  who  had  given  birth  recently  to  their  young  on  miles  from  isianda. 
the  islands.     I  have  caught  this  class  of  females  from 
75  to  100  miles  fiom  the'Pribilof  Islands. 

I  kuoAV  of  no  place  along  the  eastern  coast  where  fur-seals  haul  out 
on  land,  and  I  do  not  beheve  there  is  any  outside  of  the 
Pribilof  Islands.     Fur-seals  do  not  give  birth  to  their  the^SLdf.  ^^  "" 
young  in  the  water,  neither  will  the  pup  seal  live  if  . 

VV,,  ,  't  J  J.1  •  Not  born  m  water. 

born  m  the  water.     I  can  not  say  as  to  seals  appearing 

off  the  coast  in  less  nundjers  each  year,  but  I  think  ^^f  ™*«^^*;;;°  ^^es^ 

some  arrangement  should  be  made  for  their  protection  saiT- 

by  a  closed  season  during  the  time  they  are  carrying 

and  nursing  their  young. 

Andrew  Laing. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  23d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1802. 
[L.  s.]  •  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


Dejjosition  of  Rohert  H.  McManus,  neivs^yapcr  corres])ondent. 

PELAaiC   SEALING. 

The  undersigned,  Eobert  H.  McManus,  of  the  city  of  Victoria,  Prov- 
ince of  British  Columbia,  Dominion  of  Canada,  being  rxperkuce. 
duly  sworn,  saith:  I  am  about  49  years  of  age,  and 
liave  for  some  years  past  followed  the  calling  of  news])aper  corre- 
•spondent  and  writer.  In  1889,  at  the  time  the  British  sealing  schooners 
were  seized  in  the  Bering  Sea  by  the  United  States  revenue  cutters,  I 
devoted  some  attention  to  tlie  sealing  industry.  Being  actpiainted 
with  Mr.  Walter  Borns,  througli  his  licing  a  boarder  in  my  family, 
and  who  is  largely  identified  with  the  sealing  industry,  I  was  by  him 
earnestly  solicited  to  accompany  him  on  a  sealing  cruise  on  board  his 
schooner  Otto  last  season.  Some  time  previously  I  had  a  severe  attack 
of  rheumatic  gout,  and  was  at  tlie  time  of  solicitation  by  Mr.  Borns 
X)artially  convalescent.  I  was  advised  that  the  voyage  would  tend 
towards  the  recovei'y  of  my  health  and  the  inducement  of  an  opportunity 


336  TESTIMONY 

to  gain  by  personal  observation  all  lliat  could  be  learned  of  tlie  seal 
hunting  question,  wliicli  I  aA'OuUI  be  enabled  to  turn  to  pecuniary  ac- 
count as  a  newspaper  correspondent,  determined  my  acceptance  of  the 
proposal,  altliougli  the  iiecuniary  oiler  of  Mr.  Bonis  was  merely  trivial. 
I  was  very  weak  and  feeble,  and  bad  to  be  assisted  on  board  the  ves- 
sel. Mr.  F.  King-Hall,  correspondent  of  the  ISTew  York  Herald,  was, 
with  my  consent,  taken  on  board  as  a  passenger. 

The  Otto  cleared  from  the  Victoria  custom-house  on  the  23d  June, 

^^^^  ^ggj  1891,  but  owing  to  thedifticulty  experienced  in  obtain- 

"'    ■  ■  ing  a  crew  of  Indian  hunters,  did  not  sail  from  the 

harbor  till  the  2d  July,  and  then  Avithout  any  Indians;  and  set  sail 
finally  for  the  Avest  coast,  Vancouver  Island,  on  the  5th  July.  At  the 
last  moment  the  owner,  Mr.  Eorns,  was  prevented  by  some  business 
engagement  from  accompanying  the  vessel,  and  before  leaving  requested 
me  to  ''keep  my  eye  opened"  about  his  interests. 

We  set  sail  for  the  Bering  SeaJiom  the  northwest  coast  of  Vancouver 
Island  on  Thursday,  the  oOth  July  last.  When  off  the  coast  of  Queen 
Charlotte  Islands,  some  seals  weie  observed,  Avhieh  the  captain  informed 
me  were  fur-seals;  the  one  seen  by  me  belonged  to  the  hair-seal  species, 
as  I  knew  by  the  bronze  color  as  it  floated  past  the  vessel.  It  is  said 
that  the  fur-seals  have  some  undiscovered  breeding  grounds  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  Islands  group;  again,  that  the  fur-seals 
bring  forth  and  rear  their  young  on  the  large  floating  beds  of  kelp 
found  in  those  waters;  anotlna^  theory  is  that  the  seals  migrate  in  the 
spring  from  the  coast  of  California  to  tbe  Bering  Sea  in  herds,  each 
herd,"like  the  bees,  having  a  recognized  leader;  should  this  leader 
hap]>ento  fall  a  victim  to  the  hunter,  the  herd  becomes  disorganized 
and  disperses  over  the  waters  of  the  Korth  Pacific  Ocean.  However, 
be  the  theory  correct  or  otherwise,  the  presence  of  fur-seals  outside  of 
Bering  Sea  at  that  time  of  year  was  rather  remarkable,  i  e.,  if  the  seal 
observed  by  the  crew  were  of  the  fur-seal  species. 

Twenty-five  miles  off  Kadiak  Island,  Gulf  of  Alaska,  when  going  on 
deck  after  breakfast,  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  August,  I  observed 
some  dark  object  in  front  of  the  schooner,  and  called  the  attention  of 
the  captain  to  it,  Avho  said  it  was  a  log  or  a  piece  of  kelp.  I  maintained 
it  was  a  seal,  and  so  it  ])r(>\  ed.  The  Indian  hunter  went  out  in  his 
canoe  in  pursuit  and  killed  the  seal  with  his  spear,  in  sight  of  the  ves- 
sel.    It  was  a  medium  or  half-grown  seal. 

On  the  evening  of  Saturday,  the  22d  Aucust,  Ave 
ento-h"-.  ^'''*'  ^"''^"^  entered  the  Unimak  Pass;  Aveather,  mist  and  iain,and 
on  Sunday  morning,  the  2od,  Avere  in  the  proscribed 
waters. 

The  hunting  outfit  of  the  Otto  was  rather  limited :  One  seal-hunting 
boat,  which  I  Avill  designate  the  first  boat;  one  i)leasuro 
amuve'pms.'  ^"""^^  ^*^*'^*?  hcavy  and  clumsy,  the  second  boat;  and  one  In- 
dian hunter  and  one  can(;eman  in  a  canoe.  The  first  boat  ^ 
was  manned  by  the  skijiper  as  hunter,  an  acknowledged  expert  of' 
tAvelve  years'  experience,  armed  with  a  No.  12-bore  double-barreled  shot- 
gun by  Greener,  of  Birmingham,  and  one  ^Yincllester  repeating  rifle, 
and  a  crew  of  tAvo  white  inen  as  pullers  and  steerers.  The  second  boat 
was  manned  by  tAvo  SAvedish  seamen,  one  as  hunter  and  the  other  as 
puller,  of  no  ex]>eriencew]iatever  in  the  business,  armed  with  a  Ko.  10  bore 
double-barreled  shotgun.  The  canoe,  one  Indian  hunter,  and  one  canoe- 
man,  armed  Avitli  the  VancouA'er  Island  west  coast  spear  and  a  single- 
barrel  muzzle-loader  shotgun,  this  latter,  I  Avas  informed,  merely 
to  give  the  quietus  to  the  har^iooned  seal  should  occasion  reqiure.    The 


TAKEN   AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  337 

ammunition  used:  Curtis  &  Harvey's  No.  6  grain,  size  14,  in  kegs; 
charge,  6  to  7  drams,  and  from  15  to  21  bncksliot. 

Tlie  following  is  an  extract  from  my  note  book  during  the  nine  days' 
hunt  in  Bering  Sea,  from  23  to  31  August,  in  the  wa- 
ters about  40  to  50  miles  from  the  entrance  to  Una-   hjj'^'t^^fj  "^e^iS® ''sea. 
laska  harbor,  and  40  to  50  miles  off  Akutan  Island,  extmc"from!°®    ^*' 
Aleutian  chain,  or  from  150  to  200  miles  fi-om  thePrib- 
ilof  Islands. 

Sunday,  23  August,  wind  light;  misty;  rain.  7:30  a.  m.,  sighted 
seals  to  west.  Second  boat  lowered;  killed  one  seal  in  sight  of  vessel. 
First  boat  and  canoe  lowered;  out  all  day,  returning  to  meals.  Eesnlt 
of  day's  hunt:  Second  boat,  one  seal.  Seals  sporting  round  vessel;  a 
great  many  shots  fired  by  boats. 

Monday,  24  August,  clear  weather ;  calmer  sea.  Boats  and  canoe  out 
aU  day  from  7  a.  m.  (returning  to  dinner).  Kesult :  First  boat,  one  seal ; 
reported  having  lost  two.  Second  boat,  none.  Indian  canoe,  one  seal. 
Total,  2  mediums;  a  great  deal  of  firing  heard. 

Tuesday,  25  August,  rain  in  morning.  Boats  and  canoe  out  at  half 
past  9  o'clock;  out  all  day  (returning  to  dinner).  Result:  First  boat, 
two  seals  reported,  wounded  and  lost  five;  seals  said  to  be  shy  and 
wary,  and  not  so  numerous  as  formerly;  attention  called  to  cow  seal 
being  skinned  (which  I  had  taken  for  a  young  bull).  The  snow  white 
milk  running  down  blood-stained  deck  was  a  sickening  sight.  Indian 
canoe,  one  seal.     Total,  3  wseals;  2  mediums  and  1  cow. 

Wednesday,  26  August,  cloudy  morning;  seals  floating  round 
schooner.  Boats  and  canoe  out  all  day.  Result:  First  boat,  1  seal; 
second  boat,  none;  Indian  canoe,  10  seals;  total,  11  seals;  8  cows  in 
milk,  and  3  medium.  Skipper  in  first  boat  blamed  the  powder.  Second 
boat  said  it  was  too  heavy  and  clumsy  for  the  work.  Skipper  reported 
having  wounded  and  lost  7,  and  the  men  in  second  boat  0  ditto,  16  in 
all.  Skipper  said  seals  not  so  numerous  as  formerly,  more  shy;  also 
blamed  the  powder.  Evidently  a  great  deal  of  shooting  and  very  few 
seals  to  correspond. 

Thursday,  27  August,  seals  to  all  appearances  very  scarce,  species 
being  exterminated,  so  to  judge  from  the  skipper's  remarks.  Weather 
fine  and  clear.  Boats  and  canoe  out;  returned  at  noon,  consequence  of 
rough  sea.  Result:  First  boat,  1;  second  boat,  none;  Indian  canoe, 2 
seals;  total,  3  seals.  Again  in  favor  of  Indian  spear.  Powder  blamed 
again.  Tired  of  such  excuses.  So  tar  have  not  found  one  word  of  truth 
in  anything  I've  heard  previously  about  open  sea  seal-hunting. 

Friday,  28  August,  rain  and  heavy  sea  in  morning;  cleared  in  after- 
noon; boats  and  canoe  out  in  afternoon;  returned  at  6  p.  m.  No  skins, 
although  a  great  deal  of  shooting  going  on.  First  boat  reported  hav- 
ing wounded  and  lost  three  seals;  blamed  powder.  Poor  powder.  It 
takes,  judging  from  the  number  of  shots  fired,  about  a  hundred  to  se- 
cure one  seal. 

Saturday,  29  August,  ship's  cook  brought  down  from  deck  a  large  cow 
seal  at  40  yards  rise.  Boats  and  canoe  out  all  day;  fine,  clear,  balmy 
weather;  Aukatan  Island  in  sight.  Result:  First  boat,  three  scais; 
second  boat,  three  seals;  cook,  from  deck,  one;  Indian  canoe,  ten; 
total  catch,  seventeen  seals,  greater  proportion  cows  in  milk;  horrid 
sight,  could  not  stay  the  ordeal  out  till  all  were  flayed.  A  large  num- 
ber reported  as  wounded  and  lost.  According  to  appearances,  slaughter 
indiscriminate. 

Sunday,  30  August,  fine  clear  morning;  hazy  towards  Akutan.  At 
6  o'clock  a  cry  "  Here's  the  cruiser"  to  the  eastward.    Boats  and  canoe 

2716— VOL  II 22 


338  TESTIMONY 

off  at  7  o'clock ;  at  8  o'clock  T  could  see  deck  of  the  steamer  bearing  down 
on  us  about  8  miles  oif.  Boats  recalled.  The  Indians  returned  about 
9  o'clock,  greatly  excited;  went  out  again  when  the  steamer  sheered  off 
towards  Unalaska  harbor.  Eesult  of  hunt:  First  boat,  two  seals;  sec- 
boat,  one;  Indian  canoe,  seven;  total,  ten  seals,  seven  of  which  were 
cows  in  milk.  Several,  as  usual,  reported  wounded  and  lost  by  the  boats. 
The  great  superiority  of  the  Indian  spear  evident. 

Monday,  31  August,  captured  by  the  U.  S.  S.  Mohican  3:30  p.  m.;  no 
hunting. 

The  total  catch  on  being  analyzed  shows  a  favorable  comj)arison  be- 
tween the  experienced  and  inexperienced  hunters;  when  the  class  of 
boats  and  arms  are  taken  into  consideration,  and  the  extraordinary  uum- 
w^   te  f lif  hQv^  reported  as  wounded  and  lost,  dispels  any  faith 

in  the   oft  reported  assertion  that  only  one  in  ten  es- 
cape from  "the  unerring  rifle  in  the  hands  of  the  experienced  hunter." 
The  number,  two-thirds  of  the  catch,  captured  by  the  Indians,  gives 
the  verdict  entirely  in  favor  of  the  primitive  weapon 
dian^s^^ear?*^  "^  ^°    ^f  ^^^  aborigiues  as  against  the  modern  breechloader. 
The  spear  used  by  the  Vancouver  Island  Indians  for 
Description  of  spear,  scal  huutiug  is  10  fcct  loug  in  the  shaft,  tapering  off 
toward  the  ends,  and  thus  well  balanced.     At  the  point 
the  shaft  forks  off  into  two  prongs,  on  which  the  spear-head  or  har- 
poons fit  easily,  being  attached  to  the  shaft  by  a  cod  line,  which  runs 
up  to  the  butt,  where  it  is  caught  in  a  bight  and  held  round  the  thumb 
of  the  right  hand.     On  being  projected  the  shaft  separates  from  the 
harpoons  and  floats  on  the  water  unheeded  till  the  seal  is  secured. 
But  few  are  missed.     Any  that  escape  wounded  only  suffer  from  a  flesh 
wound  of  2i  inches  in  depth.   Once  the  harpoon  jiierces  the  skin  bi'yond 
the  barbs  the  only  possibility  of  escape  lies  in  the  chance  of  the  line 
breaking.     This  system  of  capture  is  both  economical  from  a  business 
standpoint,  as  well  as  that  of  being  almost,  if  not  entirely,  less  destruc- 
tive to  seal  life,  as  compared  with  modern  arms  of  pre- 
cent^1-"catfh  nnrsin^  cision.  It  may  safcly  be  asserted  that  over  three-fourths 
cows.  "  of  the  catch  of  forty-eight  were  cows  in  milk.     This, 

,    f   ,.  at  a  distance  of  200  miles  from  the  rookeries,  shows 

X  Gin 3.168  iGGClinff.  ' 

that  the  nursing  cows  ramble  all  over  the  Bering  Sea 
in  search  of  their  chief  food,  the  codfish,  which  are  to  be  found  on  the 
banks  along  the  coast  of  the  Aleutian  Islands.  During  the  migratory 
journey  nortli  in  the  spring  tlie  cows  with  young  become  the  easiest 
victims  to  the  hunter,  owing  to  being  more  fatigued,  and  consequently 
sleep  more  than  other  class  of  seals.  From  all  information  I  could 
glean  from  the  skipper,  Avhen  I  pointed  out  the  circumstance  of  cows 
in  milk  being  killed  so  far  from  tlie  islands,  leads  me  to  understand 
that  had  the  cruise  of  tlie  Otto  been  a  month  or  six  weeks  earlier,  the 
proi)ortion  of  nursing  cows  in  a  catch  would  be  still  greater  than  that 
herein  exhibited. 

Egbert  H.  McManus. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  29th  day  of  March,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 

Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN    AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  339 

Deposition  of  Thorwal  Mathasan,  sealer  [boat-puller). 

pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  op  Canada, 

Victoria,  British  Columhia,  ss: 

Thorwal  Mathasan,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  My  name  is 
Thorwal  Mathasan;    my  age  is  39  years;  occupation, 
seaman ;  I  reside  at  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     I  went     Experience. 
sealing  in  1891  in  the  Oscar  and  Hattie,  Gault,  master, 
as  aboat-puller,fromVictoria,  British  Columbia;  sealed   jg^/;"*-  ««'«  '^""'■«. 
up  to  the  last  of  January;  we  had  six  boats  and  one 
stern  boat,  with  three  men  to  each  boat  and  two  men  with  the  stern 
boat;  we  used  shotguns  and  rifles,  and  sealed  along  the  west  coast  to 
the  Bering  Sea.    We  caught  over  1,000  seals  off  the     ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^^ 
coast,  most  all  females,  and  a  great  number  of  them  had  mostly  females,  a 
young  pups  In  them.    We  generally  tried  to  kill  them  g^at  part  being  preg- 
while   asleep   in  the  water,   but  fired  at   everything 
that  come  around  us.     A  good  many  would  sink  when  we  shot  them 
and  would  go  down  like  a  stone  and  were  lost,  and  nearly  all  the 
wounded  ones  would  get  away.    Those  that  we  would  kill  we  would 
try  to  get  up  to  them  before  they  would  sink  and  get  them  with  the 
gaff  hook,  but  we  could  not  get  many  that  way.     We     ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^ 
carried  two  gaff  hooks  to  each  boat.    It  takes  anywhere 
from  one  to  twenty  shots  on  the  average  to  secure  a  seal,  and,  I  think, 
we  got  about  three  out  of  five  that  we  killed,  but  we  may  not  have  got 
as  many,  for  poor  hunters  wouldn't  get  more  than  one  out  of  five. 

Entered  Bering  Sea  in  July  and  was  chased  out  by  the  cutters.     Did 
not  catch  any  seals  in  the  American  waters  in  the  Bering     ^g^j^^  g^^ ;  time  of 
Sea,  but  went  over  across  on  the  Russian  side  and  entering. 
sealed  there.    The  whole  catcli  for  that  year  was  about     jy^.^^^^  ^,„t 
1,500  seals.     Those  that  we  killed  on  the  Russian  side 
was  about  in  the  same  x)r(»portion  as  to  females  as  those  killed  on  this 
side.     I  know  of  no  place  on  the  coast  where  the  seals     g^^j^  ^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^ 
haul  upon  the  land.    I  think  the  seals  are  not  so  plen-   upon  coast. 
tifiil  on  the  coast  as  last  year.  Decrease. 

I  went  sealing  again  on  the  28th  of  January,  1892,  in  the  same  ves- 
sel, Captain  Gault.    Went  down  to  the  Yaquina  Bay. 
On  the  17th  of  February  one  of  our  small  boats  cap-   jgg^"''*''  "'"^  sattie, 
sized  and  we  lost  the  captain,  three  hunters,  and  one 
sailor.     We  went  into  the  Yaquina  and  got  a  new  captain  and  went 
down  to  Clayquot  and  completed  our  crew  and  went  out  sealing  again, 
off"  the  coast,  and  returned  to  Clayquot  the  forepart  of  April;  then 
I  left  the  vessel.     Our  whole  catcli  was  33  seals  during     ^^^^^^ 
the  v^oyage  the  three  months   we  were  out.      Seals 
did  not  seem  to  be  near  as  plentiful  as  last  year.  Decrease. 

Th.  Mathasan. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


340  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  John  Morris^  sealer  {mate  and  master). 
pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  of  Canada, 

Victoria,  British  Columbia,  ss: 
John  Morris,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :     My  a.2:e  is  34 
years,  my  occupation  vseanian,  and  my   residence  is 
Experience.  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     I  have  had  six  years'  ex- 

perience in  sealing",  both  in  the  North  Pacific  and  the 
Bering  Sea.     In  February,  1882, 1  went  sealing  from  Victoria,  British 
Columbia,  in  the  schooner  Omcard,  McCoy,  master.     I 
shipped  as  mate.     We  had  sixteen  canoes,  all  manned 
by  Indians — two  Indians  to  each  boat.     The  Indians  used  spears  while 
hunting  seals.    We  began  sealing  off  Cape  Flattery;  sailed  and  sealed 
to  the  northward,  and  captured  about  800  seals  along 
nanSaJes!''""^^*'^"  ^^^  coast.    There  were  not  over  ten  males  in  the  whole 
lot.     The  females  had  pui>s  in  them  and  we  cut  them 
out  of  their  mothers  and  threw  them   overboard  into  the  ocean.     They 
secured  about  all  of  the  seals  they  speared.    We  returned  to  Victoria, 
British  Columbia,  about  the  last  of  June. 
About  the  last  of  April,  1883,  I  sailed  from  Victoria  on  a  sealing 
^       ^  10QO  voyage  in  the  On  ward,  Morris,  master.     We  had  eight- 

Onwara,  1883.  ./o  iit-i-  j_j_  i 

een  canoes,  all  manned  by  Indians,  two  to  each  canoe. 

They  used  spears  as  weapons  and  captured  about  400  seals  while  I  was 

^  ^       ,       on  her.     They  were  all  females  with   pup   excepting 

Pregnant  females     ,,  ti-i  i-  iiii  i 

taken.  the  yearliiigs,  which  Avere  about  one-half  male  and  one- 

Aifred  Adams.         ^'^^^   feiualc.     I  left    the  Ontcard  at  Clayquot  Sound 

and  joined  the  J. //Vc(?  Adams  and  returned  to  Victoria, 

British  Columbia,  on  account  of  sickness  of  the  owner  and  master. 

About  the  1st  of  January  I  sailed   as   master  of  the  Alfred  Adams 

Alfred  Adams  i88i    ®^  ^  scaUug  voyagc ;  we  had  about  eighteen  canoes, 

with  two  Indians  to  each  canoe;   they  hunted  with 

spears  and  captured  about  750  skins  along  the  coast. 

taken^'*"*  females  ^jj  ^^^  ^^.^^^s  captured  wcrc  pregnant  females  except 

the  yearlings.     We  returned  to  Victoria  about  the  last 

of  June,  1884. 

In  February,  1885,  1  sailed  from  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  on  the 

„      ,        ,00-        schooner  Sciientii-six,  Potts,  master.      We  had  three 

boats  and  tliree  men  to  each  boat;  had  a  white  crew. 

We  began  sealing  off  Cape  Flattery  and  caught  abmit  20  seals,  all  of 

All  taken    recmant    ^^^^^^  WCrC  pregiumt  fcuiales.      We  USedrifleS  and  shot- 
females'!  ®"P''®s°^°    guns  in  hunting  the  seals.     We  returned  to  Seattle  in 
the  month  of  June.     Prior  to  this  I  had  never  been  in 
Be^rrgSlfo?e'i885.  ^^^  Bering  Sca,  and  with  but  few  exceptions  sealing 
vessels  did  not  visit  those  waters. 
In  the  month  of  February,  1887,  I  sailed  from  Victoria,  British  Co- 
lumbia, in  the  schooner  Blaeh  Diamond,  I,  Morris,  mas- 
^  Black  Diamond,   ^^^     ^y^  j^.^^^  tweiity-four  cauocs,  cach  manned  by  two 
Indians.     The  Indians  used  spears  in  hunting  the  seals. 
They  lost  very  few  of  the  seals  they  speared.     We  captured  on  this 
trip  about  900  seals,  but  did  not  enter  the  Bering  Sea.     We  returned 
to  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  in  June.     The  seals  are  more  shy  now 
than  formerly,  because  they  have  been  hunted  so  unmercifully  with 
guns.      Seals  are  scarcer  now  than  in  former  years. 
With  the  i)resent  increasing  fleet  of  sealing  vessels  the 
Protection  neoes-  scal  herd  will  sooii  bccomc  exterminated  unless  some 
^'^^^'  restrictions  are  placed  upon  pelagic  sealing. 


TAKEN   AT    VICTOKIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  341 

Pelagic  sealing  in  the  IN'orth  Pacific  Ocean  should  not  be  permitted 
for  at  least  six  weeks  after  the  females  have  given  birth  ^^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^ 
to  their  young.  gested. 

John  Morris. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  iStates  Consul. 


Deposition  of  Morris  Moss,  furrier,  and  vice-president  Sealers^  Association 

of  Victoria. 

pelagic  sealing. 

Province  of  British  Columbia, 

City  of  Victoria.,  ss: 

Morris  Moss,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  have  resided  in 
British  Columbia  thirty  years.     Since  LSSO  have  made     ^^  erience 
my  home  in  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     My  occupa-       '^^penence. 
tion  is  that  of  purchasing  raw  furs.     Of  late  years  raw  fur-sealskins 
have  been  the  principal  furs  handled  by  me.    .1  have  bought  from 
10,000  to  20,000  per  year,  and  am  vice-president  of  the     sg_^,ij    jndustr  be- 
Sealers'  Association  of  Victoria,  British   Columbia,    ginning  and  develop" 
The   sealing  industry,  as  regards  British  Columbia,   ™^°'^<'f- 
started  in  about  1872;  at  that  time  Indians  only  were  employed  to  do 
the  killing,  which  was  done  by  spearing.     The  fleet  was  small,  not 
numbering  over  half  a  dozen  vessels,  and  the  trade  was  inthe  hands  of 
three  or  four  men.    In  1883  the  American  schooner 
.San  Diego,  of  San  Francisco,  entered  the  Bering  Sea,     *'"  ^''^"'  ^®^^- 
and  after  taking  about  2,200  sealskins  brought  them  to  Victoria  and 
sold  them.     This  gave  impetus  to  the  trade  and  the  following  year  Vic- 
toria schooners  entered  the  sea.     jSTew  vessels  were  subsequently  added 
to  the  fleet  and  other  Arms  embarked  in  the  business.        :      ,  •    go 
In  1886  three  Victoria  vessels  were  seized,  since  which     ^^^^^'"^^'"^  ^■ 
time  there  has  been  trouble  over  the  Bering  Sea  sealing  industry. 
Since  that  time  the  fleet  has  been  gradually  increasing  until  now.     Pre- 
vious to  this  time  (1886)  but  few  white  hunters  were  employed  and  the 
Indian  hunters  used  spears  only.     By  so  doing  they 
secured  all  the  seals  struck,  and  did  not  scare   the  by^au^gunr.^^'''"*^'^ 
balance;  of  late  years,  however,  all  the  Indians  carry 
and  use  shotguns  in  addition  to  their  spears.     About  flfty-six  schooners 
have  cleared  from  Victoria  this  sirring.     Thirty  of  them  carry  white 
hunters  and  the  balance  Indians. 

There  are  two  great  herds,  or  armies,  of  fur-seals  that  frequent  the 
North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea.     They  are  quite     jj,,..^, 
distinct  from  each  other  and  do  not  intermingle.    The     ^pJVf 
one  army  appears  ofl'the  coast  of  California  in  the  lat-        '^^"^ '""' 
ter  part  of  December  and  gradually  work  their  way  northward  and 
are  joined  by  others  coming,  apparently,  from  mid  ocean.     They  appe/ir 
to  travel  in  two  columns,  the  outer  column  containing  an  army  oidy  of 
bulls,  and  the  inner  one  mostly  cows  and  yearlings.     These  columns 
are  not  continuous  schools  of  seals,  but  rather  small  parties  scattered 
along.     The  column  traveling  along  the  British  Columbia  coast  head 
for  the  Pribilof  Islands j  their  natural  breeding  ground.    The  other 


342  TESTIMONY 

ariuy  proceeds  alon<x  tlie  Japaiicso  coast,  and  head  for  the  Commander 
and  Kobben  islands.     I  believe  the  seals  always  return 
^wiien  sealing  bo-  to  tlic  pLicc  of  their  birth.     Schooners  with  white  hunt- 
ers commence  to  seal  soon  after  the  new  year;  they 
go  south  to  meet  them  and  follow  them  up  along  the  coast.     Schooners 
employing  Indians  do  not  start  so  soon,  it  being  dif&cult  to  induce  the 
Indians  to  oreak  up  their  regular  feasting  and  dancing.     Schooners  gen- 
erally enter  Bering  Sea  about  the  first  week  in  July. 
^Entering     Bermg  rpj^^  i)ercentage  of  ycarlings  or  gray  pups  taken  on  the 
coast  is  much  greater  than  that  taken  in  the  Bering 
liif^'^takenf'''^^ '''""■  ^^a.     The  percentage  on  the  coast  averages  from  6  to 
12  per  cent,  while  the  percentage  of  those  taken  in 
Bering   Sea  will  not  exceed  2  or  3  per  cent.    The  seals  taken  by 
schooners  do  not  bring  in  the  London  market  more  than 
skTns!*'^  "^    ^"'^''°'''  one-half  realized  by  the  lessees  of  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
The  reason  for  this  is  the  Company's  are  all  young  bulls 
and  are  killed  by  being  clubbed  on  the  head,  while  those  killed  by  the 
schooners  are  of  all  kinds  and  sizes,  and  are  ijerforated  with  shot;  con- 
Mo-',    t  1-0    in  sequently  are  not  perfect  skins.     I  believe  the  majority 
Beriug^'sea  uui"iug  of  scals  capturcd  by  white  hunters  in  Bering  Sea  are 
'^*'^^'*-  females  in  search  of  food.     I  can  not  say  how  many 

seals  are  killed  and  wounded,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  green  hunt- 
_        „ , ,  ers  lose  many,  wliile  those  more  experienced  in  the  busi- 

Waste  of  Ufe.  i  j?        '  ' 

ness  lose  lewer. 
It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  Indian  hunters  in  the  use  of  the 

spear  seldom  lose  one  they  kill  or  wound.  I  have  no 
8ary"''^*^^'°°  "^'"^'^    doubt  ju  mv  owu  mind  that  unless  some  restrictive 

measures  are  taken,  the  seals  will  either  be  eventually 
exterminated  or  become  so  scarce  it  will  not  pay  to  hunt  them.  The 
fleet  has  increased  greatly  in  the  last  few  years,  and  will  continue  to 
do  so  as  long  as  there  is  money  in  the  business. 

It  is  very  important  that  if  the  fur-seal  is  to  be  preserved  it  must  be 
Ijrotected  from  indiscriminate  slaughter  in  the  oi)en  sea,  or  it  will  soon 

be  exhausted.  I  would  suggest  that  either  schooners 
a  ciofe teasonr*"^^' *"^  should  not  be  allowed  to  approach  within  a  radius  of 

50  miles  of  the  breeding  grounds,  or  else  they  should 
not  be  allowed  to  enter  the  sea  until  the  female  has  had  proper  time  to 
give  birth  to  her  young,  and  to  give  it  nurse  until  such  time  as  the 
young  seal  is  able  to  exist  without  it,  say  the  1st  day  of  August.  This 
is  the  general  opinion  of  prominent  owners  of  schooners  who  have  given 
an  unprejudiced  opinion  upon  that  subject. 

Morris  Moss. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  23d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


Deposition  of  Will  FarJcer,  sealer  {hunter). 

pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  of  Canada, 

Victoria,  British  Golumhia,  ss. 
Will  Parker,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  My  age  is  40  years, 
residence  and  citizen  of  Victoria,  British  Columbia; 
itxperionce.  occupation,  huutcr.    I  went  sealing  in  1890  in  the  Wal- 


TAKEN    AT   VICTOEIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  343 

ter  Eich,  Cax^t.  Cooper,  master.    Left  Victoria  in  Jan-      ^^^^^^  ^^^^  ^gy^ 

nary -and  went  oft"  the  coast  of  Lower  California  and 

commenced  sealing,  working  our  way  up  the  coast,  following  the  herd 

towards  Bering  Sea.     I  left  the  vessel  at  Victoria  in      change  of  fla- 

April,  because  she  changed  her  flag  from  American  to 

British.     She  carried  six  boats  and  a  stern  boat.     The  hunters  were  all 

half-breeds  except  myself.    We  had  caught  but  very  few  seals,  and 

when  I  left  her  we  had  only  about  fifty  skins.     We  got     ^^^^  ^^^^ 

a  little  too  far  down  the  Cahfornia  coasL  and  got  out  of 

the  run  of  seals,  and  for  twenty-one  days  saw  none  whatever. 

In  1889  I  sailed  as  hunter  in  the  British  steamer  Ariel,  Buckner, 
master.     Left  Victoria  the  latter  part  of  January  and     ^^^^  ^ggg 
commenced  sealing  about  30  miles  oft'  the  Columbia  '       '    . 

Eiver  and  sealed  along  the  coast  towards  Bering  Sea,   enSf.^^'''  ^'""^ 
arriving  there  about  the  middle  of  July.     We  were  all      no^^^^cntch 
white  hunters  and  used  shotguns  and  rifles  and  caught 
about  500  before  entering  Bering  Sea.     In  the  Bering  Sea  we  hunted 
around  the  fishing  banks  and  so  far  oft'  the  seal  islands  that  we  seldom 
saw  land.     We  caught  a  great  many  seals  on  what  is  called  Southwest 
Bank  about  100  miles  from  Unalaska,  and  I  think  it 
is  more  than  100  miles  fi-om  the  Pribilof  Islands.     We  g^Catch  ^^j^J5em.g 
caught  about  1,100  in  the  Bering  Sea,  and  our  whole  islands. 
catch  for  that  season  was  about  1,700. 

In  1888  I  sailed  as  hunter  and  interpreter  in  the  British  schooner 
Alfred  Adams,  WoTtli.maater.     She  had  Indian  hun-:^      .„  ^  .^ 

•^  ,  ■    \   ,  '  ,.  r^  1  mi  A       Alfred  Adams,  1888. 

ers  and  carried  ten  canoes  of  2  men  each,     llu^y  used 
spears  and  shotguns.     I  joined  down  the  coast,  at  San  Juan,  in  May. 
Hunted  off  Cape" Flattery  for  about  a  month,  and  when  it  was  stormy 
we  would  run  to  harbor,  for  Indians  do  not  like  to  stay 
out  when  it  blows.    We  caught  about  300  seals  off  the  i^  strtg  f e^'*  ^ 
coast,  and  landed  them  at  Victoria  in  June,  and  then 
started  direct  for  Bering  Sea;  ran  into  a  school  of  seals  at  Portlock 
Bank,  oft'  coast  of  Alaska,  and  caught  between  300  and 
400.    We  went  through  Unamak  Pass  the  4th  of  July  entfrinf.     '  *™' 
and  sealed  in  those  waters  until  about  the  14th  of  Au- 
gust, at  which  time  we  left  the  sea  and  came  to  Victoria.     Caught  only 
about  700  seals  while  in  the  sea,  for  it  was  a  stormy.      Most  of  catch  iu  the 
bad  season.    We  caught  most  of  the  seals  that  were  sea  from  so  to  eo miles 
taken  by  our  vessel  in  Bering  Sea  from  30  to  60  miles  f^<^^^^^'^^^^^^- 
off  to  the  southwest  of  St.  Paul  Island. 

In  1887  I  sailed  from  Victoria  as  hunter  and  interpreter  in  the  British 
schooner  Ada,  Gordon,  master.     She  carried  seven  ca-  ^^^^ 

noes  and  one  boat,  and  Indian  hunters,  who  used  spears. 
She  left  Victoria  the  latter  part  of  April  and  made  one  trip  out  for 
three  days,  when  a  storm  drove  us  back  into  harbor. 
We  caught  395  seals  in  the  two  days  and  a  lialf  that 
we  were  out;  caught  them  about  35  miles  west  of  Cape  Flattery.     Fit- 
ted out  and  left  the  coast  for  Bering  Sea  the  20th  of  June  and  went 
direct  to  Unamak  Pass.     The  weather  was  bad  and  we  did  not  stop  to 
seal,  and  only  saw  a  very  few  seals.    We  entered  Ber-      n^riwr  soa;  time  of 
ing  Sea  the  ICth  of  July  and  sealed  oft"  Akatan  Pass  entering;  veasei  and 
until  we  were  seized  by  a  revenue  cutter  on  the  25th  •^'"^s°  seized. 
of  August  with  1,897  skins  on  board,  and  all  caught  in  Bering  Sea. 

In  1886  and  1885  I  did  not  go  hunting.  In  1884  and  1883  I  sailed  as 
cook  on  the  British  schooner  Thornton,  Nelse,  master.  Thomion,  i883  and 
She  carried  Indian  hunters  and  did  not  go  into  Bering  ^^^' 


344  TESTIMONY 

Sea,  but  sealed  off  the  coast.    The  Indians  used  spears  and  sometimes 

would  have  an  fild  inusket.     There  was  hardly  ever  a  sealing  scliooner 

that  went  to  Bering  Sea  during  these  years  or  prior  to 

Be^?uYseablCeS  1^85,  and  there  were  only  four  or  five  that  sailed  from 

here  in  the  sealing  business,  and  these  carried  Indian 

crews,  who  hunted  with  spears  and  seldom  went  far  from  the  coast. 

In  1882  and  1881  I  sailed  as  cook  in  the  British  schooner  Onward, 

Onward   1881  and  ^IcCoy,  master.     She  Carried  Indian  huntcrs  and  Sealed 

1882.       '  along  the  coast.    Bid  not  go  into  Bering  Sea.     Seals 

^  ^^      ,         ,    were  almost  exclusively  taken  on  the  coast  during  these 

In  those  «aya  seals  iittij.  ii  tt 

taken  almost  exciu-  ycars  and  by  Indian  hunters,  armed  by  spears.     I  do 
with^a  ears*""'^*  ^^'^  ^^*  kuow  of  any  Sealing  schooner  that  went  to  the 

Bering  Sea  until  Captain  McLean  went  there  about  nine 

Favorite.  years  ago  in  the  Favorite.    Indians  were  the  principal 

hunters  until  about  six  years  ago,  and  they  scarcely  ever  used  anything 

but  spears  and  would  save  most  all  the  seals  they  killed,  but  since  it 

lias  become  the  pra(?tice  to  hunt  seals  witli  guns  a  good  many  are  killed, 

-rrr        ^,.^  wouuded,  and  lost.     Green  hunters  bang  awav  and 

wound  more  than  they  kill  and  will  shoot  six  or  seven 

before  they  get  one,  and  sometimes  more.     Good  hunters  will  do  much 

better.    I  used  to  get  most  of  the  seals  I  killed,  but  I  have  killed  five 

Seals  ainkino-  dead  ill  succcssion  and  lost  the  whole  of  them.     A 

female  seal  will  sink  much  quicker  after  she  has  given 
birth  to  her  young  than  before.  We  are  more  sure  of  getting  a  sleep- 
ing seal  than  one  that  is  breeching. 

My  observation  on  this  coast  is,  that  the  young  seals  are  nearest  to 
land  and  the  cow  seals  have  a  course  some  farther  out.  The  bulls  are 
still  farther  out  and  ranch  more  scattered  and  shy.     The  seals  lay 

around  off  the  coast  of  California  and  north  of  there 

igration.  niitil  caiiy  in  February,  when  they  commence  to  work 

slowly  along  up  the  coast  and  enter  Bering  Sea  in  June  and  July. 

Their  habits  in  this  respect  are  well  known  to  the  hunters.    The  catch 

along  the  coast  for  the  last  six  or  seven  years,  since 
paUy^'femaiM'!  ^"°"'  ^^^^  I'iAe  aiid  sliotguu  havc  coiuc  into  use,  is  principally 

females  and  the  grown  ones  have  pups  in  them.  The 
catch  of  young  seals  is  much  less  in  proportion  to  the  number  caught 
than  they  were  when  Indians  used  to  take  them  by  spearing.  I  have 
cut  the  young  seal  out  of  its  dead  mother  and  kept  it  alive  for  several 
weeks  by  feeding  it  on  milk,  but  it  would  eventually  die.  I  have 
known  them  to  live  days  Avithout  eating  anything.  I  have  put  pups 
cut  out  of  dead  seals  to  the  breast  of  dead  female  seals  when  milk  was 
running  out  of  their  teats,  but  thej^  would  not  touch  it. 
The  seals  taken  in  Bering  Sea  are  nearly  all  grown.    We  get  but 

very  few  young  seals.  I  think  we  catch  in  Bering  Sea 
in^s°ea.*'^'^^°  ^°  ^^^    morc  malcs  in  proportion  to  females  than  we  do  on  th3 

coast.    We  catch  a  good  many  females  in  Bering  Sea 

that  have  given  birth  to  their  young  on  the  islands  and  were  in  milk. 

Nursing  cows  taken  ^  ^^^^^  caught  plenty  of  COW  scals  in  milk  a  hundred 

100  miles  or  more  from  luiles  or  luorc  froiu  the  islaiids,  but  seldom  get  any 

^^'^^^^^-  that  have  a  pup  in  them  in  those  waters.     Seals  were 

Decrease.  luuch  Icss  iu  numbers  off  the  coast  in  1890  than  they 

were  about  1885.  They  have  either  been  destroyed  or 
driven  off.  We  had  no  trouble  in  making  a  season  on  the  coast, 
weather  permitting,  of  from  700  to  1,300^  and  now  500  is  a  good  catch. 


TAKEN   AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  345 

Since  the  use  of  rifles  and  shotguns  have  become  common  seals  are 

much  less  in  numbers  and  are  more  shy  and  timid. 

They  ought  to  be  prohibited  from  killing  seals  in  the  safy?*''*'"''  ''^*'^'" 

water  for  a  few  years  at  least,  or  there  will  not  be 

enough  left  to  make  them  worth  hunting. 

William  Parker. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL.J  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


Deposition  of  Charles  Peterson^  sealer  {hoat-pidler). 
pelagic  sealing. 

Province  of  British  Columbia, 

City  of  Victoria,  ss : 

Charles  Peterson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  36  years 
old  and  am  by  occupation  a  seafaring  man;  my  resi-      ^^   eiience 
dence  is  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     In  April,  1880,  I        ^penenc 
went  seal  hunting  from  Victoria  in  the  schooner  Moun- 
tain Chief,  Jacobson,  master.     Our  schooner  carried  isse"""'"*"      "^ 
ten  canoes,  each  manned  by  two  Indians,  who  hunted 
with  spears.     We  began  sealing  oft' Cape  Flattery  and     suaimgofr  coast. 
captured  about  300  seals  along  the  coast,  most  all  of     remaies  taken. 
which  were  females  and  yearlings.     We  did  not  cap- 
ture over  50  males,  all  told,  on  this  voj^age,  and  returned  to  Victoria  in 
July. 

In  the  spring  of  1887  I  went  on  a  sealing  voyage  from  Victoria,  as  a 
boat-puller,  in  the  schooner  Alfred  Adams,  Dyre,  mas-      ,,,   ,  ,  ,       ,„„, 

^t^,         '       .     ,  ,  1         :'         T  ,  T    "t  '  Alferd  Adams,  1S87 . 

ter.     She  carried  one  stern  boat  and  two  Indian  canoes. 
We  had  a  white  crew,  but  the  canoes  were  manned  by  two  Indians 
each.     We  began  sealing  off"  Cape  Flattery  and  sealed     seaiin<' off  coast 
right  up  towards  the  Bering  Sea,  capturing  16  seals      '  '     " 
along  the  coast,  all  of  which  were  females  with  pup.      Females  taken. 
We  entered  the  Bering  Sea  about  the  15th  of  August     Entered  Bering  sea. 
through  the  Uniiuak  Pass  and  captured  therein  1,404      ^^.^  nant  females 
seals,  most  of  which  were  cows  in  milk.    On  that  voyage        "'snan    em 
we  caught  female  seals  in  milk  over  80  miles  from  the  rookeries,  where 
they  had  left  their  young.     Our  best  hunters  would      ^aatcoriife 
secure  half  of  the  seals  shot,  but  the  poorest  ones 
would  not  get  more  than  one  out  of  twenty,  the  average  being  one 
secured  out  of  five  killed. 

I  have  seen  the  deck  almost  flooded  with  milk  while  we  were  skin- 
ning the  seals.     It  is  impossible  to  distingni.sh  the  male 
seal  from  the  female  when  they  are  in  the  water  at  a  bie'in  watlr''^^"'^'^*' 
reasonable  gunshot  distance.      About  90  per  cent  of 
all  the  seals  we  captured  in  the  water  were  female  seals.  ,„^'gg®*-^'  ^^^^  '^'^"*  ^^ 
After  remaining  in  the  sea  about  fifteen  days  our  ves- 
sel was  seized  and  we  returned  to  Victoria.  vessel  seized. 

In  April,  1890,  I  went  scaling  in  the  Minnie,  Jacob- 
son,  master.     She  carried  fourteen  canoes,  manned  with      ^^''"'"^'  i^^"- 
Indians,  two  Indians  with  each  canoe,  who  used  spears.    We  caught 


346  TESTIMONY 

Females  taken         ^^^  scals  {iloiig  tlic  coast,  all  of  wliicli  were  females 

exceptinjif  20.     We  returned  to  Victoria  in  June. 
M'  nie  1891  ^^^  January,  1891,  I  left  Victoria  on  a  sealing  voyage 

in  the  s(*liooner  Minnie,  Dillon,  master.    We  carried 
two  boats  manned  by  wliite  men  and  ten  canoes,  each  manned  by  two 
Indians,  who  used  shotguns.     We  captured  250  female 
takenf"™'    females  g^,.^|j^  ^-^Ij  p^^^  ^^^^  ^l^^  coast  aiid  then  returned  to  Vic- 
toria, after  whicih  we  sailed  again  in  a  short  time  on 
the  same  vessel  with  the  same  crew  for  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and 
Bering  Sea,  capturing  about  250  female  seals  while  en  route  to  the  Bering 
Sea  also  a  few  male  yearlings.    We  entered  the   sea 
rmg   ermg  *"*•  .^j^^j  gg(,^^^.(3,l  about  10  scals,  all  of  which  wcrc  fcmales 
in  milk.     After  remaining  there  ten  days  we  started  back  to  Victoria. 
The  practice  of  taking  seals  in  the  water  before  tliey  have  given 
birth  to  their  young  is  destructive  to  seal  life,  waste- 
sary!*       "  ^  ful,  and  sliould  be  i^rohibited.     Seals  do  not  haul  out 

upon  the  land  along  the  coast  and  give  birth  to  their 
cor^t""*  ^'^"^  "^  °°   yonng;  nor  do  they  breed  on  the  kelp.     If  ever  there 
was  such  an  occurrence  it  must  have  been  a  premature 
birth  caused  by  some  accident  to  the  female  seal  and  would  result  in 
the  death  of  her  young. 

Previous  to  1885  only  two  or  three  sealing  vessels  had  ever  gone  to 

the  Bering  Sea  to  hunt  seals  and  the  sealing  from  Vic- 

No  pelagic  sealing  toria  prior  to  188G  was  confined  to  the  coast,  and  the 

ormery.  crcws  wcrc  Indians  Avho  hunted  Avith  spears.     Seals 

were  caught  by  them  with  spears  and  but  few  were 

lost;  but  since  the  shotgun  has  come  into  use  a  great 

many  are  destroyed  and  lost. 

O.  Peterson. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  23rd  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


Deposition  of  Edicin  P.  Porter,  sealer  (hoat-steerer). 
pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  of  Canada, 

Victoria,  B.  C,  ss  : 

Edwin  P.  Porter,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  My  age  is  25 

years;  residen(;e,  Victoria,  British  Columbia;  occupa- 

xpenence.  tiou,  scaman  and  seal  liunter.     I  went  out  sealing  as 

Peneiope,i887.         bo.'it-stcerer  on  the  British  schooner  Penelope,  Captain 

Steel,  master;  I  think  it  was  in  the  year  1888  when  I  went  in  her, 

s  aiin  off  coast       ^^'*^  ^^'^^   ^^^"  boats   and  white  hunters.    They  used 

ea  ing o       s .      gjiotguus and  lifics,  shotguns  chiefly.     We  left  Victoria 

about  the  last  of  January  and  cruised  along  tlie  California  and  Oregon 

EnteredBerii)  Sea    ^^^^^  '^"^^  caught  about  1,000  scals  bcforc  wc  entered 

enng  ca.  j^gj-jijo- g^>.^^     Wc  entered  the  sca  about  the  first  week 

in  July  and  caught  about  1,100  more.     We  left  the  sea  about  the  latter 

part  of  September.     We  caught  some  off  the  Copper  Island,  but  most 

of  tlicm  were  taken  from  30  to  100  miles  south  and  southwest  of  the 

Pribilof  Islands. 


TAKEN    AT    VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  34? 

In  1889  I  went  as  boat-steerer  on  the  British  schooner     ^^^  ^^^^ 
Ariel,  Capt.  Eucknani,  master.    She  had  six  boats  and        "  ' 
four  canoes.     Carried  both  white  and  Indian  hunters.     White  hunters 
used  shotguns  and  rifles.     Indians  used  spears  chiefly.     AVe  left  Victo- 
ria in  February  and  sealed  over  about  the  same  course  as  the  year 
before  and  entered  the  Bering  Sea  in  July.    We  took 

,     ^o^-i.  If  ,       •  J^^  1  1J.        Entered  Bering  Sea. 

about  500  skins  before  entering  the  sea  and  caught 
about  1,600  more  around  the  southwest  banks,  from  30  to  75  miles  Itom 
St.  Paul  Island.    We  were  ordered  out  of  the  sea  about     q^.^^^.^^^  ^^^ 
the  1st  of  September  by  the  revenue-cutter  Bush. 

In  1890  I  did  not  go  sealing. 

In  1891 1  sailed  as  boat-steerer  in  the  British  schooner      jj^y^na  i89i 
I7m&ri»a,  Captain  Cam i)bell,  master.  She  carried  seven        "»""«- 
boats  and  had  wbite  hunters,  who  used  shotguns  and  rifles.    Left  Vic- 
toria in  March  and  sealed  along  the  coast.    I  left  her     gg^ung  off  coast. 
before    she  went  into  the  sea.    Her  whole  season's 
catch  was  about  900,  but  do  not  know  what  portion  of  them  she  caught 
before  entering  Bering  Sea,    This  year  I  went  as  boat-steerer  in  the 
British  steamer  Thistle.     She  had  six  sealing  boats  and      ^^^^^^  ^^^^ 
two  wlialing  boats,  and  carried  white  hunters,  with  shot- 
guns and  rifles.     She  left  Victoria  in  February  and  sealed  off  the  Cali- 
tornia  coast.    I  left  her  in  March.     She  had  only  79     ^  ,. 

,  .  Sealing  on  coast. 

skins. 

My  experience  in  four  years  sealing  is  that  nearly  all 
the  seals  taken  along  tiie  coast  are  pregnant  females,  fe^Xsf '^^^ '*'^*^°''°* 
and  it  is  seldom  that  one  of  them  is  caught  that  has 
not  a  young  iDup  in  her.     In  the  forepart  of  the  season  the  pup  is  small, 
but  in  May  and  June,  when  they  are  taken  off  the  Queen  Charlotte 
and  Kodiac  Islands  the  unborn  pup  is  quite  large,  and  we  frequently 
take  them  out  of  the  mothers  alive.     I  have  kept  some  of  them  alive 
for  six  weeks  that  were  cut  out  of  their  mothers,  by  feeding  them  con- 
densed milk.     The  seals  we  captured  in  Bering  Sea 
were  fully  80  per  cent  females  that  had  given  birth  to  feSs.^  ^^"^  "^"^ 
their  young.    A  fact  that  I  often  noticed  was  that  their 
teats  would  be  full  of  milk  when  I  skinned  them,  and  I  have  seen  them 
killed  from  20  to  100  miles  from  the  seal  islands.     We 
try  to  kill  the  seal  while  sleeping  on  the  water,  but  also  fr^'lX,,ds°  ""'^^^ 
shoot  at  them  when  they  are  breaching. 

An  ordinary  hunter  will  lose  about  four  out  of  every  six  he  kills. 
Some  do  not  do  near  as  well,  while  others  do  better,      ^v^steofiifo 
The  percentage  of  loss  to  those  killed  is  less  on  the 
coast  than  it  is  in  the  Bering  Sea,  for  the  seals  are  more  fat  and  do  not 
sink  as  quick,  but  a  great  many  are  wounded  and  lost.    The  Indians, 
when  they  use  the  spears,  lose  but  very  few.     They  get  up  close  to  the 
sleeper  and  scarcely  ever  miss  getting  it.     I  know  of     ^^  ^^^   ^^^^^   ^^ 
no  place  on  the  coast  where  seals  come  ui>  to  land,  and  coast. 
I   am  positive  there  is  none.     Seals  are  not  near  as 
plentiful  as  when  I  went  out  in  1888,  and  I  believe  the     Decrease, 
decrease  is  due  to  their  being  hunted  so  much  with 
shotguns  and  rifles. 

Edwin  P.  Porter. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL.l  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  States  Consul. 


348  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  William  Short,  sealer  {hoat-pullcr). 
pelagic  sealing. 

Pkovince  of  British  Columbia, 

City  of  Victoria,  ss  : 

William  Short,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  26  years  old 

and  reside  at  Victoria,  British  Columbia  and  am  by 

Experience.  occupation  a  painter.     On  January  14, 1890, 1  sailed  as 

MaggieMac  1890       ^  boat-puller  froui  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  on  the 

British  sealin g  schooner  3Iag(/ie  Mac,  Dodd,  master.   She 

carried  six  sealing  boats  that  were  manned  by  three  white  men  each,  who 

used  breechloading  shotguns  and  rifles.     We  began  sealing  o£f  Cape 

Mendocino  and  sealed  south  as  far  as  Farallone  Islands, 

Sealing  off  coast.      ^^^^^^^.^  uorthtoward  the  Bering  Sea.   We  captured  1,120 

seals  on  the   coast  before  entering  the  sea.    On  the  12th  of  July  we 

entered  the  sea  through  TJnimak  Pass.     Lowered  the 

Entered  Bering  Sea.  ^^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^3^^  .^^^^  capturcd  about  2,093  seals  lu 

those  waters,  and  then  returned  to  Victoria  on  the  19th  of  September. 

In  July,  1891,  I  sailed  out  of  the  port  of  Victoria,  British  Columbia, 

as  a  hunter  on  the  British  sealing  schooner  Otto.  O'Reilv, 

Otto    ISOl  7  t.'  7 

master.  She  carried  one  stern  boat,  manned  with  three 
white  men.  We  proceeded  up  the  coast  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  our 
Indian  crew  of  sealers.    Failing  in  this  we  returned  to  Victoria  on  the 

1st  of  August.  W^hile  cruising  along  the  coast  our 
mafes^talen*'^"^""*'   principal  catcli  was  female  seals  with  pup,  the  balance 

being  principally  yearlings,  abouthalf  male  and  female. 
In  some  instances  we  ran  upon  schools  of  seal  and  shot  five  or  six,  all 

of  which  would  be  lost;  in  other  instances  we  would 

secui'e  about  one-half  of  those  wounded.  One  half  of 
all  seals  shot  on  the  coast  are  lost. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  place  on  the  coast  where  the  seals  haul  out  upon 

the  land  to  breed ;  nor  do  I  know  of  any  instances  where 
co^sl""*  '"'''^  "^  ""  ttie  seiils  give  birth  to  their  young  on  the  kelp.     Fully 
Mostly  pregnant  9u  per  ccut  of  all  scals  sccured  by  us  in  the  Bering  Sea 
feniaesta  en.  werc  COWS,  iu  uiilk.     We  seldom  captured  a  bull,  one 

of  which  we  shot  over  twelve  times,  and  afterwards  it  escaped.  There 
are  not  so  many  seals  lost  in  tlie  Bering  Sea  as  there  are  on  the  coast. 
We.  caught  seals  all  tlie  way  from  50  to  250  miles  from  the  rookeries,  on 
the  Pribilof  Islands.     We  caught  female  seals,  iu  milk,  near  the  72  Pass, 

in  the  Bering  Sea.     The  72  Pass  is  about  230  miles  from 
Decrease.  ^^^^  Pribilof  Islauds.     I  noticcd  a  decrease  in  the  num- 

ber of  seals  off  Cape  Flattery  when  there  in  1891,  as  compared  with 
the  other  season.     In  my  opinion,  it  is  a  shame  to  kill  the  female  seal 

before  she  has  given  birth  to  her  young.  Pelagic  seal- 
strultfve  ^"''^'"^  '^''"  ^"S  i"  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  before  the  middle  of 

June  is  very  destructive  and  wasteful  and  should  be 
Indiscriminate  kill-   stopped;   scal  huutcrs   shoot  all  seals  that  they  can, 

because  they  are  paid  so  much  a  skin,  whether  large 

bi^inwater*'"^'^^^    ^^  Small,  male  or  female.     It  is  impossible  to  distin- 

"  **"*        *  guish  the  sex  of  the  seal  in  the  water,  except  the  old 

Protection unnecos-  oucs.     I  tliiuk  pclagic  Sealing  iu  the  sea  should  be  pro- 

*'^'^'  hibited  until  such  a  time  as  the  pup  may  have  grown 

to  the  age  at  which  it;  may  be  able  to  live  without  nurse  from  its  mother. 

W.  Shoet. 


TAKEN   AT   VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  349 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  me  on  this  23d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  ^States  Consul. 


Deposition  of  Fred  Smith,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Fred  Smitli,  being-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Was  born  at  and 
reside  in  Victoria.     Have  been  a  seal-hunter  for  the     Exjerieuce 
last  three  years  on  the  Winifred,  Sea  Lion,  and  Mascot,       '^I'tn^^ucc. 
British  schooners,  and  the  American  schooner  Challenge.  ]i^J|.%''cjJ^^^fg^"''' 
Have  hunted  seal  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  Pacitic  Ocean.      "*"" '    '"  """"' 
Have  seen  and  taken  seal  off  Cape  Flattery  in  March.    They  are  con- 
stantly advancing-  up  the  coast.     I  followed  them  into     j^i,,^..,^^;^,,^ 
Bering  Sea  where  they  arrive  about  July  1st.    Always        '^'"^  "^^' 
use  a  shotgun  exclusively  for  takiug  seal.     1  think  about  one-third 
of  the  seal  shot  with  shotgun  are  lost.     A  very  large  majority  of  the 
seal  taken  in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  are  cows  with 
pup,  and  the  majority  of  seals  taken  in  Bering  Sea  are  pSuUemaie". '''"'' 
cows  with  milk.  But  a  very  few  yearlings  are  taken,  and 
once  in  a  while  an  old  bull  is  taken.     The  male  seal  taken  are  between 
two  and  four  years  old.     Hunters  use  no  discrimination, 
but  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat.     When  J^ji'ii«'^"D""at6  kin- 
a  seal  has  his  nose  out  of  water  and  you  shoot  him,  he 
will  sink  at  once,  and  if  you  shoot  a  seal  and  he  turns  his  nose  out  of 
the  water,  he  will  sink  immediately  and  is  hard  to  secure  under  those 
conditions.     Have  never  known  any  pups  to  be  born  in     ^^  peia-u-  birth 
the  water  nor  on  the  coast  elsewhere  than  on  the  Prib- 
ilof  Islands.     Have  never  known  any  fur  seal  to  haul    ^o  i^o*  .V'TIt"P  ''^" 

,-       -        ,  T  ,,  "^    ,  j_  j_i       cent  onPfibiloi  Islands 

up  on  the  land  anywhere  on  the  coast  ex('ei)t  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands.     I  have  taken  female  seals  80  miles  oft'  the  Pribilof 
Islands  that  were  full  of  milk.    If  seal  are  not  pro- 
tected in  the  Xorth  Pacific  Ocean  and  given  a  chance 
to  raise  their  young,  they  must  soon  be  exterminated,  for  most  of  the 
seal  killed  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  are  cows  with  pup. 

F.  SanTH. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  3d  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Joshua  SticMand,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Joshua  Stickland,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  in 
Victoria,  British  Columbia ;  I  am  by  occupation  a  seal- 
hunter;  have  been  in  the  business  two  years  on  the     Experience. 
British  schooner. ?7m6rf««.     First  struck  the  seal  oft' 
the  Columbia  Ri^r  about  February  1.    Follo^y  the  seal  up  the  coast 


350  TESTIMONY 

into  Bering  Sea,  which  they  enter  early  in  Jnly.    I  use  the  shotgun  ex- 

^.   ^^.^^  clusively  for  taking  seal.    About  25  per  cent  of  seals 

igra  ion.  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^     Most  of  the  seals  taken  are  females  with 

^Most^v pregnant  fe-  p^p.    Out  of  111  scals  last  year  I  killed  but  3  bulls. 

^^^^  *  ^"'  A  very  few  yearlings  have  been  taken  by  me.    A  few 

male  seal  have  been  taken  by  me  from  2  to  4  years  old.     Hunters  use 

no  discrimination,  but  shoot  everything  in  shape  of  a  seal  that  comes 

near  the  boat.     Have  never  known  or  heard  of  pups 

No  pelagic  birth.      ^^-^g.  ^^^^^  -^^  ^^^^  ^.^^^j.  ^^,  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  auywhcrc  out- 

T»o  not  haul  np  ex-  gide  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.    Have  never  known  of  fur 

cent   on  Pribilof  Is-  i  i         t  j.i       i        i  j.i  j.  ■, 

lauds.  seal  hauling  up  on  the  land  on  the  coast  anywhere  ex- 

XT     •     f.„„i„     cept  on  the  seal  islands.     Have  killed  cow  seals  that 

killed.  were  lull  01  milk  over  40  miles  nom  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

Protection  Froin  May  1  to  September  15  I  tliiiik  seal  ought  to  be 

protected  in  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pacific  Ocean. 

If  not  they  will  soon  be  exterminated. 

Joshua  Stickland. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  1st  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  John  A.  Sicain,  sealer  (boat-puller). 
pelagic  sealing. 

Dominion  of  Canada, 

Victoria,  British  Columbia,  ss: 
John  A.  Swain,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at  Vic- 
Ex  erience  toria,  British  Co]uinl)ia.     I  am  a  seaman  by  occupation 
xperience.  ^^^  ^^  ^^^  years  old.    I  wcut  Sealing  in  May,  1891,  as 
Thiitie,  1891.            boat-puller  in  the  steamer  Thistle,  Kichersou,  master. 
She  carried  seven  boats  and  one  stern  boat,  all  white  crew,  and  three 
aiin  off  coast       ™^^  ^^  ^^d^  boat.     We  began  sealing  off  the  Columbia 
eamgo  coas .       jj,iyei.^  ai,^[  ^iheii  scalcd  uorthward  up  the  coast  to 
Bering  Sea,  and  captured  about  320  seals  in  the  Xorth  Pacific  Ocean, 
.  „       ,     most  all  females,  and  nearly  all  had  young  pups  in 

Jfregnant  females,,  .  ,"  -•^  -,,•-,  ,■'-■, 

taken.  them.     A  great  many  seals  are  lost  in  hunting  them 

by  sinking  before  the  boats  can  get  to  them,  and  a 

Waste  of  life.  great    many  are   badly  wounded    and    escape.     Our 

hunters  used  sliotguns  and  lost  a  great  many;  I  think 

Entered  Bering  Sea.    WC  WOUld    SaVC    tWO    OUt  of   fivC   that  WC    killed.      We 

entered  the  Bering  Sea  in  June  through  Seventy-two 

Pass  and  caught  about  100  seals,  when  we  were  ordered  out  of  the 

^  ,  ,     ,    ,  ,       sea.    They  were  all  females  that  had  given  birth  to 

Only  females  taken.    j.->      •  ^ 

their  young. 

In  February,  1892, 1  again  shipped  in  the  schooner  Geneva,  O'Lery, 

Gmeva  1892  uiastcr;  shc  Carried  seven  boats  and  one  stern  boat, 

and  three  men  to  each  boat;  I  was  boat  steerer.    We 

commenced  sealing  as  soon  as  we  got  outside  of  the  cai)e,  and  captured 

-D         ^  *.     ,      about  270  seals  along  up  the  coast.    Most  of  the  seals 

Pregnant    females  ,  ,  *'  ^     ,•  i  t        i  it 

taken.  caught  wcrc  ])regnant  lemales,  and  when  we  would 

skin  them  the  milk  would  run  out  of  them  on  the  deck. 

Do  not  haul  up  on  1  am  surc  tlicrc  is  no  place  on  the  coast  where  they 

*^****  haul  out  upon  the  land  and  give  birth  to  their  young, 


TAKEN   AT   VICTORIA,    BRITISH    COLUMBIA.  351 

nor  do  they  give  birth  to  their  young  on  the  kelp.     I  do  not  consider 

it  right  to  kill  the  mother  seal  before  she  has  given 

birth  to  her  young  pup;  I  do  not  think  they  should  be  sary-''*^''''""  °^''^^' 

killed  until  six  weeks  after  giving  birth  to  their  young. 

The  hunter  tries  to  shoot  the  seals  in  the  head  or  through  the  heart.     I 

left  the  vessel  at  Clayquot  and  arrived  at  Victoria  on  the  1st  of  April; 

the  vessel  is  out  now. 

John  A.  Swain. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL,.]  Levi  W.  Myers, 

United  Statts  Consul. 


TESTIMONY  TAKEN  IN  THE  STATE  OF  WASHINGTON. 


Deposition  of  A.  B.  Alexander,  fishery  expert  on  the  U.  8.  Fish  Commis- 
sion steamer  Albatross  and  United  States  revenue  steamer  Corwin. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Jefferson,  ss: 

Personally  appears  before  me  A.  B.  Alexander,  who,  being  duly 
sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  37  years  of  age,  a  citi- 

xpeiience.  ^^^^  ^^  Gloucester,  Mass.,  and  have  been  for  six  years 

and  still  am  an  employe  of  the  U.  S.  Fish  Commission  as  a  fishery  ex- 
pert, being  detailed  for  service  on  the  Fish  Commission  steamer  iL/fta- 
tross.  On  ]\larch  29th  I  was  detailed  lor  teraj^orary  service  on  the 
United  States  revenue  steamer  Cor  win,  and  am  still  so  engaged.  Daring 
my  service  on  the  Corwin  I  have  cruised  as  far  north  as  Yakutat  Bay. 
I  have  visited,  with  but  few  exceptions,  all  the  ports  and  native  vil- 
lages from  Dixon's  Entrance  to  and  including  Yakutat  Bay.  I  have 
personally  conversed  with  the  Indians,  owners  of  vessels,  seal  hunters, 
both  native  and  white,  and  others  engaged  in  the  sealing  business.  1 
have  been  in  canoes  and  boats,  and  personally  observed  the  taking  of 
seals  by  all  methods  practiced  on  this  coast,  and  have  thus  souglit  to 
familiarize  myself  in  every  way  with  the  a(piatic  habits  of  the  seal, 
theii-  habitat,  method  of  capture,  and  all  matters  of  interest  connected 
with  the  sealing  industry. 

There  are  two  methods  of  taking  seal  in  the  water  practiced  on  the 
,,  ,,   ,      f  u    ^    northwest  coast;    white  men  employ  firearms  exclu- 

Metnods    of   hunt-       .       ,  i  -i      j^,  ,  •  t     t-  H 

ing.  sively,  whue  the  native  Indums  generally  use  spears. 

^  ,.        „   ,         The  most  expert  of  these  spearmen  are  the  Neah  Bay 

Indian  metlioa.  t     t  -i  i    i         j_  j.i  h       ^i 

Indmns,  and  as  seal  hunters  they  surpass  all  others. 
An  expert  white  hunter,  even  with  the  best  of  firearms,  can  not  com- 
pete with  them,  for  when  he  approaches  a  group  of  sleeping  seals,  all 
in  close  proximity  to  one  another,  he  can  not  expect  to  get  more  than 
one  of  the  number.  The  noise  of  his  gun  will  startle  all  others  within 
a  radius  of  a  quarter  of  a  mile  or  more,  thereby  destroying  all  chance 
of  catching  another  seal  asleep.  It  sometimes  happens,  however,  that 
a  skilled  hunter  will  capture  two  or  three  out  of  a  group,  but  such  cases 
are  exceptions  rather  than  the  rule.  It  is  different  with  an  Indian  hun- 
ter who  uses  a  spear;  he  silently  approaches  the  sleeping  victim  and 
noiselessly  hurls  his  spear  at  it  with  a  deadly  aim,  and  the  only  thing 
heard  is  the  hard  breathing  and  slashing  of  the  seal  as  it  fights  for 
liberty. 

The  sjpear  which  the  ISTeah  Bay  Indians  use  is  double  pronged,  which 

in  tlieir  hands  is  a  formidable  weapon.  The  shaft  is  12 
and^niot^odof°usin^^  fcetlong,  and  made  of  cedar ;  the  prongs  are  hard  wood, 

one  30  and  the  other  18  inches  long,  about  4  inches  apart 
352 


TESTIMONY    TAKEX    IN    THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.        353 

at  the  ends,  and  pointed.  The  i)rongs  and  sliaft  are  scarped  together 
and  hekl  in  place  by  a  serving  of  small  cotton  line.  The  long*  prong 
is  a  continuation  of  the  shaft,  but  the  short  one  projects  off  at  a  slight 
angle.  The  spearheads  are  made  of  bone  and  steel,  with  a  single  barb 
at  the  sides  and  a  socket  in  the  butt,  into  which  the  ends  of  the  prongs 
are  fitted  In  the  middle  of  the  spearhead  is  a  hole,  into  which  is  bent 
a  lanyard  made  of  whale  sinew,  which  is  sewed  with  cotton  twine  to 
prevent  it  from  chafing.  To  the  lanyard  is  fastened  the  spear  rope, 
whicli  in  early  years  was  also  made  of  whale  sinew,  or  other  durable 
material,  but  now  cotton  line  is  used  as  a  substitute,  it  being  much  easier 
procured,  and  answers  the  purpose  equally  as  well.  The  spearheads 
are  held  in  positicm  by  the  spear  rope,  which  is  hauled  taut  and  fastened 
to  a  whalebone  becket  at  the  end  of  the  shaft.  In  throwing  the  spear, 
two  fingers  of  the  right  hand  are  placed  over  a  small  flat  handle,  tlie 
other  hand  acting  as  a  rest  upon  which  the  sx)ear  is  balanced.  Wlien 
the  spear  is  thrown  the  long  prong  is  held  uppermost.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  if  it  should  i^ass  over  the  back  or  head  of  the  seal  the  short 
prong  will  be  sure  to  strike  it.  As  soon  as  a  seal  is  struck  the  sjjear- 
heads  slip  from  the  iHongs  and  the  rope  from  the  becket.  ISTo  notice  is 
taken  of  the  shaft,  as  it  can  be  picked  up  after  the  prize  has  been 
secured. 

As  an  illustration  of  this  method  of  taking  seals,  I  give  in  detail  one 
of  my  experiences:  On  the  afternoon  of  Aj^ril  23d  I  went  out  in  one  of 
our  canoes,  managed  by  two  Keah  Bay  Indians,  father  and  sou.  The 
weather  being  pleasant  and  sea  smooth,  sail  was  set,  and  with  the  as- 
sistance of  paddles  we  made  good  speed  in  a  southwesterly  direction. 
Two  men  usually  go  in  a  canoe;  one  handles  a  spear  and  the  other  a 
steering  paddle.  i!^o  great  importance  is  attached  to  the  man  who 
steers,  as  it  requires  no  special  skill  to  keei^  the  canoe  on  the  course  de- 
sired; birt  to  the  skill  of  tlie  one  who  stands  in  the  bow  and  throws  the 
spear  depends  the  success  of  the  hunt,  and  if  he  should  be  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  miss  several  seals  in  succession  his  dusky  partner  in  the 
stern  thinks  himself  justified  in  using  strong  language.  All  seal- 
hunting  canoes  carry  a  small  sprit-sail  made  of  drilling,  which  can  be 
set  and  taken  in  very  quickly  with  little  or  no  noise.  Oars  and  paddles 
are  both  used;  the  former  when  a  long  passage  is  to  be  made,  the  lat- 
ter when  among  seals.  The  spearman  always  Iceeps  a  lookout  for  seals, 
and  stands  upon  one  of  the  forward  thwarts,  with  one  hand  resting 
against  the  mast  to  stead,y  himself.  In  tliis  position  he  r(mimands  a 
good  view  on  either  side  and  ahead.  It  is  not  to  be  un<lerstood,  how- 
ever, that  the  man  in  the  stern  keeps  no  watch,  fi)r  his  eyes  are  ever  on 
the  alert,  but  his  lower  j)osition  ])revents  him  from  seeing  any  great 
distance.  As  soon  as  a  seal  is  siglited  the  sail  is  taken  in,  rolled  up, 
and  placed  where  it  can  not  make  a  noise  by  thumx>ing  against  the  side 
or  on  the  thwarts.  The  gaff  and  killing  club  are  placetl  in  a  liandy  posi- 
tion, and  the  spear  examined  to  see  if  everything  about  it  is  strong  and 
in  good  working  order.  If  the  seal  is  some  distance  away  both  the  men 
paddle,  but  if  close  by  only  the  hunter  at  the  stern  paddles,  the  direc- 
tion being  indicated  by  a  wave  of  the  hand  from  the  man  in  the  bow. 

Silently  the  sleeper  is  approached,"  all  unconscious  of  its  danger.  If 
the  coveted  i)rize  should  show  signs  of  uneasiness,  no  risk  is  taken,  and 
the  hunter  throws  his  spear  when  within  40  or  50  feet  of  it.  He  seldom 
misses  the  mark  even  at  this  distance,  but  will  always  approach  nearer 
if  possil)le.  At  the  end  of  an  hour  we  saw  our  Hrst  seal  about  a  (|uarter 
of  a  mile  ahead.  The  canoe  was  kept  off  under  its  he,  the  sail  taken 
in,  and  everything  put  in  readiness  for  action.  Cautiously  we  liaddled 
2716— VOL  II 23 


354  TESTIMONY 

towards  the  prey,  care  being  taken  not  to  make  tlie  slightest  noit-e. 
We  had  approached  witliiu  about  40  feet  Avheii  the  seal  began  to  grow 
restless,  as  if  it  was  dreaming  of  danger.  The  linnter  stood  braced,  si^ear 
in  hand,  and  with  trne  aim  he  hurled  it  with  all  his  force  at  the  sleej)- 
Ing  object.  In  an  instant  the  scene  of  repose  Avas  changed  into  one  of 
intense  excitement  and  pain.  A^'ilh  a  jump  tlie  seal  instantly  disap 
peared  below  the  surface,  but  not  to  escape,  for  when  once  a  spear  be- 
comes fastened  to  an  object  it  seldom  pulls  out.  Soon  it  came  up  to 
breathe  and  renew  its  desperate  struggle  for  liberty.  It  stood  in  the  water 
facing  us,  with  its  body  half  exposed  as  if  taking  in  the  situation,  and 
with  a  kind  of  low,  piteous  growl,  as  though  it  realized  its  end  was  near, 
it  renewed  the  contest.  It  fought  madly,  <living,  jumping,  and  swimming 
Avith  great  speed,  first  in  cue  direction  and  then  in  another,  sometimes 
on  one  side  of  the  canoe  and  then  on  the  other,  the  Indian  all  the  time 
holding  on  to  the  sjiear  rope,  trying  to  draw  the  seal  near  the  canoe  so 
as  to  strike  it  on  the  head  with  the  killing  club.  In  its  frantic  efforts  to 
escai)e  it  bit  at  the  line  several  times,  but  soon  abandoned  the  idea  of 
gaining  its  freedom  in  such  a  manner  and  again  resorted  to  jumping 
and  diving.  The  loss  of  blood  soon  caused  it  to  grow  weak,  and  after 
a  fight,  which  lasted  perhaps  five  miuutes,  it  ceased  to  struggle  alto- 
gether, and  was  hauled  to  the  side  of  the  canoe  and  dispatched  with 
the  club. 

In  a  few  minutes  another  seal  was  observed  asleep  a  short  distance 
away;  again  sail  was  taken  in  and  the  same  precautionary  means  used 
as  before.  This  individual  was  approached  within  25  feet,  and  so  good 
a  mark  was  it  that  the  spear  was  driven  nearly  through  the  body.  It 
died  almost  immediately,  and  from  the  time  it  was  struck  until  it  was 
landed  in  the  bottom  of  the  canoe  did  not  occupy  more  than  three 
minutes. 

We  had  not  i)roceeded  far  on  our  course  when  two  seals  were  sighted 
close  together.  They  were  so  near  each  other  that  it  was  impossible 
to  spear  one  without  waking  the  other,  so  the  larger  one  of  the  two  was 
selected.  As  soon  as  it  was  struck,  the  other  awoke,  and  with  a  few 
jumps  was  out  of  danger,  leaving  its  companion  to  perish  alone.  We 
soon  found  that  this  seal  was  going  to  make  a  hard  fight  and  would 
probably  give  us  no  little  trouble.  It  jumped  and  dived  in  quick  suc- 
cession, pulling  at  the  spear  rope  with  sufficient  force  to  move  the 
canoe  about  in  a  lively  manner,  and  on  two  occasions  the  Indian  who 
was  "inlaying"  it  had  to  let  go  of  the  line  altogether  to  save  himself 
from  being  pulled  overboard.  This  kind  oi  work  was  very  severe  on 
the  liandvS,  but  the  Indian  held  on  regardless  of  bleeding  fingers. 
When  the  seal  would  come  to  the  surface  to  breathe  a  little  slack  rope 
would  be  gathered  in,  only  to  be  lost  nnicli  quicker  than  gained.  And 
so  they  fought;  first  the  hunter  and  then  the  seal  would  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  situation,  and,  at  the  end  of  eight  or  ten  minutes,  the 
seal  apparently  was  as  fresh  as  when  first  struck.  It  looked  as  if  the 
fight  might  last  for  a  considerable  length  of  time,  which  of  course  did 
not  suit  the  Indians.  In  order  that  there  should  be  no  mistake  about 
the  result  of  the  fight,  an  old  rifle  was  brought  forth  from  the  bottom 
of  the  canoe.  Watching  his  opi)ortunity  when  the  seal  was  making 
one  of  its  leaps,  the  hunter  in  the  stern  fired.  He  missed  the  mark 
twice,  but  these  failures  did  not  by  any  means  prove  him  to  be  a  poor 
shot,  for  a  person  who  can  hit  a  seal  that  is  juminng  wildly  about  in 
every  direction  at  the  end  of  a  spear  line  is  indeed  a  good  marksman. 
A  third  shot,  however,  took  effect,  and  the  battle  was  decided. 

Close  quarters  evidently  did  not  suit  the  seal,  for  it  showed  its  teeth 


TAKEN    IN   THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  355 

in  a  very  imfriendly  manner,  and  on  one  occasion  set  them  in  the  side 
of  the  canoe.  This  act  was  the  only  false  movement  the  seal  had  made 
since  the  fight  began,  and  it  paid  tlie  i:)enalty  with  its  life;  a  rifle  ball 
was  put  through  its  body  and  a  club  landed  on  its  head  at  the  same 
time.  Upon  examination,  after  being  hauled  into  the  boat,  we  found 
that  the  spear-head  had  passed  through  its  right  flipper,  which  accounted 
for  the  long  fight,  as  it  could  use  its  other  flippers  to  good  advantage. 

Prosperity  has  the  same  effect  upon  Indians  as  upon  white  men,  and 
soon  sail  was  made  and  a  sharp  lookout  kept  for  others.  Two  more 
were  observed  during  the  afternoon,  one  of  which  was  captured  very 
easily.  The  other  was  awake  and  came  up  a  short  distance  away  with 
a  red  rockfish  in  its  mouth.  This  fact  indicates  that  there  are  shallow 
spots  in  this  vicinity  (Lat.  5S^  58'  north ;  Long.  141°  reediu 
7'  west)  where  seals  feed.  Indeed,  it  may  be  one  of  the  '^^'^  '"^  ^°"°  *' 
favorite  feeding  grounds  when  in  northern  waters,  for  it  has  long  been 
reported  that  many  fishing  banks  exist  on  the  Fairweather  grounds. 
This  was  the  last  seal  seen  during  the  day  by  us.  A  fresh  breeze 
sprang  up,  accompanied  by  a  short,  choppy  sea,  and  in  consequence 
we  were  obliged  to  return  to  the  ship,  where  we  arrived  about  6  p.  m. 

In  hunting  seals  the  white  men  use  an  otter  boat  manned  by  three 
men — the  hunter,  boat-puller,  and  steerer.  Tlie  favor- 
ite weapon  is  the  shotgun,  and  rifles  are  but  little  used,  and  ^rea^onl^™''*^"'^ 
The  Xo.  10  Parker  gun  is  preferred,  and  the  usual 
charge  is  5  drams  of  powder  and  twenty-one  INo.  2  buckshot.  The 
seals  are  shot  under  any  conditions  in  which  thjcy  may  be  found,  pro- 
vided they  are  in  range. 

No  discrimination  is  or  can  be  used;  everything  is  game  that  comes 
within  range  of  the  hunter's  weapon.     Prom  their     j^^.  ^^.   . 
habits  in  the  water  the  seals  are  known  as  "jumpers"  ing°  '^*'"™"^'^  ®  ' 
or  "breachers"  when  they  are  moving  through  the  water, 
"rollers"  when  they  are  lying  idle  on  the  surface  and      "Jumpers." 
moved  by  every  wave,  "finners"  when  they  are  resting      ''KoUot^^"'" 
and  "finning"  themselves  with  their  fins,  and  "sleep-      ;;^"i'ier8.''_ 
ers"  when  they  are  asleep  on  the  smooth  water  and  can      "Sleepers." 
be  approached  to  within  close  range. 

In  sleeping,  the  seal's  head  is  to  leeward  and  the  steerer  will  endeavor 
to  work  the  boat  so  as  to  approach  from  that  direction  and  give  the 
hunter  an  opportunity  to  shoot  the  seal  in  the  back  of  the  neck.  When 
so  shot  they  take  longer  to  sink  than  when  shot  in  the  face;  that  is,  if 
a  seal  bobs  up  in  the  water,  its  body  being  in  a  submerged  and  horizontal 
position,  and  if  it  be  instantly  killed  by  the  shot  it  will  at  once  sink. 
It  is  then  that  the  8  or  10  foot  gaff  is  used  to  recover  it.  It  has  been 
my  observati(ui  that  the  rapidity  with  which  seals  sink  is  influenced  by 
several  conditions.  A  pregnant  female  will  sink  less  sii,tiD„.gea]s 
quickly  than  a  male  of  equal  size.  If  a  seal  be  shot  at  ' '"  °^  ^^"^  ^' 
a  time  when  the  air  is  well  exhausted  in  the  lungs  it  will  sink  more 
quickly  than  if  killed  when  the  lungs  are  inflated.  If  a  seal  is  asleep 
and  shot  in  the  back  of  the  head  it  will  float  for  several  minutes,  thus 
enabling  the  hunter  to  secure  it. 

I  have  noticed  that  the  stomachs  of  the  majority  of  seals  captured, 
provided  they  were  young  females  or  immature  males,  were  empty. 
While  the  stomachs  of  the  old  bulls  were  well  filled  as  though  prepar- 
ing themselves  for  the  demand  of  the  breeding  grounds.      ^^^^ 
Their  diet  was  made  up  of  salmon,  red  rockfish,  and 
squid. 


356  TESTIMONY 

The  destructiveness  to  seal  life  by  pelagic  liunting  is  very  great. 
Waste  of  liie  The  majority  of  seals  killed  are  pregnant  females,  so 

that  two  lives  are  often  sacrificed  in  securing  one  skin. 
This  is  true  whether  firearms  or  spears  are  used.  In  addition  to  this, 
the  number  of  skins  marketed  does  not  represent  the  number  actually 
destroyed,  for  many  are  killed  that  are  not  secured,  while  others,  though 
fatally  wounded,  still  possess  strength  enough  to  escape  their  pur- 
suers. 

In  stiidying  aquatic  seal  life  on  the  iSTorthwest  Coast,  there  has  come 

under  my  observation  another  source  of  waste.     That  is,  the  destruc- 

^   ,     ,      ,,  ,,     tiou  of  bulls  that  are  fit  for  service  upon  the  breeding 

Destrnctionof  bulls.  ,  , ,  i  •    i        i  -n-^i  -i      ii        •     •  j_      j_i 

grounds  on  the  seal  islands.  VVhile  the  injury  to  the 
herd  from  killing  these  males  is,  in  general,  not  so  great  as  that  which 
arises  from  the  killing  of  cows,  nevertheless,  the  destroying  of  an  ani- 
mal which  has  required  six  or  seven  years  of  life  to  prepare  it  to  assist 
in  the  perpetuation  of  the  species  is  a  serious  menace  to  the  life  of  the 
herd. 

From  my  general  knowledge  of  natural  history,  from  my  study  of 
the  habits  of  seals,  as  well  as  from  the  opportunities  I  have  had  to  ac- 
quaint myself  witli  the  sources  of  destruction  which  are  at  work,  I 
.  firmly  believe  that  jielagic  sealing  would  not  only  ac- 

count for  the  diminution  of  the  seal  herd,  but  if  contin- 
tinued  the  seals  will  inevitably  be  commercially  destroyed. 

A.  B.  Alexandek. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2Gth  day  of  May,  1892. 
[seal.]  -H.  L.  Burkett, 

Notary  Fuhlic,  Residing  at  Fort  Toicnsend. 


Depositioti  of  Wilton  G.  Bennett,  sealer  {hunter). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Wilton  C.  Bennett,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  was  born 
at  Neah  Bay.     I  am  32  years  old  and  have  been  a  seal- 
Experience,  hunter  all  my  life  in  the  Korth  Pacific  Ocean,  and  one 
season  in  Bearing  Sea,  always  in  the  capacity  of  hunter. 
I  have  first  seen  and  taken  seal  off  Cape  Flattery  in  March;  have  fol- 
lowed the  seal  up  as  far  as  Bartlett  Sound,  which  they 
Migration.              leave  about  June  1;  have  used  a  spear  for  taking  seal 
all  my  life,  but  when  seal  are  wild  sometimes  I  used  a  shotgun.    No  seal 
were  lost  when  struck  -with  spear.     About  40  per  cent  of  seal  shot  with 
shotgun  are  lost  and  more  Avhen  the  ritie  is  used.    Most 

Mostly  cows  taken.    ,^jj    ^j^^    ^^.^j^    ^^^^^  ^^    ^^^    ^^^,^   ^^^^^^    ^^^^^      j   ^j^j^^^^ 

cows  sleep  more  and  are  more  easily  approached.    Never  killed  but 

seven  old  bulls  on  the  coast  of  Washington  in  my  life,  but  have  taken 
a  few  pups  every  year.     The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be 

_^iu(iisoriinii.ate  kill-  ^q|(j  jjj  ^],g  ^atcrf  I  shoot  everything  that  comes  near 
the  boat.     Seal  when  sliot  dead  sink  very  quick,  and 

are  hard  to  secv  re  under  those  conditions.  Seal  are  not  as  plentiful 
on  the  coast  as  they  used  to  be.  They  have  been  de- 
creasing very  fast  the  last  few  years.  I  think  this  is 
Pups  not  born  in  causcd "by  tlic  indiscriminate  killing  in  the  water.    I 

crater  or  on  coast,  ex-  -^  ii.,i 

cept  on  Pribiiof  Is-  havc  iicvcr  kiiown  any  seal  pups  to  be  born  in  the 
^^'^'  water  or  on  the  coast  anywhere,  except  on  the  Pribi- 


TAKEN    IN    THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  357 

lof  Islands.     Have  never  known  seal  to  haul  np  on  Po  not  haul  np  anjr- 

tlie  coast   anywhere  outside  of  tlie  Pribilof  Islaiids.i^;|?7,'i,|^^\*. «"  ^"^i" 

Most  of  tlie  seal  taken  in  Bering  Sea  by  me  were  cows 

with  milk.     Cows  with  milk  liave  been  taken  by  me  miik!^  ^'  "''''" 

100  miles  from  the  Pribilof  Islands.     I  think  that  all     pj.„tg^y^,^ 

pealgic  hunting  should  be  stopped,  so  that  seal  would 

have  a  chance  to  increase. 

Wilton  C.  Bennett. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  26th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  William  Brennan,  sealer  {sailing  master^  boat  steerer). 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  King,  ss  : 

William  Brennan,  being  first  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  37 
years  of  age;  was  born  in  London;  am  by  occupation 
a  seafaring  man;  and  reside  at  Seattle,  in  the  State      Experience. 
of  Washington.     I  have  spent  the   best  years  of  my 
life  in  the  close  study  of  the  denizens  of  the  sea,  including  seals  and  the 
modes  of  capturing  them,  such  as  seafaring  men  bestow  upon  matters 
in  which  they  are  interested  participants.     I  first  went  to  sea  in  No- 
vember,  18()1),  and  have  been  connected  with   shipping  matters  for 
twenty-three  years.     Passing  my  examination  as  second  mate  in  Lon- 
don in  1874,  I  went  to  Australia,  thence  to  China  and  Japan,  remaining 
in  Japan  several  years.      In  April,  1881,  I  went   as      ^^^^^.^  ^^^^ 
sailing  master  of  the  Dutch  schooner  Lottie,  Ans  Oster- 
son,  master,  to  hunt  otters  and  seals  around  the  Kurile  Islands.     We 
arrived  at  Slcotan  about  May,  and  hunted  otters  until  the  middle  of 
September,  then  went  back  to  Skotan  to  fill  up  with  wood  and  water. 
Meeting  two  scliooners  there  an  agreement  was  made 
to  work  together  and  raid  Kobben  Island  for  seals.  The  j.S.  "'^  ^^"^'^'^ 
Lottie  being  old  and  unseaworthy,  it  was  decided  that 
she  should  renuiin  in  x)ort  and  I  should  remain  in  charge  of  her  and 
look  after  all  skins.     The  Lottie' s  captain,  hunters,  and  best  men  of 
her  crew  were  divided  among  the  other  schooners.   They  were  away  about 
six  weeks,  and  came  back  with  a  good  catch. 

We  left  the  IjotMe  on  the  beach,  and  all  arrived  safely  back  in  Japan. 

1  was  nine  months  on  that  voyage. 

In  March,  1882,  I  shipped  Irom  Japan  as  first  mate  in  the  Eussiau 
schooner  iVew/o.     She  was  fitted  out  for  hunter,  fishing,      ^.^^^^  ^g^^ 
and    trading,  and    carried  5  boats,   a  steam  launch, 

2  canoes,  and  32  men  all  told.  We  started  for  the  JsTeva  River  in 
Saghalien.  On  arriving  there  I  went  on  shore  with  an  interpreter, 
and  the  schooner  started  for  Kamchatka.  I  was  to  fish,  or  hire  men  to 
do  so,  prospect  for  minerals  for  two  months  (having  permit  papers  to 
do  so),  and  then  devote  my  time  to  seals  and  their  habits,  with  the  idea 
of  capturing  them.  In  September  I  landed  on  Bobben  Island  with  7 
Russian  soldiers  and  remained  fifteen  or  twenty  days  watching  seals, 
and  waiting  for  the  Memo  to  come,  but  she  never  came.    The  Russians 


358  TESTIMONY 

getting-  tired,  wc  went  back  to  the  liver,  and  I  remained  in  tliat  country 
until  the  next  August,  when  1  fstaited  back  to  Japan,  arriving  there  in 
October. 
In  1884  I  again  went  hunting  from  Yokohama  in  the  German  schooner 

Felix,  Charles  Sternberg,  master.     She  carried  three 
'  30-foot    boats,    0  men    to  each   boat,  5    Japs  and    a 

white  man.  In  September,  while  lying  at  anchor  with  2  other  schoon- 
ers under  Cape  Patience,  we  were  boarded  by  a  Eussian  officer  and 
armed  seamen,  who  came  from  Eobben  Island  in  the  guard  schooner 
Leon,  and  all  of  our  guns  were  taken  from  us  and  we  were  warned  off. 

We  went  away,  but  came  back  in  three  weeks  and 
^  ErtiaonKobbenis-  found  the  mau-of-wax  guarding  the  island.     Dodging 

around,  we  waited  until  slie  had  gone,  and  the  next 
night  made  a  landing  and  a  haul  of  over  500  good  marketable  skins. 

The  next  morning,  being  a  few  miles  from  the  island,  we  sighted  the 
man-of-war  bearing  down  towards  the  island.  We  made  all  sail  and 
got  out  of  sight  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  returned  to  Yokohama  in 
November.  Having  heard  of  seals  being  shot  in  the  water  on  the 
Pacific  side,  I  came  over  to  test  the  matter.     In  188G  I  left  Seattle  on 

board  the  schooner  ChaUenqe,  Douglas,  master,  to  hunt 
chaiunge,  1866.        ^^^^^_^  ^^  ^^^^^  Flattery,  our" headquarters  being  Clalam 

Bay,  carrying  12  or  15  Indians  witb  canoes,  and  re- 
Catch   on   Pacific  maiued  Sealing  until  the  end  of  May,  when  I  came 
*'"''^*-  back  to  Seattle,  the  charter  being  up,     On  that  voy- 

age we  captured  about  300  fur-seals. 

In  1887  I  went  back  to  Japan.    I  left  Yokohama  on  the  English 

schooner  Ada,  Van   Pelt,  master,    and    brought  her 

Ada,  1887.  across  to  Victoria,  British  Columbia.     We  arrived  in 

May  and  sailed  in  June  with  an  Indian  crew,  making  a  six  weeks' 

cruise  oft'  the  Vancouver  coast,  and  capturing  about  300  seals.     Upon 

returning  to  Victoria,  I  left  the  vessel  and  went  to  Alaska. 

In  1889  I  went   as    boat-steerer  on  the  schooner 

Tema,  1889.  Tevesa,  of  Victoria,  Lawrence,  master,  and  put   the 

season  in  at  sealing. 

I  have  since  followed  the  sea  as  sailing  captain,  pilot,  and  quarter- 

•master  on  vessels   sailing    out  of   Victoria,   British 

'^^'^^^^-  Columbia.     In  my  opinion,  fur  seals  born  on  the  Cop- 

seais^  retnrn  to  pgj.^  Bering,  or  Kobbiu  islands  will  naturally  return  to 

^  **^^  **    "    ■  the  rookery  at  which  they  were  born.     The  same  thing 

is  true  of  those  born  on  the  St.  Paul  or    St.  George 

No  seals  over  mot  islauds.    No  vesscl,  to  my  knowledge,  has  ever  met  a 

in  midoceaii.  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^,^^^  -^  i^iaoceau  iu  the  Xorth  Pacific.     I 

have  crossed  said  waters  on  three  different  occasions,  and  each  time 

kept  a  close  lookout  for  them.    The  greater  part  of 

Birthplace  of  seals  ^|  ^  gg^]j,  ^^r^^  y^y^,  j-^^j^j  jjj  ^^^  Nortli  Pacific  Occau  are 

seen  in^orth  raciuc.    ,  ,,         .,         i.-r-.-  c~,  -ir^r-j-i 

born  on  the  islands  m  Bering  Sea.     Most  ot  them 
leave  there  in  October  and  Is'ovember.     If  the  weather  is  mild,  they 
stay  longer,  but  when  the  snow  falls  they  leave  the  rookery  and  take 
to  the  water.     Here  they  swim  around  for  some  days,  and  if  it  grows 
.  milder  and  the  snow  melts  a  great  many  will  haul  up 

Migration.  agaiii,  but  if  the  weather  remains  very  cold  all  leave 

and  start  for  the  south. 

The  breeding  cows  and  full-grown  bulls  leave  first,  the  old  bulls  per- 
haps a  month  or  more  before  the  young  males  and  cows.  They  travel 
along  the  coast,  following  the  Japan  stream  on  both  sides  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  those  fiom  the  Pribilof  Islands  on  this  side,  and  those  from  the 


TAKEN    IN    THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  359 

Commander  Island  ou  tlie  Asiatic  side.  On  the  American  side,  some 
of  tliem  travel  as  far  south  as  Lower  California,  and  on  the  Asiatic  side 
as  far  south  as  Japan  and  perhai)s  farther.  On  the  American  coast 
they  are  found  as  early  as  January  olt'  southern  Cal- 
ifornia, in  limited  numbers,  and  are  more  i^lentiful  ifo1;uia*^^a8tf  "^ '^'^^" 
further  north  later  in  the  season.  They  gradually  work 
towards  the  north,  and  about  March  are  "bunching"  oft  Grays  Harbor 
and  the  Columbia  Eiver,  and  are  found  in  large  numbers  a  little  later 
about  Cape  Flattery  and  Vancouver  Island.  They  are  found  close  in- 
shore to  40  or  50  miles  off.  After  June  very  few  remain  along  the 
coast.  A  few  stragglers  may  be  seen  abcuit  that  time ;  the  most  of  them 
start  in  earnest  for  the  rookeries  about  that  time,  in  the  Bering  Sea. 
The  cows  are  at  this  time  heavy  with  young,  and  are  slow  and  sluggisli. 

In  May,  the  bull  seals  commence  to  haul  up  on  the  rookeries,  and  the 
cows  come  three  or  four  weeks  later.     The  bulls  choose 
such  ground  as  they  mean  to  hold  through  the  summer,  coisT"^^"^  ^"^'^  "^"'^ 
fight  savagely,  and  the  strongest  wins.     Each  has  his 
own  family,  and  should  a  stranger  approach  there  is  war.     On  the  rook- 
eries one  may  see  all  classes  of  seals  apart  from  each 
other,  the  bulls  and  breeding  cows  in  one  place  and  rookeriea"  °^ ^'"'^^^  "" 
the  young  in  another.     The  pups  are  born  on  the  rook- 
eries, and  remain  with  their  mothers,  li\ang  wholly  upon  their  mother's 
milk  until  they  can  go  into  the  sea  and  care  for  them-      g^^^^  feedin^^ 
selves.    There  is  nothing  on  the  beach  for  the  old  ones 
to  eat,  and  they  go  several  miles  from  the  rookeries  out  to  sea  to 
obtain  food.     When  the  pups  are  born  they  can  not 
swim  and  the  mothers  take  them  to  the  water's  edge,   .^P^ps  and  their hab- 
where  one  can  see  thousands  paddlin g  and  strugglii \ g  in 
the  surf.    The  noise  made  by  the  mothers  crying  for  their  pups,  and  the 
bleating  of  the  pups  in  answer,  make  aconstant  roar.     The  cow  is  3  years 
old  before  she  bears  young.    Tbe  pups  are  about  45  days  old  before  they 
can  go  into  the  water,  but  they  nurse  the  mother  as  long  as  they  stay 
on  the  island.     They  are  called  "  black  "  and  "  gray"  pups;  black  be- 
fore they  shed  their  first  coat  and  gray  afterwards.     As  they  grow 
older  the  gray  turns  darker,  except  upon  the  neck  and  head;  but  tha 
color  of  the  hair  does  not  affect  the  fur,  which  can  be  seen  by  iDarting 
it.    The  thickness  and  length  of  the  fur  determines 
the  value  of  the  skin.    They  Uve  on  fish  and  seaweed,     ^'""^  °^  ''^''• 
and  if  they  are  driven  or  hunted  too  hard  on  the  islands  are  liable  to 
migrate  to  some  other  i)lace.     If  they  are  managed  right  they  may  be 
driven  like  sheep  along  the  beaclies.    They  do  not  run  fast  on  shore, 
unless  alarmed,  when  they  give  a  man  a  good  race  to  catch  them. 

The  ijeople  on  the  islands  pick  out  the  young  males  for  killing.     One 
blow  over  the  nose  crushes  the  skull  and  kills  them.      ^.^j. 
They  are  then  skinned  and  the  bodies  are  left  ou  the        '  "'^' 
field  or  eaten  by  the  luiti  ves.     Seal  meat  is  very  good  eating,  but  rather 
dry,  as  the  fat  must  be  all  cut  away  to  make  it  eatable.    The  seals  are 
found  on  St.  Paul  and  St.  George,  and  on  Bering  and 
Copper  islands  in  Bering  Sea.     They  are  also  in  small  fouId^^'nCi'.^'  "" 
numbers  on  Robbin  Island  in  the  Okhotsk  Sea.     Sev- 
eral years  ago  tbey  were  plentiful  off  Cape  Horn,  and  about  twenty- 
five  years  back  I  saw  some  near  Cape  Good  Hope,  and  also  off  ^ew 
Zealand;  but  whether  they  are  to  be  found  there  now  I  do  not  know. 
The  best  skins  come  from  Bering  Sea,  and  the  farther  north  the  better 
the  skins.     When  the  seals  are  asleej)  on  the  water  ^j^  ^ 

they  lie  on  their  backs  with  the  fore  flippers  sticking  *  *  eepmg. 


3  GO  TESTIMONY 

up  and  held  close  to  tlie  liead.  Tliey  always  lay  with  the  head  toward 
the  wind,  the  flippers  being  sjncad  out  and  acting  as  sails  to  keep  them 
steady  in  the  water,  making  it  liard  for  a  boat  to  approach  them  when 
they  are  awake,  because  the  noise  of  the  oars  is  carried  to  them.  If  a 
boat  comes  upon  them  from  the  windward  they  will  take  the  scent  and 
dive,  and  if  from  leeward,  they  readily  see  it,  and  do  the  same. 

On  the  United  States  Pacific  coast  and  Vancouver's  Island,  in  fine 
weather,  they  are  found,  as  I  have  said,  40  or  50  miles 
w^er^^*^  '^"""'^ '"  ^'"'  offshore ;  but  during  bad  weather  they  approach  nearer 
the  coast.  On  the  Japan  coast,  about  JSTovember  or 
earlier,  depending  on  the  weather,  they  are  seen  in  great  numbers  among 
the  islands  off  the  Nemoro  group,  and  I  have  also  seen  several  off'  In- 
neboi-Saki,  but  do  not  know  whether  they  are  to  be  found  off'  that  coast 
in  the  spring  or  not.  Steamers  and  schooners  going  north  keep  close 
inshore,  and  in  returning  too  far  off"  to  see  seals,  provided  they  travel 
that  coast,  as  T  believe  they  do,  many  having  been  shot  off  the  Kurile 
Islands  in  the  si)ring  and  summer  months. 

Seven  or  eight  years  ago,  when  seals  were  hunted  almost  wholly  by 
Indians  with  "spears,  a  vessel  hunting  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Flattery 
was  sure  of  getting  several  hundred  skins  in  about  three  months,  from 
March  to  the  end  of  May,  but  at  the  present  time  a  vessel  is  doing  well 
if  she  gets  a  much  smaller  number,  because  the  skins  bring  nmch 
higher  prices.   The  records  of  "  catches"  in  the  last  three 

Decrease.  ^^  ^.^^^^,  ycars  will  couflmi  any  person  who  examines  tliem 

in  the  belief  that  the  seals  are  decreasing  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  on  the 
American  side.  I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  is  the  same  on  the 
Eussian  side.  At  present  they  are  hunted  vigorously,  and  with  better 
methods  than  formerly.  The  hunters  have  had  more  experience  and 
understand  their  habits  better,  but  notwithstanding  this  the  catches 
are  decreasing  off  the  coast.  If  a  vessel  hunts  seals  from  January  to 
May  along  the  coast  and  pays  expenses  it  does  well  at  the  present 
time,  and  very  few  do  it.     Nearly  all  would  lose  money 

Sealing  in  the  Pa-  jf  the  hunting  was  couflncd  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  but 

cific  does  not  pay.  ,,  ,  -.^.it^-  c-i  j_i  i  j.ii 

they  depend  on  the  Bering  Sea  catch,  where  the  seals 

are  more  plentiful  and  occupy  a  more  limited  space  as  a  feeding  ground. 

It  is  not  easy  to  tell  a  bull  seal  from  a  cow,  or  either  from  a  year-old 

pup,  when  they  are  in  the  water,  and  the  hunters  must 

Waste  of  life.  ^j^^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^,^1^   ^1^^^  ^^^^      jf  ^^^^  g^^  ^j^^^^  ^j^^y 

are  fortunate,  for  at  the  best  many  are  lost.  Some  hunters  rarely  miss 
a  seal  they  fire  at,  but  many  are  wounded,  and  a  seal  with  a  charge  of 
bullets  and  buckshot  in  him  must  be  in  very  vigorous  health  to  recover. 
Some  hunters  never  miss  a  seal  during  the  season,  but  if  others  get  one 
out  of  four  they  wound  they  are  doing  well. 

The  work  of  seal  hunting  is  carried  on  about  as  follows :  The  hunter  and 
boat's  crew  leave  the  vessel  at  daylight,  usually  carry- 
Peiagic  sealing,  j^g.  one  rifle  and  a  shotgun,  though  some  of  them  have 
two  shotguns  with  about  fifty  rounds  of  ammunition 
for  each  gun.     If  a  breeze  is  blowing  they  go  under  sail,  or,  if  it  is 
calm,  the  boat  is  rowed.     The  hunter  has  charge  of  the  boat,  no  mat- 
ter if  he  is  not  an  expert  boatman. 

If  a  sleeping  seal  is  seen,  the  boat  is  run  within  about  100  yards  of 

it,  and  the  sail  and  mast  are  lowered  witli  the  least 

.  eepingse.  s.         possible  iioisc,  as  the  seals  are  easily  awakened.     The 

boat  steerer  cautiously  paddles  toward  him,  being  careful  to  keep  to 

the  leeward,  and  with  ordiiuiry  care  the  boat  can  come  within  a  few 

feet  of  him  before  he  is  aware  ol'  it;  then,  if  the  hunter  is  cool,  the  seal 


TAKEN    IN    THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  361 

is  sure  to  be  captured.  Should  the  seal  be  only  wounded,  he  will  dive, 
unless  hit  in  the  flipper  or  nose.  If  he  is  not  killed  so  dead  as  to  be 
unable  to  dive,  ten  to  one  he  will  get  away,  for  it  is  uncertain  where 
he  will  come  uj),  and  the  boat  may  be  a  long-  way  from  him  when  he 
reappears.  In  such  case  the  boat  usually  remains  still,  with  boat  puller 
and  steerer  standing  ready  to  follow  him  as  soon  as  he  is  seen;  but  he 
very  often  rises  out  of  range  and  gets  away.  An  experienced  hunter 
and  boat's  crew  will  get  at  least  seventy-five  per  cent  of  "sleepers"  and 
perhaps  more ;  but  the  sleepers  form  but  a  small  part  of  the  seals  hunted. 
The  noise  of  firearms  will  awaken  every  seal  within  the  distance  of  half 
a  mile,  and  put  it  on  the  alert.  The  boats  stay  out  until  dark,  if  the 
weather  is  fine,  and  the  five  or  six  usually  carried  by  a  sealing  vessel 
cover  an  area  of  five  or  ten  miles  on  either  side. 

If  the  seal  is  "finning"  the  hunter  will  probably  si)eud  ten   or  a 
dozen  rounds  of  ammunition,  provided  he  wounds  it      ,        .  ^„  .  ,, 
with  his  first  shot  before  he  takes  it  in,  which  he  often  °^ 

fails  to  do.    If  it  is  "breaching" — that  is,  jumping  clear      .  „ 

of  the  water — the  liunter  will  most  likely  try  a  rifle-shot         ^^^^  ^^^ 
at  it,  as  there  is  a  bare  chance  that  he  may  hit  it.     If  he  wounds  it  and  it 
escapes  it  is  all  the  same  to  bim,  except  that  he  has  one  less  skin. 

To  be  a  good  hunter  a  man  must  be  a  crack  shot  on  the  start,  and 
then  it  will  take  him  at  least  two  seasons  to  learn  the 
motions  of  the  seal,  so  as  to  be  considered  an  expert,  tirasof?^'  quaiifica- 
He  must  understand  how  to  approach  the  seals  under 
all  circumstances  so  as  not  to  arouse  them,  and  must  also  have  a  good 
boat  steerer,  as  a  great  deal  depends  on  him.  Perfect  quiet  must  be 
kept  in  the  boat,  or  the  seal  will  be  awakened;  and  the  boat  steerer 
must  understand  the  seal's  habits  as  well  as  the  hunter,  in  order  tc» 
know  where  to  head  his  boat  and  where  to  keep  her.  A  crew  new  to 
the  business  sometimes  makes  a  good  catch,  but  it  is  generally  at  the 
expense  of  a  large  proportion  of  seals  that  are  killed  and  lost,  or 
wounded  and  escape.  The  vessels  engaged  in  the  seaiin? fleet:  sizec- 
sealing  business  range  from  15  to  150  tons  burden,  or  vesels  aud  equipmem 
more,  large  vessels  being  in  favor  because  they  can  *''''''®°^- 
carry  more  boats,  with  less  expense  in  proportion  to  size,  than  the 
small  ones. 

The  i)rincipal  ports  from  which  sealing  vessels  sail  are  Victoria, 
Britisli  Columbia,  San  Francisco,  Cal.,Port  Townseud, 
Wash,,  and  Yokohama,  Japan.  The  fleet  from  Vic-  ^^f  •'™*'  p°^'^^  °^  ^'''®" 
toria  comprises  sixty  vessels  or  more,  and  one  will 
travel  the  world  over  without  finding  better  or  faster  schooners  than 
some  of  them  are.  ISText  to  Victoria  in  numbers  comes  San  Francisco, 
all  under  the  American  flag.  Yokohama  formerly  sent  out  twelve  or 
thirteen  vessels  under  different  flags.  I  have  seen  vessels  operating 
from  that  port  flying  the  Dutch,  German,  French,  Russian,  Americaii, 
Englisli,  and  Japanese  flags,  engaged  at  otter  and  seal  hunting.  About 
seven  or  eight  vessels  are  from  Paget  Scmnd.  The  Victoria  and  Piiget 
Sound  fleet  attends  only  to  sealing,  while  the  vessels  from  San  J'rau- 
cisco  and  Yokohama  engage  in  otter-hunting  and  sealing  combined.  The 
vessels  carry  from  one  to  sevenboats  each,  and  each  boat  except  the  one 
carried  at  the  stern  is  manned  by  three  men.  In  going  upon  the  hunt 
the  hunter  stands  forward,  the  boat  puller  sits  in  the  center  of  the  boat, 
and  the  boat  steerer  in  the  stern.  The  boats  are  from  18  to  20  feet 
long  and  carry  usually  two  pairs  of  oars,  three  or  more  paddles,  a  short 
seal-club  to  kill  the  seal  with  (if  he  is  a  live  when  they  get  him  along- 
side), a  gaff  with  a  long,  staff  to  hook  him  up  if  he  sinks,  a  fog  horn,  a 


3G2  TESTIMONY 

compass,  an  iimimiuitioii  box  for  the  hunter,  a  water-beaker,  a  box  for 
food,  a  small  sprit  sail  and  mast,  and  at  least  one  sbotguu. 

Vessels  that  are  manned  by  Indians  do  not  carry  hunting  boats  as  a 
rule.  The  Indians  furnish  their  own  canoes  and  spears,  and  often  a 
shotgun  or  ritle,  or  both.  A  vessel,  say,  of  70  tons,  will  carry  six  boats, 
five  of  them  hunting  boats,  and  one  at  the  stern.  The  owner  furnishes 
guns,  ammunition,  boats,  food,  etc.,  and  engages  the  cai)tain  and  hunt- 
ers. The  captain  employs  the  boat  pullers,  steerers,  and  the  crew, 
though  in  some  cases  the  hunters  engage  their  own  pullers  and  steerers. 
A  vessel  of  this  size  would  carry  twenty-one  men,  all  told,  including  a 
captain,  mate,  cook,  five  hunters,  nine  men  for  the  boats,  one  spare  man, 
and  a  boy.  The  master's  wages  range  from  $75  to  $100 
^°'^^'  per  month ;  but  some  of  them  get  wages  only,  while 

others  have  wages  and  a  "lay,"  that  is,  a  share  of  the  profits.  Good 
hunters  get  from  83  to  .So..")!)  per  skin  for  every  one  they  bring  on  board; 
but  each  hunter  has  his  price  and  makes  terms  with  the  owner,  which 
he  keeps  to  himself.  The  crew  receive  $30  j)er  month,  and  have  some- 
times a  private  agreement  with  the  hunter  to  10  to  25  cents  additional 
out  of  his  own  pocket  for  each  skin  brought  on  board ;  for,  as  I  have 
said,  much  depends  upon  the  steerer,  and  each  has  his  favorite.  The 
mate  gets  from  $15  to  $50  per  month,  the  use  of  the  stern  boat,  and  $1 
for  every  skin  he  brings  on  board.  The  cook  receives  from  $50  to  $80 
per  month,  according  to  the  number  of  men  he  cooks  for. 

The  first  vessels  leave  about  January,  and  from  then 
giuIaucirontei"taken!  ^"1^11  March  they  are  becoming  fewer  in  port  every  day. 
They  go  to  some  of  the  bays  and  inlets  upon  Vancou- 
ver's Island,  off  Cape  Flattery,  or  down  along  the  California  coast.  Many 
hunt  in  a  circuit  from  Cape  Flattery  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
River  on  the  south,  and  to  the  north  end  of  Vancouver's  Island  on  the 
north,  as  the  head  hunter  or  captain  may  determine.  Some  think,  by 
going  south  and  following  the  seals  up  as  they  move  northward  they 
will  catch  more;  while  others  believe  they  can  do  better  by  staying 
^  ^  close  to  Cape  Flattery.     Those  vessels  which  carry  In- 

dian hunters  go  to  the  Indian  villages,  and  some  of 
them  take  as  many  as  fifteen  canoes  if  they  can  get  tliem.  Of  late 
yerrs  the  Indians  are  learning  the  prices  of  skins,  and  claim  more  than 
the  owners  can  aftbrd  to  pay.  They  always  want  to  ship  on  a  first-class 
schooner,  unless  they  own  it,  when  any  rattletrap  will  do.  When 
they  start  for  Bering  Sea  they  usually  leave  a  part  of  their  canoes 
behind,  taking  about  one-third  less  than  they  used  in  the  spring  catcli. 
The  vessels  furnish  them  fiour,  biscuits,  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  and  a  little 
meat,  when  they  cannot  get  fresh  seal  meat.  They  have  two  men  to 
each  canoe.  The  head  man  of  the  canoe  receives  the  money  and  pays 
his  assistant.  Each  canoe  is  usually  provided  with  a  couple  of  steerers, 
and  either  a  shotgun  or  rifle.  The  nmst  skillful  hunter  among  Indians 
on  board  is  called  "captain,"  and  it  is  his  duty  to  tell  his  men  when 
and  where  to  lower  their  canoes  for  hunting,  and  to  transact  all  business 
between  them  and  the  captain  of  the  vessel.  Seven  or  eight  years  ago 
the  Iiulians  were  paid  by  the  length  of  the  skin,  but  now  they  are  paid 
by  its  grade. 

In  tine  weather  the  boats  leave  the  vessel  at  daylight  and  hunt  until 
dark,  taking  about  one  day's  provisions  with  them;  and  should  they 
get  lost  in  a  fog  they  have  a  hard  time  until  they  are  picked  up  by 
some  vessel.  When  the  boats  (jome  alongside  the  vessel,  at  night,  the 
skins  are  counted  on  deck  for  eacli  boat;  the  mate  takes  charge  of 
them  and  salts  them  down  in  the  hold,  and  the  crew  of  each  boat  gets 


TAKEN    IX    THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  363 

credit  for  tlie  skins  it  captured.  The  work  continues  until  tlie  spring' 
season  is  finished,  when  some  go  to  Victoria  to  refit,  and  others  in  Ban- 
dy Sound,  and  send  their  skins  to  Victoria  by  steamer,  with  ordfers  for 
supplies  to  be  sent  to  them  when  the  steamer  returns.  Others  go  on 
without  coming  into  port  to  Sand  Point,  or  some  other  place  on  the 
coast,  where  there  is  a  store,  and  take  supplies  before  entering  Bering- 
Sea.  They  do  not  like  to  go  into  Victoria,  because  they  usually  have 
trouble  with  their  crews.  The  work  is  hard  and  daugerous.  The  pay 
is  small,  and  many  run  away  when  they  get  a  chance.  There  are  very 
few  sailors  among  the  crews,  the  most  of  them  being  green  hands.  Of 
course  each  vessel  carries  two  or  three  sailors  in  case  anything  hap- 
pens to  the  rigging  or  sails. 

When  they  arrive  in  Bering  Sea  later  in  the  season,  they  start  in  to 
work  in  earnest.    The  water  is  full  of  them  and  you 
can  hear  them  firing  all  around.     The  vessels  enter  the  ^^^^^^  ^°^'  *™*''*^ 
sea  about  July,  but  get  the  most  of  the  seals  in  August  '  , 

or  early  Se])tember,  when  the  weather  gets  bad^  but  they  usually  have 
a  good  catch  by  that  time,  if  not  interfered  with.  When  the  hunting- 
is  finished  they  return  to  the  home  port,  the  crew  is  paid  off,  the  ves- 
sel is  laid  up.  and  the  owner  takes  charge  of  the  skins  and  either  sells 
them  in  the  home  port  or  ships  them  to  London. 

As  I  have  said  before,  the  pups  are  not  able  to  take  care  of  themselves 
until  they  are  several  weeks  old,  and  the  cows  must  go  off  into  the 
water  to  get  food  for  themselves.     It  stands  to  reason 
that  if  the  mothers   are  killed  while  away  from  the  ^hUeTiun-!''^^*''^ 
island,  and  the  pups  are  left  there  alone,  they  will 
surely  die;  and  it  is  a  fact  that  many  mothers  are  killed  in  Bering  Sea. 
If  no  seals  were  killed  between  the  1st  day  of  April 
and  the  1st  day  of  September  they  would  increase;   cw^eason''"'' ^^  '^ 
but  it  would  take  international  agreement  to  make  kill- 
ing of  seals  an  offense  during  this  season.     It  is  not  alone  in  Bering- 
Sea  that  the  pups  and  cows  are  destroved.     Keep  all     ^    ,     ■      f 
vessels  out  of  these- waters,  and  let  the  same  number  Berinij   sea    not 
of  vessels  as  are  now  afloat  hunt  seals  in  the  North  "^"^oagii. 
Pacific,  and  in  a  few  years  there  will  be  nrme  in  Bering  Sea.     If  the 
present  number  of  vessels  engaged  in  sealing  is  permitted  to  continue 
in  the  business  from  two  to  five  years  longer  I  think  the  seals  will  be 
exterminated  or  nearly  so.      I  am  certain  the  seals  are  doomed    to 
extinction  unless  some  immediate  action  is  taken  to  protect  them  from 
the  slaugliter  that  is  now  going  on.     The  sealers  care 
nothing  about  preserving  the  seals,  and  say  that  the  uincs^protecteT^'"'" 
smaller  the  catch  is  the  more  valuable  the  skins  will 
become  in  the  market,  and  the  higher  tlie  prices  paid  for  them.     In  their 
whole  conduct  of  the  business  they  are  controlled  by  the  desire  to  kill 
as  many  as  i^ossible  in  order  that  they  may  enhance  tlie  value  of  fnture 
catches. 

William  Brennan. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  Sth  day  of  Jnne,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  I).  A.  McKenzie, 

Notary  Fublic. 


364  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  James  Dalgarduo,  sealer  {master). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

James  Dalgarduo,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  a  na- 
tive of  Scotland  and  am  58  years  of  age;  have  resided 
Experience.  in  the  United  States  forty-five  years,  and  have  been  a 

naturalized  citizen  forty  years;  I  am  a  resident  of  Port 
Townsend  and  have  resided  in  this  vicinity  for  the  past  forty  years, 
during  which  period  I  followed  the  business  of  lishiTig  and  piloting. 
I  have  been  in  the  seal-hunting  schooners  for  a  period  of  eight  years, 
either  as  master  or  owner  of  the  schooner,  and  I  hunted  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Cape  Flattery,  say  30  miles  oft'  the  cai)e  in  each  direction. 
The  first  six  years  I  employed  Indian  hunters  from  Cape  Flattery  and 
they  used  spears  exclusively,  as  the  opinion  then  was  that  the  sound 
of  fireaj?ms  would  tend  to  drive  off  the  seals  as  well  as  waken  the  sleep- 
ing ones,  thus  making  it  more  difficult  to  secure  them. 

During  two  of  the  eight  years  I  employed  mixed  crews,  some  In- 
dians and  some  whites;  some  nsing  riiies  and  some  using  spears.    The 
catch  was  in  round  numbers  from  l.oOO  to  3,000  skins  per  year,  these 
figures  representing  the  lowest  and  the  highest  numbers  ever  taken  by 
me  in  any  one  year.     From  75  per  cent  to  80  per  cent 
m^et^^  ^^^^'^^^^^'^    of  all  the  seals  taken  were  mothers  in  young,  and  when 
cut  open  on  deck  we  found  the  young  within  them.     It 
is  my  experience  that  very  iew,  if  any,  seals  were  lost  by  the  hunters 
Waste  of  life  ^^^^^  uscd  the  spcar,  but  fully  75  per  cent  of  all  those 

killed  by  the  rifle  were  lost.     I  have  cruised  up  and 
down  the  coast  of  Vancouver  Island,  but  never  found  a  place  where 
fur-seals  hauled  out  upon  shore,  nor  have  I  ever  heard 
PrSf  isundf.^  °"   of  any  fur-seal  rookeries  in  the  Northern  Hemisphere, 
except  those  in  Bering  Sea.    I  have  never  seen  seals 
oSfe*'  ^''*''  ™"  ^^^'^  "^  ^^^^  water  or  on  beds  of  kelp,  nor  do  I  believe 
^°^^'     '  a  young  pup  could  live  if  brought  forth  at  sea.     It  was 

while  the  seals  were  asleep  on  the  water,  as  a  rule,  that  the  Indian 
hunters  succeeded  in  caj)tuving  them  with  the  spear, 
g  Success  with  tiie  .^^^^^  ^]^j^  j^  ^^^  rcasou  they  lost  but  very  few  of  what 
^^^"^'  they  killed.     Were  I  engaged  at  present  in  sealing  I 

should  prefer  the  spear  to  the  rifle  or  shotgun,  and  I  believe  its  use  is 
not  near  so  destructive  to  seal  life. 

James  Dalgarduo. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2d  day  of  May,  1892. 

Joseph  Mureat, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition    of  Thomas  Frazer,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Thomas  Frazer,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native 

of  England,  and  am  50  years  old;  have  been  seventeen 

Experience.  ycars  iu  thc  United  States,  of  which  I  am  a  citizen.    I 

am  a  resident  of  Port  Townsend,  and  have  resided  in 

this  vicinity  during  the  x^ast  seventeen  years.     My  occupation  is  that 


TAKEN    IN   THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  365 

of  seaman,  and  I  have  hunted  seals  ofl"  Cape  Flatteiy  for  sixteen  years. 
In  1891  I  was  a  hunter  on  board  the  James  G.  Swan, 
of  Port  Townsend,  and  we  went  along  the  coast  and  jg^"'"**    ^-  '^''-'"'• 
Aleutian  Chain   to  the  island  of  Seiiack.     We  left 
iN'eeah  Bay  about  May  13,  and  commenced  sealing  along  the  coast  of 
Vancouver,  and  we  finished  off  Four  Mountain  Pass.     We  made  a  catch 
of  128  skins.    The  U.  S.  steamer  Thetis  spoke  us  on  July  3,  and  our 
captain,  Thomas  Powers,  said  we  had  218  skins;  but  at  that  time  we 
had  only  118  skins  aboard ;  we  took  the  otliers  after 
being  warned  by  the  Thetis.    We  had  seven  boats,  but  ti/"™^*^^^"  *^'  ^'''' 
we  had  only  four  white  hunters;  ten  hunters  were  na- 
tives from  i^eeah  Bay  and  Vancouver. 

We  used  both  shotguns  and  spears,  as  occasion  required.  When  we 
see  plenty  of  seals  in  sight  we  use  the  sj^ear,  and  when  we  see  only  one 
or  two  we  use  the  shotgun.  Off  Cape  Flattery  there  is  hardly  a  dozen 
large  males  taken  out  of  every  thousand  large  seals  whose  skins  are 
called  first  class;  all  the  males  taken  here  are  small  ones.  There  is  no 
way  by  which  hunters  can  distinguisli  sex  while  the  seals  are  in  the 
water,  nor  do  we  aim  to  do  so;  the  killing  is  always 
done  in  an  indiscriminate  way.  .^indiscriminate  kiii- 

The  seals  are  not  so  numerous  off  Cape  Flattery  as     ^ 
they  used  to  be  some  years  ago,  and  it  is  my  opinion  it        ecrease. 
is  owing  to  the  constant  hunting  by  so  many  schooners.     I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  in  order  to  save  the  seal  from  extermina- 
tion all  pelagic  hunting  in  Bering  Sea  should  be  pro-  esfi'^^'''*^""  ^^^^^' 
hibited. 

Thomas  Feazee. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2d  day  of  May,  1892.  • 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Chad  George,  scaler. 

PELAGIC  SEALING. 

Chad  George,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:   T  was  born  at 
Iifeah  Bay,  and  have  lived  there  all  my  life;  am  27 
years  old ;  have  been  a  seal  hunter  ever  since  I  was  a     Experience. 
small  boy.   Have  spent  three  seasons  in  Bering  Sea.   For 
the  last  eight  years  I  have  been  engaged  as  hunter.    Spent  the  tliree  sea- 
sons in  Bering  Sea  on  the  schooners  Alfred  Adams  and      \ifred  Adams 
Lottie.     We  first  find  the  seal  oft'  Cape  Flattery  in  Jan-      Lottie. 
nary.     I  followed  the  seal  up  the  coast  into  Bering  Sea,        ^  ^ 
where  we  arrived  the  last  of  June.     Have  always        '""  '""' 
used  spear  for  taking  seal,  and  but  very  few  are  lost.    Most  all  the  seals 
taken  by  me  were  females  with  pup.     ^NFost  of  the  seals 
killed  in  Bering  Sea  have  l)een  cows  with  milk.     Have  feSs?"  ^"  p^'^^"'"'* 
never  taken  a  bull  seal  oft'  the  coast  of  Washington, 
but  have  taken  a  few  farther  north.     A  few  young  males  are  taken  off 
the  coast  of  Washington.     Can  Jiot  distinguish  the  sex 
of  seal  in  the  water,' but  spear  everything  that  comes   .^in-ii^^riminatc  kiu- 
near  the  boat,  regardless  of  sex.     Seal  liave  decreased     ^ 
on  the  coast  very  fast  the  last  four  years.     The  reason 


366  TESTIMONY 

of  the  decrease  is  too  much  huDting  and  indiscriminate  killing.    Have 

Xo  jei  i<-ic  birth       Dcver  known  or  heard  of  j)ups  being  born  in  the  water 

xopea^ic  ir   .      or  unywlieie  clsc  Oil  the  coast  ontside  of  the  Pribilof 

Po  not  iiaui  out  on  Islands.     Ha vc  never  known  any  fiir- seal  to  haul  out 

MbiiSamis!^'''"  on  the  hnid  or  on  the  coast  elsewhere  than  the  Pribilof 

Islands.     Have  killed  seals  200  miles  from  the  Pribilof 

Islands  that  were  full  of  milk.     I  think  that  all  i^elagic  sealing  should 

be  stopped  for  five  or  six  vears,  and  the  seal  would 

Protection.  becouic  plenty  again. 

Chad  George. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  26th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Korman  Hodgson,  sealer. 

HABITS. 

Korman  Hodgson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith :  I  reside  at 
Port  Townsend,  State  of  Washington,  and  am  a  fiir- 
Espenence.  ^^^j  hunter  by  occupation.     I  have  engaged  in  that 

pursuit  four  seasons,  in  the  years  1887,  1888,  1889,  and  1891.  I  sailed 
in  vessels  clearing  from  Port  Townsend  two  seasons,  and  in  others 
from  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  for  two  seasons.  We  first  fell  in  with 
fur-seals  moving  north  early  in  the  month  of  February,  about  50 
miles  off  the  coast  in  the  region  of  Cape  Mendocino,  California.  They 
were  very  scarce  then,  but  as  we  traveled  up  the  coast  we  found  them 
more  numerous.  They  were  most  iDlentiftil  oft'  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
Kiver  in  the  early  part  of  the  month  of  March.  The  mi- 
Migration.  gratory  movement  of  the  fur-seal  is  from  the  southward 

to  the  northward  and  westward,  following  the  general  trend  of  the 
coast  of  the  mainland.  The  main  herd  is  most  compactly  massed  be- 
tween 40  and  60  miles  off  shore,  but  some  of  the  seals  scatter  and 
straggle  over  an  area  a  long  distance  on  each  side  of  that.  The  males 
are  generally  in  advance  of  the  females  on  the  passage  north.  Females 
are  found  in  the  greatest  numbers  off  Baranoff  Island  about  the  middle 
of  the  month  of  May.  We  followed  the  main  herd  up  the  coast  as  far 
as  the  southwestern  ejid  of  Kadiak  Island,  Avhere  we  usually  left  them  oh 
account  of  their  diminished  numbers.  We  would  then  go  to  Sand  Point, 
Popoff"  Island,  about  the  25tli  of  June,  refit  and  repair  the  vessel  and 
,  ^  .  take  on  board  fi^esh  supplies,  and  then  start  for  Ber- 
and  leaving  Bering  iug  Sea,  wliicli  Avc  generally  entered  about  the  10th  of 
^^^-  July.     We  remained  in  the  sea  until  the  first  part  of 

September,  when  we  would  leave  it  on  account  of  bad  weather,  return-- 
ing  in  a  direct  line  to  Puget  Sound. 

I  think  the  duration  oi'  the  winter  season  has  a  direct  bearing  on  the 

northward  migration  of  the  fur-seal  species,  as  I  have 

a^cts"mig^atiolI^"**^'^  obscrvcd  that  they  move  that  way  earlier  after  an  open 

winter  than  an  unusually  severe  one.     The  first  season 

and  the  last  two  our  hunters  were  all  white  men;  but  on  my  second 

cruise  we  carried  mostly  AVest  Coast  Indians  from  Vancouver  Island 

as  hunters.    The  Indians  used  spears  j)rincipally,  while 

the  white  hunters  employed  breech-loading  firearms 

(rifles  and  shotguns)  exclusively.     Indians  using  spears  recover  more 

than  90  per  cent  of  all  fur-seals  struck,  while  the  white  hunter  secures 


TAKEN   IN   THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  367 

on  an  average  about  60  or  Qo  per  cent  of  all  fur-seals  shot  in  the  season. 
With  whites,  their  greatest  losses  occur  during  the     waste  of  ufe. 
earlier  part  of  the  season.     More  fur-seals  are  lost  in     ^     ,       .,,    ^ 

,^.  1  •    1  1   Ml     T    1  J-  1     ^  Greater   with    firo- 

proportion  which  are  killed  by  means  of  a  shotgun  arms. 
than  with  a  rifle.     Of  the  seals  secured  in  a  season      Mostly  females- 
fully  70  per  cent  are  females,  and  of  these  more  than  GO  principally  pregnant 
percent  are  pregnant  and  milking  cows.     The  males  "^^'i^'^ingco^s- 
taken  are  about  equally  divided  in  numbers  between  yearlings  and 
bachelors  from  the  ages  of  2  to  5  years;  bulls  are  seldom  shot.     It  is 
impossible  to  distinguish  positively  between  females  and  males  (other 
than  large  bulls)  in  the  water  at  sea,  and  no  effort  is  made  to  do  so. 
Full-powered  bulls  are  readily  recognized  by  their  great  bulk  and 
darker  fur     The  killing  of  fur-seals  is  therefore  abso- 
lutely indiscriminate,  as  the  object  is  to  secure  all  the  slaughter? '^^^ '''"**' 
skins  possible,  irrespective  of  sex,  age,  or  condition.  All 
fur-seals  sink  rapidly  after  being  killed,  and  females  heavy  with  young- 
go  down  soonest;  a  great  deal  depends  on  the  way  a  seal  is  shot,  how- 
ever. 

If  the  seal  be  shot  with  the  head  down,  as  in  the  act  of  diving,  its 
momentum  sends  it  under  for  a  moment  or  two,  when     ^^^  .^..^^ 
it  will  quickly  rise  to  the  surface  and  float  until  the  air 
in  its  body  escapes,  which  generally  occupies  anywhere  from  five  to 
ten  minutes.     A  seal  shot  with  its  head  up  almost  always  sinks  in- 
stantly.    Fur-seals  shot  when  sleeping  occasionally  go  down  at  once, 
but  the  rule  is  for  them  to  float  for  three  or  four  minutes.     They  should 
be  approached  from  the  leeward,  and  if  shot  in  the  back  of  the  head 
may  almost  invariably  be  recovered.    I  do  not  believe  it  possible  for 
fur-seals  to  breed  or  copulate  in  the  water  at  sea,  and 
never  saw  nor  heard  of  the  action  taking  place  on  a  or^nSipfnlposIiWe! 
patch  of  floating  kelp.    I  have  never  seen  a  young  fur- 
seal  pup  of  the  same  season's  birth  in  the  water  at  sea  nor  on  a  patch 
of  floating  kelp,  and  in  fact  never  knew  of  their  being  born  anywhere 
save  on  a  rookery.    I  have,  however,  cut  open  a  gravid 
cow  and  taken  the  young  one  from  its  mother's  womb,   erfes™  °°^^  °°  ''°"''" 
alive  and  crying.     I  do  not  believe  it  possible  for  a  fur- 
seal  pup  to  be  successfully  raised  unless  born  and  nursed  on  a  rookery. 
1  have  seen  fur-seals  resting  on  patches  of  floating  kelp  at  sea,  but  do 
not  believe  they  ever  haul  ui)  for  breeding  x)nrposes 
anywhere  except  on  rookeries.     I  have  never  heard  of,  roSferLs"^  only  on 
nor  have  I  any  knowldge  of,  any  fur-seal  rookeries  in 
the  Xorth  Pacific,  other  than  those  on  the  seal  islands  rSf  TJ.n'Ts:"  "" 
of    Bering   Sea.      While    in  Bering   Sea  we  cruised 
around  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  all  directions,  often  coming  within  view 
of  them,  but  never  landing  or  making  any  attempt  to      proportion   of  fe- 
do  so.     The  proportion  of  females  taken  to  males  was  males  taken  in  Bering 
about  70  per  cent,  more  than  two-thirds  of  these  being  ^''''• 
nursing  cows,  while  the  remainder  were  to^o-year-olds  and  yearlings. 

On  first  entering  the  sea  an  occasional  pregnant  cow  would  be  taken, 
but  this  Avas  uncommon.     Of  the  males  taken  in  the  Bering  Sea  the 
numbers  of  yearlings  and  very  young  bachelors  Avas  about  equal;  no 
bulls  were  ever  taken.     I  observed  that  nursing  cows  range  from  GO  to 
80  miles  from  the  Pribilof  Islands  to  feed,  aiid  were 
always  most  numerous  in  a  southerly  and  westerly  di-      ^"'^''^^^  feedmg. 
rectioii  from  them.     After  leaving  Bering  Sea  our  course  was  direct  to 
Puget  Sound,  only  scattering  specimens  of  fur-seal  life  being  observed 
en  route ;  most  of  these  were  young  males.     I  have  not 
personally  noticed  any  decrease  iu  the  numbers  of  the       ^crease. 


368  TESTIMONY 

far-seal  species,  but  think  that  the  constant  and  indiscriminate  slaughter 
of  them  must  tend  largely  to  that  end.     It  is  my  belief 

san™^^^'^'""  ^'^^^^    ^^^^^  ill  order  to  preserve  fur-seal  life  from  extermina- 
tion all  pelagic  hunting  should  be  stopped  and  Bering 

Sea  closed. 

Norman  Hodgson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  0.  Rolm,  oivner  of  schooner  CJiallenge. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

O.  Holm,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at  Whatcom, 

Wash.     I  am  part  owner  of  tlie  sealing  schooner  Clial- 

Experience.  Ie7ige,  aud  was  on  board  of  her  last  season  in  Bering 

Sea.    We  arrived  in  the  Sea  sometime  in  July.    When 

we  first  entered  Bering  Sea  we  went  direct  to  St.  Mathews  Islands. 

As  near  as  I  know,  seal  were  taken  last  year  from  GO  to  100  miles  from 

the  Pribilof  Islands.    Most  all  the  seals  taken  in  Bering 

f  maie*s  ^^^    ""^^"*s  Sea  wcre  females  with  milk.    But  one  old  bull  was 

taken,  and  two  young  males,  but  no  females  with  pup. 

The  shotgun  was  exclusively  used  by  our  hunters.    I  can  form  no  idea  as 

to  the  amount  of  seals  lost.     Some  hunters  lost  more  and  some  less. 

It  ranges  all  the  way  from  10  to  75  i)er  cent,  according 

Indiscriminate  kill-  ^^  storics  told  by  liiuiters.      Hunters  use  no  discrimi- 

'°^"  nation  in  shooting  seal,  but  kill  everything  that  comes 

near  the  boat.     They  could  not  discriminate  if  they  wanted  to,  as  the 

sex  can  not  be  told  in  the  water.     I  have  never  known 

No  pelagic  biith.      ^^y  gg^j  pups  to  be  born  on  the  water,  or  on  the  land 

Donotiiani  up  ex-  auywhcrc,  cxccpt  Oil  the  Pribilof,  Islands.     Have  never 

[amis""    "  " "     **    known  of  seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land  anywhere,  except 

Protection  ^^^  ^^^^  Pribilof  Islauds.     I  think  that  all  pelagic  seal 

hunting  should  be  stojjpedfor  a  number  of  years,  and 

give  the  seal  a  chance  to  increase,  and  if  this  is  not  done  they  will 

soon  become  exterminated. 

O.  Holm. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  3d  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  AJf  YoJinnsen,  sealer, 

pelagic  sealing. 

Alf  Yohansen,  being  dniy  sworn,  deposes  and  says: 

Experience.  I rcsidc  ill  Seattle;  am  a  hunter  by  occupation ;  have 

hunted  seals  two  seasons;  one  season  on  the  San  Jose, 

as  hunter,  and  now  as  hunter  on  the  schooner  Adventure.  Begin  to  huRt 


TAKEN    IN    THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  369 

seal  off  San  Francisco  in  February,  and  followed  tliemnp  the  coast  as  far 
as  Sliumakiii  Islands,  wlii(-li  we  reacLedtlie  last  of  June. 
The  seal  all  disappeared  from  there  at  this  time.     The      ^"s''^*'"''- 
shotgun  is  used  altogether  for  taking  seal.     About  33^-  per  cent  of  the 
seal  shot  are  lost.     We  use  no  discrimination  in  killing  seal,  but  shoot 
everything  that  comes  near  the  boat.     Quite  a  num- 
ber of  yearlings  were  taken.     About  50  per  cent  of  the  .^i^'^i'scTimmate  kui- 
seals  taken  by  me  have  been  cows  with  pup.    jSTever 
killed  but  one  old  bull  in  my  life  and  that  was  near    .  oneiiaif  pregnant 
Kodiak  Island.    Took  quite  a  number  of  young  males,  ^®"^'*^^^- 
I  should  think  two  and  three  year  olds.     Hunters  always  shoot  a  seal 
in  the  head  when  they  can  do  so.     If  we  can't  shoot  them  in  the  head 
we  shoot  them  in  the  chest  if  possible.     What  seals  we  have  seen 
this  year  are  very  wild  and  hard  to  get  at.    The  cause  of  their  being- 
wild  is  the  indiscriminate  shootiug  of  them  in  the  water.     I  have  never 
seen  any  pups  born  in  the  water,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  i  cr-  i  •  th 

of  any  fur-seal  hauling  up  on  the  land  anywhere  in        "peagic 
Alaska.     I  have  not  seen  a  fur-seal  within  5  miles  of  the  land  along 
the  Alaskan  coast.    1  think  there  should  be  a  closed  season  established 
some  part  of  the  year,  so  they  could  have  a  rest,  as  the 
constant  hunting  of  them  in  the  open  waters  is  soon 
going  to  destroy  them. 

Alf  Yohansen. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 

United  St<(tcs  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  James  E.  Lennan,  scaler  [master). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

James  E.  Lennan,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  reside  at 
Port  Townsend,  State  of  Washington,  and  am  by  occupation  master  and 
pilot  of  steam  vessels  in    the  waters  of  the  Pacihc 
Ocean  coastwise  to  the  Bering  Sea.     I  have  had  eight-     Experience. 
een  years'  experience  in  tlie  waters  of  Alaska,  and  am 
well  acquainted  with  the  Northwest  Coast  from  San  Francisco  to  Attn 
Island,  including  Bering  Sea  and  its  coast  line.    I  have  sailed  as  mas- 
ter of  trading  and  supply  vessels  for  a  number  of  years 
in  Alaska,  and  in  the  year  1887  was  master  of  a  seal-      ^'^''°''''      •  ^^*^'- 
ing  schooner  clearing  from  Victoria.     We  had  eight  canoes  and  sixteen 
West  coast  Indian  hunters,  who  used  spears  and  shot-        . 
guns,  the  former  almost  entirely,  however.     Of  all  the  ^"^"'i""'^"*- 
fur-seals  struck  in  the  entire  season  by  both  imple-      secured  more  uian 
ments  more  than  two-thirds  were  actually  secured,  the  *7ithspe!ir.  "'•"^^^ 
greater  proportion  of  losses  resulting  fi-om  the  use  of 
the  shotgun.    We  left  Vancouver  Island  on  the  1st  of  June,  and  on  the 
9th  of  the  same  month,  when  off  Baranoff  Island,  ])ut  over  the  huntiug 
cmoes  for  the  first  time.     We  stayed  with  the  main 
herd  of  the  seals  until  the  20th  of  June,  following  them  andlrdingSg"^ 
along  the  coast  to  the  vicinity  of  Cape  St.  Flias,  where 
we  lett  them  and  stood  across  to  the  entrance  to  Akutan  Pass,  occa- 
sionally taking  a  few  fur- seals. 
271G— VOL  II 24 


370  TESTIMONY 

Sealing  operations  were  resumed  on  July  18  to  the  soutlnA'ard  of  the 

Fox  Islands,  and  on  the  23d  we  entered  Bering  Sea, 

entewnl.^'^"'  '^''*^*  **'  where  we  remained  fourteen  days,  at  the  end  of  that 

time  returning  to  Vancouver  Island,  which  was  reached 

on  the  28th  of  August.     AVe  had  a  good  catcli,  having  taken  1,400 

,,  ,  ,  ,         skins,  more  than  1,000  of  which  we  secured  on  the 

Cat  ill  on  coast.  '         j-^n,,         -,      ,  ,  J^  n^  ,  ..  ■, 

coast.     Oi  the  hitter  more  than  75-  per  cent  were  lemale 
ccntTmauTofwiiK^h  P^lts,  and  of  these  about  GO  per  cent  were  taken  from 
CO  per  cent  preguant.    pregnant  COWS.     lu  Bering  Sea,  where  we  obtained 
iiaifin  Bering  Sea  about  400   skius,  malcs  and  females  in  about  equal 
feniaies,  mosriy  nurs-  uumbcis  wcrc  takcu.    The  feuialcs  were  mostly  nurs- 
ing cows,  while  the  males  were  young  ones,  between 
the  ages  of  2  and  5  years.     I  examined  the  stomachs  of  the  fur-seals 
-p^  ^  taken  in  Bering  Sea  during  the  month  of  July,  1887, 

and  found  the  greater  immber  to  contain  Alaska  mack- 
erel.    This  goes  to  show  clearly  that  at  that  season  of  the  year  this  lish 
constitutes  an  important  item  in  the  diet  of  the  fur- 
mue"ft?m  isfi^ds^""  ^^^^"    ^^^I'sii^g"  fwi'-se<il  COWS  wcre  fouud  iu  July  as  far 
rom  8  n    .      ^^  ^^^  miles  to  the  southward  of  the  Pribilof  Islands 
in  Bering  Sea,  feeding  on  mackerel  as  above.    It  is  impossible  to  dis- 
tinguish between  males  and  females  of  the  fur-seal  species  in  the  water 
at  sea,  excepting  large  bulls,  and  no  eflbrt  is  made  to  do  so.     The  object 
is  to  get  all  the  marketable  skins  possible,  and  tlie 
iciHhit''^*''^'"''"'^*^  killing  is  consequently  indiscriminate.    The  pelts  of 
large  bulls,  whose  fur  is  coarse  and  of  little  value,  and 
of  yearlings  of  botli  sexes,  whose  skins  are  too  suuill,  not  being  strictly 
'"marketable"  skins,  they  were  not  taken. 
I  have  never  known  of  fur-seal  pups  being  born  on  patches  of  floating 
kelp,  or  in  the  water,  at  sea,  or  anywhere  in  fact,  save  on 
po^libfe.^  ^'"^''  ^'"    regular  roolceiies,  neither  do  I  believe  it  possible  for 
them  to  be  reared  successfully  under  any  other  cir- 
cumstances.   During  my  travels  in  Alaskan  waters,  I  have  made  ex- 
tensive investigations  concerning  the  existence  of  fur-seal  rookeries, 
especii'.lly  about  the  region  of  Cooks  Inlet  and  Prince 
th^isi^nds!'  "°''^  ""  William  Sound,  where  rookeries  have  been  reported  to 
exist,  as  well  as  those  places  where  fur-seals  are  an- 
nually observed  in  the  greatest  numbers.     I  am,  therefore,  positive  in 
my  belief  that  no  such  fur-seal  rookeries,  or  other  places  where  fur-seals 
haul  out  on  tlie  land  to  breed,  exist  in  Alaska  with  the  exception  of 
those  on  the  seal  islands  of  Bering  Sea.     In  my  opinion,  fur-seal  life 
has  not  only  enormously  decreased  in  numbers  since 
1886,  but  it  has  become  greatly  scattered,  and  grown 
wilder  and  more  timid,  forsaking  many  places  where  they  were  formerly 
to  be  found  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year  engaged  in  feeding.     This  I 
attribute  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  engaged  in  killing  fur-seals 
indiscriminately  at  sea,  and  believe  that  in  order  to 
^  r^roinbitiou  neccs-  pp^^gp^ye  the  siKH'ies  froiu  actual  and  speedy  extermi- 
nation all  pelagic  hunting  should  be  stopped  absolutely, 
and  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea  closed. 

James  E.  Lennan. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murkay, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN    IN    THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  371 

Deposition  of  Thomas  Lowe,  half -breed  Indian  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss  : 
Thomas  Lowe,  being-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :     I  speak  tlie 
English  language  fairly  Avell,  and  can  interpret  the  Chi- 
nook and  Indian  languages.     I  am  a  half-breed  Indian      Experience 
and  belong  to  the  Challam  tribe,  and  am  30  years  of 
age.     I  reside  on  Whidby  Island,  and  am  by  occupation  a  hunter  and 
have  been  engaged  in  hunting  seals  for  the  last  eight  years.     I  went 
to  the  Bering  Sea  in  1889,  on  the  schooner  James  G. 
Swan,  and  again  in  1 891  on  the  schooner  Lottie.    These  isid^Loufc]  fsn!^ " ' 
two  seasons  are  the  only  ones  in  which  I  have  been  in 
the  Bering  Sea.     During  the  other  seasons  I  sealed  in  the  Strait  of 
San  Juan  de  Fuca  and  along  the  coast  between  the  Columbia  liiver 
and  the  northern  end  of  A'ancouver  Island.     During     ^^^ 
the  first  seven  years  I  used  the  spear  in  hunting  seals.         capons. 
This  year  I  have  used  the  shotgun  part  of  the  time.     On  my  last  trip 
this  year,  w^heu  hunting  seals  oft*  the  cape,  I  caught  10  seals,  5  of 
which  had  pups  in  them;   the  rest  of  them  were  from  1  to  2  years 
old,  part  male  and  i^art  female.     I  think  that  fully     one  half  of 
one-half  of  the  seals  caught  along  the  coast  are  full-   catch fuiigrowu preg- 
grown  females  with  pu])s  in  them.      We  sometimes  ^^ntcows. 
catch  a  few  medium-sized  males,  the  rest  being  j'ounger  ones,   both 
male  and  female.     I  have  never  killed  nor  saw  a  cow  in  milk,  along 
the  coast,  nor  one  that  had  recently  given  birth  to  her  young.    I  know 
of  no  place  on  the  coast  where  they  haul  out  upon  the     do  not  hatxi  up  on 
land  and  breed,  nor  do  I  believe  they  give  birth  to  *^"^^*-  ,       . 

JN  ot   bom  in  witcr 

their  young  in  the  water,  or  on  the  kelp.  .       orouiceip. 

In  i889  I  hunted  in  the  Bering  Sea  from  80  to  100  miles  oft  the  Priby- 
lov  Islands.     Two-thirds  of   our  catch  were   cows  in      ^  •„  *  / 

•11  T      -lon-i    X  •  X  i.      T>      •  CI  TJ.1  •    1      T        Cows  in  niilk  taken 

milk.     In  1891  1  again  went  to  Bering  Sea.     I  think  I  from  so  to  loo  miles 

noticed  fewer  seals  that  year  than  I  did  in  1889.    Seals  ^'•"'"'^i^"'!^. 

along  the  coast  are  not  near  as  plentiful  now  as  they  were  when  I  first 

began  to  hunt  them.     I  used  to  catch  9  or  10  seals 

in  oue  day;  but  they  are  so  shy,  and  so  scarce  now,        ""^ase. 

that  a  canoe  does  not  get  that  many  in  a  month.     White  hunters,  in 

numbers,  commenced  to  hunt  them  around  Cape  Flattery,  Avith  guns 

about  six  years  ago,  and  since  that  time  the  seals  have  decreasedvery 

rapidly. 

Thomas  Lowe. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April    i  D 
1892.  1      J      •      • 

[l.  s.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington, 

Residing  at  Port  Angeles,  }Vash. 


Deposition  of  N.  B.  Miller,  assistant  scientist  on  board  the  Albatross. 

HABITS. 

K  B.  Miller,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saith:  I  am  an  assistant 
in  the  scientific  department  of  the  U.  S.  Fish  Commis- 
sion steamer  Albatross.     I  have  made  five  cruises  in      i^xperionce. 
Alaskan  waters,  viz :  In  the  year  1888,  along  the  coast 


372  TESTIMONY 

from  Unalaska  to  Middleton  Island;  in  the  year  1889,  througli  the  in- 
hind  i)assiii>cs  of  soiitlieasteru  Ahuska  as  far  north  as  Chilkoot  Inlet; 
in  the  year  1890,  throu.i>h  tlie  Bristol  Bay  region  and  the  Aleutian  Is- 
lands as  far  west  as  Uiniiak  Island;  in  the  year  1891,  to  the  Pribilof 
Islands  in  i>ering  Sea;  and  in  tlie  nKHith  of  April,  1892,  in  the  Gulf  of 
Alaska  from  Kadiak  Island  to  Prince  William  Sound,  going  into  Cook 
Inlet  as  far  as  Coal  Harbor.  I  have  never  seen  nor 
tboseafisiands^^  ""  heard  of  any  fur-seal  rookeries  in  the  northern  hemi- 
sphere other  than  those  on  the  several  seal  islands  of 
Bering  Sea;  and  have  never  seen  fur-seals  in  great  abundance  save  on 
and  near  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

N.  B.  Miller. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  27th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Nelson  T.  Oliver,  sealer. 

PELAGIC    SEALINGr. 

j!^elson  T.  Oliver,  being  dul}^  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native 

of  IsTew  Bedford,  Mass.,  and  I  am  58  years  old.     I  am 

xpeiienoe.  ^  resident  of  Port  Townsend,  where  I  have  lived  for  the 

I)ast  twenty  years.    I  followed  sea-faring  life  from  the  time  I  was  15  years 

old  until  1888.     I  accompanied  Capt.  Jacobs  on  board 

Moibe  Adams,  1888.  ^^^  j^j^^^^-^  Aclams,  Sealing  schooner,  in  February,  1888. 

We  left  Port  Townsend  in  February  and  cruised  along  the  coast  from 
Grays  Harbor  to  Kyoquot  Sound.  Our  crew  were  all  white  men,  of 
whom  twelve  were  hunters  armed  with  shotguns.  We  returned  to  Port 
Townsend  in  May,  and  in  the  three  months'  cruise  we  made  a  catch  of 
700  seal  skins.  ISTot  being  hunters  of  experience,  our 
^^^°   '^-  ineu  lost  about  two-thirds  of  all  the  sepals  shot.     Good 

hunters  would  not  lose  to  exceed  25  per  cent.     In  the  beginning  of  the 
season  we  kille<l  mostly  yearling    seals,  but  as  the 
taken*'oa"coast.  ''"^^  scasou  advances  Ave  got  almost  all  mothers  in  young 
in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Flattery  or  from  the  Columbia 
Eiver  to  Vancouver.     Sex  can  not  be  distinguished  while  the  seals  are 
in  the  water,  nor  do  the  hunters  trv  to  do  so,  for  they 
.^indiscrhuiuatctm-  j.|jj  every  tiling  they  can  shoot.     I  am  not  able  to  say 
'1  whether  the  seal  herd  is  decreasing,  but  it  is  reason- 

able to  supi)ose  that  where  they  are  hunted  and  har- 
assed at  all  times  by  so  many  hunters  they  are  sure  to  be  driven  from 
their  usual  haunts,  if  not  totally  destroyed. 

ISTelson  T.  Oliver. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  before  me  this  2d  day  of  May,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent, 


TAKEN    IN    THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  373 

Deposition  of  Z.  L.  Tanner,  lieutenant-commander,  U.  i^.JWuy. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington. 

Fort  Totvnsend,  Jefferson  County,  ss: 

Z.  L.  Tanner  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  lieutenant- 
commander  in  the  U.  S.  Navy.  I  liave  made  five  cruises 
in  Alaskan  waters  in  command  of  the  Fish  Commission  Exp'^-ience. 
steamer  Albatross,  now  temporarily  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States  Revenue  Marine,  as  follows,  viz :  I  left  San  Francisco 
July  4,  1888,  for  the  north,  via  Esquimalt  and  Departure  Bay,  where  we 
called  for  coal.  Arriving  off  the  west  end  of  Unalaska  Island  on  the 
21st,  commenced  exploring  the  coast  in  the  interest  of  the  tisheries, 
soundings  being  run  from  shore  to  the  100-lathom  line.  Arrived  atlliu- 
liuk,  Unalaska  Island,  on  the  23d,  and  sailed  on  the  28th.  Explora- 
tions extended  to  the  Fox  Islands  Passes,  the  Sannaks,  and  to  the 
Shumagiu  Islands,  Called  at  Sand  Point  (or  Humboldt  Harbor),  Eagle 
Harbor,  and  Yukon  Harbor,  in  the  latter  group.  Eesuming  the  work 
of  exploration,  it  was  carried  to  Mitrofania  Bay,  where  we  called,  and 
thence  to  Kadiak  Island,  stopping  at  old  Harbor  and  Port  Hobrou. 
The  extensive  banks  off  the  south  coast  of  Kadiak  were  examined  and  a 
call  made  at  St.  Paul,  the  most  important  settlement  in  that  region. 
Leaving  the  latter  place,  the  work  of  ex])loration  included  the  Portlock 
Bank,  and  thence  to  Middleton  Island,  where  a  landing  was  made. 
Soundings  were  then  carried  in  tlse  direction  of  the  reported  position  oi 
the  Pamplona  Rocks,  for  which  an  unsuccessful  search  was  made. 
Thence  we  proceeded  to  Departure  Bay,  Puget  Sound,  the  coasts  ol 
Washington  and  Oregen,  and  to  San  Francisco,  arriving  October  21, 

I  left  San  Francisco  on  the  21st  of  May,  1S89,  and  was  engaged  in 
deep  sea  exploration  on  the  coasts  of  Oregon  and  Washington  until 
July  7,  then  made  a  trip  to  southeastern  Alaska  through  the  Inland 
Passages,visitingFortTongass,NewMetlahcatlah  (Port  Chester),  Karta 
Bay,  Port  Wrangell,  Sitka,  Pavlof  Harbor,  Glacier  Bay,  Hoonyah,  Chil- 
kat,  Chilkoot  and  Juneau.  Returned  to  Tacoma  on  July  28th,  calling  at 
Victoria,  Port  Townsend  and  Seattle  en  route,  I  sailed  for  the  North  on 
on  the  5th  of  May,  181)0,  via  Departure  Bay,  British  Columbia,  and 
commenced  the  examination  of  the  region  from  the  Sannaks  to  Uniniak 
Pass  on  the  21st,  arriving  in  Unalaska  on  tlie  23d,  The  work  of  the 
season  included  tlie  exploration  of  the  northern  coasts  of  Unalaska, 
Uniniak,  the  Ala.-ka  Peninsula,  and  the  northern  shores  of  Bristol  Bay 
to  the  Kuskowim  River,  The  Slime  Bank  and  Baird  Bank  were  devel- 
oped in  Bristol  Bay.  A  survey  was  made  of  the  lower  Nushagak  River, 
the  entrance  to  Port  Moller,  and  Hcrendecn  Bay,  Deep-sea  explora- 
tion was  extended  to  58°  43'  north  and  longitude  175°  30'  west,  ])ass- 
ing  near  the  100-iatliom  line,  70  miles  to  the" westward  of  the  Pribilofs. 
Left  Bering  Sea  August  26th,  arriving  in  San  Francisco  September 
2Gth,  via  Departure  Bay,  Port  Townsend,  and  the  California  coast, 
where  we  were  engaged  in  deep-sea  exploration  from  the  21st  to  the 
25th.  I  sailed  again  for  Bering  Sea  July  10,  1891,  g^.^^^^  ^^^  j^^^,.^,, 
having  on  board  the  United  States  Commissioners  to  sea'*w'ith*'unu"ri 
the  Seal  Islands,  We  arrived  at  Unalaska  July  25tli,  states  cmmissioners 
and  were  at  the  Pribilof  Islands  from  the  28th  to  August  lOtli.  Left  the 
sea  on  the  13th  of  August,  and  reached  San  Francisco  September  15th, 
via  Departure  Bay,  Esquimalt  and  Puget  Sound.     On  the  lOth  day  of 


374  TESTIMONY 

March,  1892,  I  sailed  from  San  I'raiicisco  for  A]askan  waters,  via  Port 
Town  send  and  Seattle. 

The  cruise  had  special  reference  to  the  migration  of  the  fur-seal  herd 
and  their  relation  to  the  localities  visited  by  us;  in  other  words,  we 
were  to  ascertain  whether  there  were  fnr-seal  rookeries  in  Cooks  Inlet 
or  Prince  William  Sound,  whether  they  hauled  out  or  attempted  to 
haul  out  there,  or,  in  fact,  anywhere  in  Alaska  outside  of  the  Pribilot 
Islands.  The  following  places  were  visited  in  the  order  named:  Port 
Graham,  with  its  tributary  settlement  of  Fort  Alexander,  having  a 
Xiopnlation  of  120,  all  Aleuts  except  one  white  man,  the  agent  of  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company.  The  men  are  hunters.  Chesloknu  Bay, 
with  its  village  of  Soldovoi,  having  a  mixed  population  of  Aleuts  and 
Kenai  Indians,  numbering  103,  and  four  white  men.  The  natives  are 
hunters.  Coal  Point,  population  11,  all  white,  occupied  in  holding 
possession  of  coal  claims.  Some  of  them  having  had  many  years  ex- 
perience in  the  Territory,  were  able  to  give  much  valuable  testimony. 
St.  Paul,  Kadiak,  population  380,  65  of  whom  are  white,  the  remainder 
Creoles  and  Aleuts.  The  native  men  and  nearly  all  of  the  whites  are 
hunters.  Wood  Island,  near  St.  Paul,  has  a  population  of  193,  includ- 
ing three  whites,  the  natives  being  mostly  hunters.  Owing  to  a  severe 
winter  and  late  spring,  the  men  were  still  at  home,  and  we  were  able  to 
procure  affidavits  from  35  whites  and  55  native  hunters,  who  had  prac- 
tical knowledge  of  the  subject  in  the  regions  in  which  they  were  in  the 
habit  of  hunting.  The  regular  work  of  the  Albatross  is  deep-sea  ex^do- 
ration,  the  discovery  and  development  of  fishing  grounds,  and,  not  in- 
fiequently,  purely  scientific  investigation  in  normal  ocean  depths  far 
outside  of  the  range  of  economic  species. 

I  have  been  engaged  in  this  work  nearly  fourteen  years,  during  whi(;h 
time  it  has  been  a  part  of  my  duty  to  acquire  information  concerning 
the  seal  and  its  life.  This  has  been  done  not  only  from  personal  expe- 
rience and  observations,  but  by  questioning  ])ractical  men,  such  as 
intelligent  mariners,  fishermen,  and  liunters.  Pelagic  sealing  has  been 
a  frequent  subject  of  conversation  and  argument  with  me  since  my 
first  northern  cruise  in  1888,  and  I  have  reached  the  following  conclu- 
sions : 

First.  Pelagic  sealingis  wasteful,  as  a largepercentage 
-nrsfe^fuL*^  scaling  (,f  ggals  killed  are  lost.     Opinions  on  that  point,  vary- 
ing from  30  to  70  per  cent. 
Sex   iiuiistinguish-       Sccoud.  Thc   scxcs  cau  uot  bc  distinguished  in  the 
crimii"aTe''kmiiig.''''^'  watcr,  except  old  males,  and  both  sexes  and  all   sizes 
are  killed  indiscriminately. 
Third.  Of  the  seals  killed,  from  00  to  70  per  cent  are  females,  which 
during  their  northerly  migration  are  heavy  with  young, 
maka  taken!'"""^  ^'^'  ^^^w  of  movcmcnt,  and  require  an  extra  amount  of  rest 
and  sleep,  thus  largely  increasing  their  liability  to  suc- 
cessful attack. 
^,   „    ^  Fourth.  The  female  killed,  the  death  of  the  unborn 

Death  of  pups.  ,.   ,,  ,     ...  ■,        1,1 

pup  tollows,  entailing  a  double  loss. 

Fifth.  Seals  killed  in  Bering  Sea  alter  the  birth  of  the  pups  are  largely 

,1.  f   T  „.       mother  seals,  and  the  farther  they  are  found  from  the 

ee  mg.      jyijm^jv^  the  greater  the  percentage  will  be.     The  reason 

for  this  seeming  ])aradox  is  very  sim])le.    The  young  males,  having  no 

family  responsibilities,  can  afford  to  hunt  nearer  home,  where  food  can 

be  found  if  sufficient  time  is  devoted  to  the  search.     The  mother  does 

not  leave  her  young  excei^t  when  necessity  compels  her  to  seek  food  for 


TAKEN    IN    THE    STATE    OF    WASHINGTON.  375 

its  sustenance.     Slie  can  not  afford  to  waste  time  on  feeding  grounds 

already  occux)ied  by  youiiiner  and  more  active  feeders; 

hence  she  malves  the  "best  of  her  way  to  riclier  fields,   .JeTkllfed'^*'"^'"^' 

farther  away,  gorges  herself  with  food,  then  seeks  rest 

and  a  quiet  nap  on  the  surface.     Under  these  conditions  she  sleeps 

soundly,  and  becomes  an  easy  victim  to  the  watchful  hunter. 

Sixth.  A  double  waste  occurs  when  the  mother  seal  is  killed,  as  the 
l)up  will  surely  starve  to  death.     A  mother  seal  will 
give  sustenance  to  no  pup  but  her  own.     I  saw  sad  oX^p^iT^nTy.*""'"" 
evidences  of  this  waste  on  St.  Paul  Island  last  season, 
where  large  numbers  of   pups  were  lying  about  the     ^ 
rookeries,  where  they  had  died  of  starvation.  ""'''  ^''p^- 

Seventh.  The  number  of  seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands 
is  decreasing.    I  saw  positive  proof  of  this  on  St.  Paul       '-crease. 
Island  last  season. 

Eighth.  Pups  can  not  swim  at  birth,  hence  the  female  can  not  give 
birth  to  her  young  in  the  water  without  sacrificing 
its  life.     I  have  seen  thousands  of  pups   learning  to   ^.ft"}?^  °°*  ^°™  *° 
swim  at  thp  rookeries   on  St.  Paul,  and  their  early 
efforts  were  quite  as  awkward  as  those  of  a  boy  when  taking  his  first 
dip.     Their  trouble  seems  to  be  to  keep  iheir  heads  above  water. 

Ninth.  The  present  practice  in  iielagic  sealing  is  to  shoot  them  from 
a  boat  with  a  shotgun  and  secure  them  with  a  short-      shootin'' seals 
handled  gaff.     If  killed  instantly,  they  are  apt  to  sink,      '   °°  '°^  ^^^  ^' 
unless  picked  up  inmiediately.     If  wounded,  they  may      Many  sink. 
be  gaffed  in  their  "flurry." 

Tenth.  Pelagic  sealing  should  be  suppressed  as  far  as  practicable. 
A  protected  zone  around  the  islands,  extending  100 
miles  from  them  would  not  be  effective,  even  if  the  sar™*"""""  °^'''" 
limits  were  resijected. 

Eleventh.  The  preservation  of  the  rookeries  requires  the  suppression 
of  pelagic  sealing,  at  least  in  Bering  Sea,  and  in  the  suppression  of  pe- 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  ijasses.  lagic  sealing  nece.s- 

Z.  L.  TaaNER,  ^^''y- 

Lieutenant- Comma ncler,  IT.  S.  N'avy. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  before  me,  James  G.  Swan,  a  notary  public  in 
and  for  the  State  of  Washington,  residing  at  Port  Townsend,  this  9th 
day  of  May,  A.  D.  I89li. 

[SEAL.]  James  G.  Swan, 

Notary  Fiihlic. 


TESTIMONY  TAKEN  AMONG  THE  MAKAH  INDIANS. 


Deposition  of  Bowa-chiq),  Makali  Indian,  scaler. 

PELAGIC   SEALING.  , 

State  of  WAsniNGTON, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 
Bowa-clmp,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  a  native  Maknb 
Indian,  and  reside  on  the  reservation  at  JSTeah  Bay,  State  of  Wash- 
ington, United  States  of  America,  and  am  about  40  years  of  age. 
I  have  been  engaged  in  se;il  hunting  ever  since  I  was  a  boy.  Until 
about  ten  or  twelve  years  ago  I  used  to  seal  along  the  coast  in 
large  canoes  from  10  to  18  miles  from  Cape  Flattery  and  in  the 
Straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca.  At  lirst  I  was  a  paddler,  and  after- 
wards I  became  a  spearman.  In  those  days  there  were  a  great  many 
seals  in  the  water,  and  they  would  go  in  bands  of  15  or  20  together. 
About  five  or  six  years  ago  I  commenced  to  hunt  in  smaller  canoes  that 
were  taken  out  to  sea  in  schooners.  I  hunted  with  spears  all  of  the 
time.  I  have  never  killed  any  full-grown  cows  on  the  coast  that  did 
not  have  pups  in  them,  and  I  have  hunted  all  the  way  from  the  Colum- 
bia Eiver  to  Barclay  Sound.  I  do  not  know  of  any  place  along  the 
coast  where  seals  haul  out  upon  the  land,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  such 
a  place,  and  I  have  never  killed  any  full-grown  cows 
^_  Pelagic  birth  impos-  ^]^q  ^^^.q  jj^  j^-jQi-^     Senls  do  uot  givc  birth  to  their 

young  in  the  water  nor  on  the  kelp;  if  they  did  they 
would  be  drowned  and  die. 

I  was  in  the  Bering  Sea  in  1889  on  the  schooner  James  G.  Sn-an,  but 

did  not  use  shotguns.     Most  all  the  seals  Ave  caught 

James  o.  swan,mo.    ^^^,^  ^^^^^  giviug  milk,  and  I  have  never  been  there 

Rooiverics  only  at  siuce.    All  thc  scals  aloug  the  coast  go  to  the  Pribylov 

Pnbiiof  i«h«,.is.         Islands  to  breed.    The  coVs  leave  here  in  June  and  the 

^^^i^'^l^e  coast  in  June  yearliugs  somctimc  lu  the  middle  of  July.     Seals  were 

"  ^'  very  plenty  in  the  straits  and  around  the  cape  until 

about  six  years  ago,  when  the  white  hunters  came  in  schooners  and 

with  shotguns  and  commenced  to  kill  them  all  olT,  and  now  there  is  none 

Decrease  ^'  *^^  s^traits,  and  we  can  not  get  but  one  or  two  where 

we  used  to  get  eight  or  ten.     Tliey  are  very  shj'-  and 

wild  and  are  decreasing  very  rapidly.    A  good  many  of  the  seals  that 

I  have  caught  in  the  last  three  or  four  years  have  shot  in  them,  and 

some  have  been  badly  wounded.     I  have  seen  white  hunters  shooting 

376 


TESTIMONY    TAKEN    AMONG    THE    MAKAH    INDIANS.  377 

seals  out  in  tbe  sea,  and  they  lose  a  great  mauy  more  than  they  get, 
and  we  sometimes  capture  some  of  those  that  tliey  have  badly  wounded. 

BowA-CHUP  (his  X  mark). 
Witnesses : 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

notary  Public  in  and  for  the  IState  of  Washinfjion. 


Deposition  of  Peter  Broicn,  Mcikah  Indian  chief  scaler  [master). 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 

Peter  Brown,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  the  native 
chief  of  the  Makah  Indians;  am  about  55  years  old,  and  reside  on  the 
Neah  Bay  Reservation,  in  the  County  of  Clallam  and  State  of  Wash- 
ington, United  States  of  America.     I  am  acquainted  with  the  habits  of 
my  people  and  the  methods  adopted  by  them  in  hunting 
the  fur-seal.     I  am  the  master  and  one-third  owner  of  Experfe'L.^r^^'"^""' 
the  fishing  schooner  James  G.  Swan.     I  have  been  en- 
gaged in  hunting  seals  with  speais,  more  or  less,  all  of  my  life.     For- 
merly, in  the  winter  time,  used  to  hunt  them  in  the  Straits  of  San  Junn 
de  Fuca,  and  in  the  sining  and  summer  time  we  hunted  them  in  canoes 
and  with  spears  from  10  to  30  miles  off  and  around  Cape  Flattery. 
About  ten  or  twelve  years  ago  we  commenced  carrying  our  canoes  on 
little  schooners  and  followed  up  along  the  coast  towards  Kadiak.     I 
have  been  a  part  owner  in  a  schooner  for  about  seven  years,  and  have 
owned  the  James  G.  Sn-a)i  for  about  three  years.     She      T„„jg.,  q  swan 
is  about  59  tons  burden.     The  other  schooner  was  not 
so  large.     My  people  commenced  using  guns  in  vseal-      „.  ,    . 

hunting  about  three  years  ago,  but  they  always  carried  spears  m  isso.        ° 
spears,  and  but  few  of  them  ever  use  guns  unless  em- 
ployed to  do  so  by  white  men.     About  six  or  seven 
years  ago  I  commenced  to  notice  a  decrease  in  thenum-      Decease. 
berof  seals  arriving  in  the  straits  and  around  the  cape. 

I  flunk  more  than  one-lialf  of  all  the  seals  caught  on  the  coast  are 
cows  that  have  pups  in  them.     Cows  caught  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  May  and  June  have  black  pups  in  them,  males?'"  ^'"^°"'^'^'^^° 
which  we  sometimes  cut  out  and  skin.     1  hunted  in 
Bering  Sea  in  1889  (that  being  the  only  year  I  ever 
went  to  that  sea)  and  hunted  seals  with  spears  about 
70  miles  southwest  oil  tlie  islands,  and  our  catch  was  nearly  all  cows 
that  had  given  birth  to  their  young  and  had  juilk  in  their  teats.     In 
hunting  with  the  spear  we  don't  lose  many  that  we  hit.    I  never  hunted 
with  guns,  but  have  caught  a  great  many  seals  that  had  shot  in  them. 
I  know  of  no  place  along  the  coast  where  seaU  haul 
out  upon  the  land ;  nor  have  I  ever  heard  of  such  place ;    coas^t/'''""""  """^  °° 
nor  neither  does  any  of  my  people  know  of  such  a  ijlace. 


378  TESTIMONY 

Cow  seals  can  not  ,2^ive  birtli  to  tlicir  young  in  tlie  water,  or  on  tLe 
kelp  and  have  tlieiii  live.  I  liave  never  seen,  nor  known 
po^sibi!*'  ^^"^^^  ""  of  any  pups,  alont;-  the  coast,  that  were  born  in  the 
same  year,  and  I  have  never  known  any  cow  seals  to 
be  caught  along  the  coast  that  had  given  birth  to  their  young,  and  in 
whose  breast  there  was  milk,  and  it  is  very  seldom  that  we  catch  a 
full-grown  cow  that  does  not  have  a  pup  in  her. 

White  hunters  came  in  here  about  live  or  six  years  ago  and  com- 
menced shooting  the  seals  with  guns,  since  which  time 
ecreaae.  they  havc  bccu  rapidly  decreasing,  and  are  becoming 

very  wild.  When  we  hunt  seals  with  spears  we  creep  upon  them  while 
asleep  on  the  water,  and  spear  them.  A  few  years  ago  my  people 
would  catch  from  eight  to  ten  thousand  seals  each  year,  now  we  get 
only  about  one  thousand  or  less.  I  can  not  tell  the  difference  between 
the  male  and  female  seal  while  in  the  water,  excepting  it  be  an  old  bull. 
In  early  times  none  of  my  tribe  ever  went  any  farther  out  to  sea  than 
from  10  to  30  miles  off  Cape  Flattery,  and  close  inshore  a  few  miles  up  and 
down  the  coast.  They  had  no  other  way  of  hunting,  except  to  go  from 
here  in  canoes.  About  fifteen  years  ago  the  post  trader  induced  some 
of  them  to  put  their  canoes  on  board  ot  a  small  schooner  and  go  out 
from  50  to  75  miles  oifshore,  and  to  hunt  along  the  coast  from  Columbia 
River  to  Barclay  Sound.  In  the  last  five  or  six  years  some  of  my  tribe 
have  bought  and  now  own  four  little  schooners,  and  use  them  to  carry 
their  canoes  and  provisions  when  they  go  any  distance  from  home. 
About  seventeen  of  my  people  have  been  in  the  Bering  Sea  and,  with 
the  possible  exception  of  two  or  three,  none  of  them  were  ever  there  be- 
fore 1887. 

In  1887  the  British  schooner  Alfred  Adams,  from  Victoria,  British 

Columbia,  came  here  and  employed  some  of  my  tribe  to 

i^t^'^iL^'^"'"*  ^"'^  S'o  ^o  ^^^  Bering  Sea  hunting  seals,  and  the  schooner 

Lottie,  owned  by  the  Indians,  also  went  fi^om  here  in 

that  year. 

In  1880  and  1891  some  of  my  i^eople  went  on  schooners,  as  hunters, 
to  Bering  Sea.    At  no  other  times  have  any  of  them  been  in  those 
A    e      off  ca  le  ^^^crs.     The  fur-seals  appear  off'  Cape  Flattery  and  in 
T'iattery^ai)ont  last^ol-  the  Straits  of  Sau  Juau  de  Fuca  about  the  last  of  De- 
fbo^it  midiUe'of  June*!  ccmbcr  and  go  and  come  until  about  the  middle  of  June, 
but  yearlings  and  2-year  olds  remain  considerably 
later.     Seals  used  to  be  very  numerous  along  the  coast  about  Cape 
jj  Flattery,  and  no  decrease  was  ever  noticed  in  their  num- 

bers until  soon  after  the  white  hunters  came  around 
here — about  seven  years  ago,  and  commenced  shooting  them.  Since 
that  time  they  have  decreased  fast  and  have  become  very  shy. 

I  think  they  will  all  be  killed  off'  if  they  keei)  hunting  tliem  with  guns. 
The  spears  with  which  my  people  hunt  seals  almost 
8ao™**^*^*^°°  ^^'^^^  exclusively  is  similar  to  the  harpoon  used  by  us  iu 
killing  whales,  only  it  is  smaller.  It  has  a  handle 
about  14  feet  long,  that  will  come  oif  when  the  harpoon  sinks  into  the 
seal,  and  the  iron  head  is  secured  to  the  boat  with  a  line  about  70  feet 
long.  In  throwing  t\\Q  sx^ear  we  use  both  hands,  and  if  we  hit  are 
almost  sui-e  to  get  him. 

his 

Peter  x  Brown. 

mark. 

Witness : 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 


TAKEN   AMONG    THE    MAKAH    INDIANS.  379 

Subscribed  and  8woni  to  before  mo  on  tliis  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892, 
[seal,.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washingtou. 


Deposition  of  Landis  Callapa,  Malcah  Indian,  sealer. 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss  : 

Landis  Callapa,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  about  45 
years  old,  and  am  a  native  Makali  Indian.     I  reside  on 
the  reservation  at  the  ^eah  Bay  Agency,  county  of     Experience. 
Clallam,  State  of  Washington,  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica, and  am,  by  occupaticm,  a  hunter  and  a  lishernmn.     I  Imve  been  en- 
gaged in  hunting  seals  all  my  life,  and  have  always  used  the  spear,  and 
went  in  canoes.     Formerly  we  went  around  the  cape 
in  canoes,  but  for  the  last  fifteen  years  1  have  fre-         °^^  seamg. 
quently  gone  out  on   small  schooners,  from  10  to  80  miles  around 
the  cape,  up  and  down  the  coast  from  100  to  200  miles.     We  take 
our  canoes  on  the  vessel  and  use  tliem  after  we  get  to  the  sealing 
grounds.     On  mj^  last  sealing  cruise  this  spring  we  caught  five  seals; 
two  of  them  were  females  and  had  i)ups  in  them;  three  of  them  were 
young  and  smaller   seals  and  had  black   whiskers.     None  but  full- 
grown  cows  have  white  whiskers,  but  young  cows  and  young  bulls  have 
black  whiskers.    About  half  of  all  the  seals  captured  along  the  coast 
have  white  whiskers,  and  ;ire  cows  with  pups  in  them.     Most  all  full- 
grown  cows  that  are  caught  have  pups  in  them.     Once, 
late  in  the  season,  X  caught  a  full-grown  barren  cow  ^^Mo^stiy pregnant  fe- 
with  white  whiskers.     I  can  not  distinguish  male  seals 
from  female  at  a  distance  in  the  water,  unless  it  be  an  old  bull  with  a 
long  wig. 

I  know  of  no  place  where  seals  haul  out  upon  the  land  to  breed  on 
this  coast;  nor  do  I  think  that  they  give  birth  to  their      ^^   ,     ,. 

ji        11  ix  T  1   -ii     T  •  -11      yi  -No  hauling  out  on 

young  upon  the  kelp.     Once  1  killed  a  cow  m  muk,the  coast. 

only  one  of  the  kind  I  have  ever  known  being  caught     None  bom  on  kei p. 

on  the  coast.     Seals  used  to  be  very  plentiful  around     Decrease. 

the  cape  and  in  the  Strait  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca,  but 

they  have  been  rapidly  decreasing  during  the  last  five  or  six  years. 

We  were  out  sealing  a  short  time  ago  and  (;aptured  but  five  seals.     A 

few  years  ago,  during  the  same  period  of  time,  we  would  have  caught 

about  sixty.     They  are  wilder  now  and  more  difiticult  to  catch,  and  will 

soon  be  destroyed  if  guns  are  used  in  hunting  them. 

Seals  appear  off  this  coast  the  latter  part  of  December,  ,  Appear  ou    coa.st 

1  ^  ^  lii  -in         o    T    1  j-1  J.       latter  part  ot  Decern- 

and  are  gone  by  the  middle  of  July.     Cows  appear  to  ber. 

leave  earlier  than  the  younger  ones.     I  scarcely  ever 

see  an  old  bull  along  the  coast,  and  it  is  seldom  we  ever  catch  one. 

his 

^^.^  Landis  x  Callapa. 

Witness :  mark. 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


380  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Circus  Jim,  Malaih  Indian,  sealer, 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss  : 
Circus  Jim,  beiu.ii'  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  about 35  years 

old,  and  am  a  native  ^Malcah  Indian.     I  reside  on  the  In- 
Experience.  dian   reservation   at    jSTeali   Bay,  in  Clallam   County, 

State  of  Wasliiniiton,  United  States  of  America.  I 
am  by  occupation  a  hunter  and  tislierman.  I  bave  been  engaged  at 
bunting-  seals  for  about  seventeen  years.  In  early  times,  and  until 
witbin  tbe  last  ten  years,  I  bunted  seals  witb  spears  in  canoes.  During 
the  last  ten  years  I  have  been  sealing  up  and  down  tbe  coast  in  schoon- 
ers, but  used  spears  all  of  the  time.  When  we  used  canoes  exclu- 
sively I  used  to  hunt  and  capture  seals  about  30  miles  in  the  Straits  of 
San  Juan  de  Fuca.     Seals  used  to  bo  plentiful  in  tbe  straits,  but  for 

the  last  five  or  six  years  they  have  become  very  scarce 

in  the  straits,  so  that  now  we  can  not  find  any  more 
there.  AYe  used  to  hunt  seals  in  canoes  for  about  20  miles  out  in  tlie 
ocean,  olf  Cape  Flattery  and  up  and  down  the  coast,  between  Greys 
Harbor  and  Barclay  Sound.  Seals  were  very  plentiful  along  the  coast 
six  or  eight  years  ago.  I  used  to  be  out  on  the  water  hunting  seals  in 
a  canoe  for  a  couple  of  days  at  a  time,  if  the  weather  was  fine.  Three 
Indians  would  go  in  one  canoe.  One  would  handle  tbe  spear,  the  other 
two  would  paddle  and  steer  the  boat.  I  was  the  spearman.  Usually  we 
found  several  seals  at  a  time  asleep  on  the  water  and  would  creep  upon 
them,  sometimes  as  near  as  20  feet,  but  more  frequently  not  closer  than 

40  to  50  feet.  I  would  then  throw  the  spear  at  them 
g  I'^ccess  with  the  r^^^^^^  almost  always  secure  all  that  I  hit.  Very  rarely 
^^''^  '  I  would  bit  and  secure  two  seals  at  a  time.    I  would 

then  get  a  seal  on  each  barb  of  the  si)ear. 

We  use  smaller  canoes  now  since  we  began  to  use  schooners  in  which 
to  carry  our  canoes  and  hunters  to  the  sealing  waters,  and  but  two  In- 
dians go  in  one  of  these  smaller  canoes.  A  great  many  years  ago  we  used 
to  catch  about  one  half  cows  and  one-half  young  seals.     Inevei  caught 

anv  seals  along  the  coast  that  had  given  birth  to  their 

cowsTiong^coSt     °  young  and  that  had  milk  in  their  breasts.     I  never 

t,    c.  captured  any  barren  cows.     I  first  went  sealing  m  the 

James    G.    Swan,     -^^ '^  .  r^         •      ^i  t  /-in  •       -i  oon  i  j. 

1889.  Bering  Sea  m  the  James  G.  Swan  m  1889,  and  went 

Lotiie  1891.  again  "on  the  schooner  Lottie  in  1891.    While  in  the 

sea  I  caught  a  great  many  cow  seals  that  were  giving 

Mostly  milking  uiilk.    Most  all  the  seals  we  caught  in  the  sea  were  giv- 

seaLs  caught  in  Ber-  jjig-  milk.     I  liavc  bccu  out  Sealing  this  spring  along  the 

^°^  ^^*"  coast  in  the  schooner  James  G.  tSican.    We  have  been 

^^Tames  G-  Swan,   q^^  three   tiuics.     Our  scliooucr  carried  15    canoes, 

each  one  manned  by  two  India: iS,  and  we  secured  ten 

Fifty  per  cent  preg-  seals  iu  all,  tivc  of  which  had  pups  in  them.    I  know  this 

nant  cows.  •  j^g^j^^^g^  j  ^.^^^  ^\^q  pnps  wlieu  wc  cut  the  carcasses  open. 

We  dry  the  meat  of  the  seal  and  use  it  for  food.     The 

other  five  seals  were  smaller  and  probably  male  and 
coSt."''*  ''''"^  "^'"'  feniale.     Seals  do  not  haul  out  on  tbe  land  along  the 

coast  to  breed,  nor  do  they  give  birth  to  their  young  on 
wftToron  top™  ™  the  water,  or  on  the  kelp.     I  never  caught  any  little 

black  pups  along  the  coast.  I  used  to  catch  a  great 
many  gray  ones  on  the  coast,  but  caught  but  one  this  year.    We  hunt 


TAKEN    AMONG    THE    MAKAH    INDIANS.  381 

the  seal  not  only  for  its  fnr,  but  we  use  every  part  of  it.     We  eat  the 
meat,  make  oil  out  of  the  blubber,  and  after  cleaniuo^  the  stomach  use  it 
tor  holding  the  oil.     Seals  are  now  very  scarce  and  wild     j^^^j.^^^ 
along  the  coast.     I  believe  the  cause  of  this  is  that  ^     ' 

white  hunters  have  been  hunting  them  so  much  with  gary."''''^'*'"''  °^*^**' 
guns.     If  so  much  shooting  at  seals  is  not  stox)ped  they 
will  soon  be  all  gone. 

his 

OiKCUs  X  Jim. 

mark. 

Witnesses : 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
0.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clarence  P.  Beown, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washiiu/ton. 


Deposition  of  James  Clajylanlioo,  Malcali  Indian^  sealer  {master). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss  : 

James  Claplanhoo,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  about 
43  years  old,  and  a  native  Makah  Indian.  I  reside  on  the  Xeah  Bay 
Eeservation,  county  of  Clallam,  State  of  Washington, 
United  States  of  America.  I  am,  by  occupation,  a  ^i'^"*^'^''®- 
hunter  and  fisherman.  I  own  the  schooner  Lottie,  which  is  of  about 
28  tons  burden.  I  bought  the  said  schooner  about  seven  years  ago. 
I  have  been  engaged  in  hunting  seals  about  twenty-four  years.  In 
my  early  years  I  hunted  seals  in  canoes  and  with  spears  in  the  Strait 
of  San  Juan  de  Fuca,  and  about  80  miles  oft'  Cape  Flattery.  I  killed 
seals  for  food  and  for  their  skins,  getting  about  $3  apiece  for  each 
skin.  About  iifteen  years  ago  Willie  Gallick,  who  had  a  trading  post 
here,  had  three  or  four  schooners,  and  employed  Indians  to  go  sealing 
and  sail  Ids  vessels.  They  would  put  their  carioes  and  si)ears  on 
board  the  schooners  and  go  out  and  hunt  about  20  or  30  miles  off 
the  coast,  as  far  south  as  the  Columbia  Eiver  and  north  to  Barclay 
Sound.  A  few  years  later  some  of  the  Indians  owned,  or  partly,  an 
interest  in  the  schooners.  About  six  years  ago  the  _^if,.ga  Adams  isse 
British  schooner  Alfred  Adams  came  here,  and  her  mas-  *""*' 

ter  engaged  Indian  hunters  to  go  sealing  in  the  Bering  Sea.     Until 
three  or  four  years  ago  fused  nothing  but  spears  in  hunting  seals;  now 
I  sometimes  use  a  gun.     Seals  generally  appear  off 
Cape  Flattery  about  the  20th  of  Decemljer,  but  during  riSTnecembcrTo': 
the  last  four  or  five  years  there  have  not  been  near  as 
many  coming  to  the  strait  or  on  the  coast  as  in  former 
years.    'I'liere  are  a  few  in  the  strait,  but  we  do  not 
hunt  them  now,  and  can  not  secure  more  than  one-sixth  as  many  in  a 
season  as  we  used  to  a  few  years  ago. 

In  spearing  seals  I  use  a  harpoon  with  either  one  or  two  barbs,  sim- 
ilar, but  smaller  than  that  used  in  taking  whales.  The  harpoon  has  a 
handle  about  12  or  14  feet  long,  and  a  strong  line,  about  70  feet  long  is 
attached  to  the  barb,  the  other  end  of  wliicli  is  fastened  to  tlie  canoe. 
We  throw  the  spear  at  a  seal  with  both  hands,  and  when  the  si^ear  or 


382  TESTIMONY 

harpoon  liits  a  seal  the  barb  beeomes  detaolied  from  the  handle  but  is 
securely  fastened  in  the  body.     Tlie  handle  floats  upon  the  water  and 

is  afterwards  secured  and  is  used  auain.  I  lose  but 
^^success  vrith    the  ygry  few  seals  that  I  hit  with  the  "harpoon.     When 

white  men  or  traders  began  coming  in  here  Avith 
schooners  they  offered  us  hirge  inducements  to  go  cruising  for  seals  and 
Ave  comuienced  going  farther  from  land  but  did  not  notice  any  decrease 
in  the  nuudjer  of  seals  each  year,  until  about  six  or  seven  years  ago, when 
vessels  with  white  hunters  and  armed  with  shotguns  began  to  appear 
in  considerable  numbers  off  the  coast.  Since  that  time  the  decrease 
has  been  very  rapid.  We  often  take  seals  that  have  been  wounded 
with  a  rifle  or  shotgun,  aiul  in  their  bodies  there  are  a  large  number 
of  shot.  When  sealing  along  the  coast  it  is  seldom  that  I  have  seen  or 
captured  an  old  bull.  I  have  caught  quite  a  large  number  of  gray 
pups  or  yearhngs,  and  they  are  about  equally  male  and  female.  About 
.,    ,,  ,„        ,.    one-half  of  all  seals  that  I  have  caught  in  the  strait 

About  half  caught,  .,  ,  „  ,,  '^  .., 

pregnant  females.  01    OU    the    COaSt    Were    tull-gTOWn  COWS    With    pupS    lU 

them,  and  I  have  never  caught  a  full-grown  barren 
Appear  about  Jan-  ^^w,  uor  oue  tluit  had  givcu" birth  to  her  young,  and 
nary  1    near    Cape  Avas  ill  milk.    About  the  Ist  of  January  seals  begin 
Flattery.  ^^  appear  around  the  cape  and  slowly  make  their  way 

noKth  and  are  gone  by  the  middle  of  July.  The  groAvn  cows  are  the 
first  to  go,  and  leave  before  the  middle  of  June.  Young  seals  remain  to 
the  last.     In  hunting  with  guns,  I  usually  get  about  two  out  of  five 

that  I  shoot;  sometimes  I  Avould  Avound  one  and  it 
Waste  of  life.  would  get  aAvay  and  it  Avould  probably  die;  sometimes 

I  would  kill  the  seal  dead  and  it  Avould  sink  in  the  Abater  almost  as 
quickly  as  a  rock,  and  unless  we  were  quick  to  reach  it,  it  Avould  be 
lost.     Sometimes  we  fish  them  up  out  of  the  water  with  a  gaff  hook, 
and  would  secure  a  few  that  AA^ay. 
In  1887,  about  the  1st  of  June,  I  went  into  the  Bering  Sea  in  my  own 

schooner,  the  Lottie,  and  hunted  about  CO  miles  off  the 
isoilSrin-lea.''''  ^^^  islaiids  and  secured  about  700  seals,  most  all  of 

whi(;h  were  cows  in  milk.  These  cows  had  milk  in 
their  breasts,  but  had  no  pups  in  them.  I  returned  to  the  Bering  Sea 
in  my  own  boat,  the  Lottie,  in  1889,  and  also  in  1891,  and  sealed  all  the 

Avav  fi'om  100  to  180  miles  from  the  St.  George  and  St. 
^Mostly  milking  fe-  ^.^[^^  islauds.    The  catcli  of  these  tAvo  years  Avere  of 

about  the  same  character  as  those  caught  in  1887,  and 
•Rooiicries  only  on  ^-grc  mostly  feiiialcs  that  had  giA^en  birth  to  their  young 

and  Avere  in  milk.  I  knoAv  of  no  place  along  the  coast 
Pelagic  birth  un-  where  scals  luuil  out  upoii  thc  land,  nor  do  I  think 
"°^"'  that  they  giA-e  birth  to  their  young  in  the  water  or  on 

the  keli).  I  am  acquainted  with  the  different  tribes  of  Indians  along 
the  coast  of  Vancouver  Island,  and  haAC  never  heard  them  say  that 
seals  haul  out  ui)on  the  land  on  the  coast  or  in  Barclay  Sound.  I  am 
unable  to  tell  a  male  seal  from  a  female  while  in  the  water,  unless  it  be 
an  old  bull  with  a  long  Avig.  Seals  used  to  be  very  plentiful,  and  I 
never  noticed  any  decrease  in  their  number  until  white  hunters  com- 

menced  coming  here  and  killing  them  Avith  guns,  about 

six  or  seven  yeaxs  ago.  Since  that  they  haxe  decreased 
very  rapidly  and  have  got  A^ery  shy.  Our  tribe  used  to  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  catching  8,000  to  10.000  seals,  and  iioaa"  we  can  not  get  a  thou- 
sand. We  eat  the  meat  of  the  seal  and  depend  largely  upon  it  for  our 
subsistence. 

James  GLArLANnoo. 


TAKEN   AMONG    THE    MAKAH    INDIANS.  383 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27tli  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

notary  Public  in  and  for  the  IState  of  Washingto7i. 


Deposition  of  Franli  Davis,  Malah  Indian,  scaler. 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss  : 

Frank  Davis,  beiiis?  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  about  GO 
years  old,^a  native  Indian  of  the  Makah  tribe,  reside  on  the  Neah  Bay 
Eeservation,  in  the  County  of  Clalhxm,  State  of  Wasliington,  and  my 
occupation  is  that  of  a  hunter  and  fisherman.     1  have 
been  engaged  in  seal-liunting  for  about  seventeen  years.      Experience 
I  have  always  hunted  in  canoes  and  with  spears,  and 
years  ago  would  kill  a  great  many  seals.     1  was  up  in   iggo.  -^''"°s  Sca  m 
the  Bering  Sea  sealing  in  1889  and  have  not  been  there 
since.    All  the  other  years  I  have  been  seal-hunting  along  the  coast, 
between  Grays  Harbor  and  Barclay  Sound.     A  few  years  ago  seals  were 
very  i)lentiful  in  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca.     It  is  not  now  so. 
They  are  so  scarce  in  the  straits  that  we  do  not  hunt  for     ^^^^  ^ 
them  there  any  more.    In  all  of  my  experience  in  seal- 
ing on  this  coast  I  have  killed  but  one  cow  seal  that  had  milk  in  her 
breast  and  tliat  had  given  birth  to  her  pup.     I  do  not  know  what  be- 
came of  the  pup.    I  have  killed  a  very  few  barren  cows,  along  the  coast. 
Nearly  all  of  the  full-grown  cows  along  the  coast  have  pups  iu  them, 
but  the  seals  I  caugTit  in  Bering  Sea  were  most  nil 
cows  in  milk.     The  cows  seem  to  disappear  from  the  cowa.''  "^   ™^  ^°" 
coast  sooner  than  the  youug  seals  do. 

The  seals  first  appear  off  the  cape  about  Christmas,    and  I  have 
caught  youDg  seals  as  late  as  July.     Seals  do  not  haul     Appear  off  capo  Fat- 
out  upon  the  land  along  the  coast  and  breed;  nor  do  teryaboutcinistmas. 
they  give  birth  to  their  young  in  the  water  nor  on  tlie  const  aiid'bn'id."*  "" 
kelp.     One  time,  when  hunting  along  the  coast  with  a     No  pelagic  birth. 
spear,  our  canoe  took  100  seals  in  five  days,  but  we  can  not  catch  as 
many  now.     They  are  very  shy  and  wild,  so  that  if  we  get  two  or  three 
now  in  five  days  we  would  be  doing  very  well    I  have  caught  only  eight 
seals  this  year.     Before  the  white  man  came  here  to      decrease 
hunt  seals  with  the  shotgun  and  riiic,  five  or  six  years 
ago,  they  were  not  so  wihl  as  they  are  now,  and  by  this  time  in  a  year 
I  would  have  had  a  Inmdred  or  more  seals.     When  I  get  seals  now  a 
great  many  have  shot  in  them,  a  thing  I  never  saw  befoie  until  about 
six  or  seven  years  ago. 

his 

Frank  x  Davis. 

iiiarli. 

Witness: 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  A])ril,  A.  D 
1892. 
[seal.j  Clarence  P.  r>ROWN, 

Notary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  the  /State  of  Washinyton. 


384  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Jeff  Davis,  Malah  Indian,  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 
Jeif  Davis,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  about  24  years 
of  age,  and  am  a  native  Makah  Indian,  and  reside  on  the  reservation  at 
tlie  Sreah  Bay  Agency,  in  the  county  of  Clallam,  State  of  Washington, 

United  States  of  America.     I  am  a  hunter  and  fisher- 
Experience,  man.     Since  187G  I  have  been  engaged  in  hunting  seals 

most  of  the  time  in  large  canoes,  each  canoe  carrying 
three  Indians,  who  used  spears.  I  sat  m  the  middle  of  the  canoe  and 
Avas  known  as  the  paddler.  The  one  who  sat  in  the  stern  steered  the 
canoe,  and  the  one  in  the  bow  was  the  hunter.  Years  ago,  in'tlie  winter 
time,  seals  were  plenty  in  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca,  and  I  have 
hunted  and  helped  to  catch  them  up  the  Straits  as  far  a  Pysht,  which 
is  about  37  miles  from  Cai)e  Flattery.  Of  later  years  they  have  quit 
coming  in  the  straits  and  we  do  not  hunt  for  them  there  any  more.  I 
also  used  to  hunt  seals  in  canoes  up  and  down  the  coast  from  Cape 
Flattery.  In  those  days  there  were  a  great  many  seals  along  the  coast. 
They  traveled  in  little  herds  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  each,  and  we  could 

sometimes  creep  up  on  them  when  they  were  asleep  on 
Success  \yitii  the  ^-j^g  water  and  spear  one  or  two  before  they  got  away. 
^^°'^^'  We  usually  secured  all  that  we  hit  Avith  the  spear. 

About  10  or  12  years  ago  we  began  to  hunt  seals  in  schooners,  and  ven- 
tured farther  out  in  the  ocean  and  sealed  for  greater  distances  up  and 
down  the  coast.  I  have  sealed  as  far  south  as  the  Columbia  River  and 
as  far  up  the  coast  as  the  north  end  of  Vancouver  Island. 

I  have  hunted  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea  for  one  season  only.     I  went 

there  in  the  schooner  James  G.  Swan  in  18SS).     Most  of 
Jame':a.swan,i389.  the  scals  that  we  captured  there  that  season  were  coavs 

giving  milk.     I  do  not  know  Avhere  tlieir  pups  were.    I 

never  caught  any  gray  pups  in  the  sea.     I  have  been 

Mostly  niiiking  fe-  out  Sealing  ou  the  coast  this  spring  in  a  schooner  that 

^^^^^^'  carried  ten  canoes,  AAith  two  hunters  to  each  canoe. 

We  were  out  three  days  and  caught  5  seals.     If  we  had  been  out 

that  long  six  or  eight  years  ago  AA'ith  the  same  crew,  Ave  would  have 

taken  between  00  and  100  seals.     Seals  are  wild  and 

Decrease.  gj^^  ^^^^^  ,^^^  havc  bccomc  Very  scarce.     I  think  the 

reas'on  for  this  is  that  they  haA^e  been  hunted  so  much  by  Avhite  hunters 

Avho  use  firearms.     I  have  never  killed  any  cows  giving  milk  along  the 

coast,  and  I  do  not  think  there  is  a  place  along  the  coast 
co?st.°°*  ^""^  "''  ""  where  seals  haul  out  and  breed.   They  do  not  give  birth 

to  their  young  in  the  Avater  or  on  the  kelp.     Most  of  the 

No  pelagic  birth.  ,  'ii.ii  j.  r  i  •J.^ 

'  seals  caught  on  the  coast  are  lemales  Avith  pups  m 

them,  the  balance  are  mostly  young  seals,  both  male  and  female.  I 
never  saAv  a  black  x)ui)  on  the  coast,  and  this  year  1  have  seen  but  A^ery 
few  yearlings. 

Jeff  Davis. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Kotary  Puhlic  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


TAKEN   AMONG    THE    MAKAH    INDIANS.  385 

Deposition  of  JEllaluih,  Makah  Indian^  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss : 

Ellabiisb,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am'  about  30  years 
of  age,  and  am  a  native  Makali  Indian,  and  reside  on  tlie  Neali  Bay 
Eeservation,  in  the  county  of  Clallam,  State  of  Wash- 
ington, United  States  of  America.     I  commenced  seal-   Experience. 
ing  in  canoes  along  the  coast  and  in  the  Straits  of 
San  Juan  de  Fuca,  about  fifteen  years  ago,  and  have  always  hunted 
seals  with  spears  until  recently.     Three  Indians  usually  go  with  each 
canoe.    About  ten  years  ago  I  went  hunting  in  the       j/wtiniss-' 
schooner  Mist,  owned  by  a  white  man.     We  cruised  for 
seals  along  the  coast,  between  the  Columbia  liiver  and  Barclay  Sound. 
I  have  caught  9  seals  this  year,  5  of  which  had  pups  in  them;  the  small 
ones  did  not  have  pups  in  them.     The  seals  appear  in     a  )  ear  in  straits  of 
the  Straits  of  San  Jaun  de  Fuca  the  latter  part  of  De-   sauJu!md"  Fuciilt- 
cember,  and  are  all  gone  by  the  middle  of  July.    In  the  ami^^re"ai?'^.'(?^''by 
months  of  January  and  February  the  pups  in  the  cows  middle  of  juiy. 
are  so  small  that  you  will  not  notice  them  unless  you 
cut  the  belly  open.     All  full-grown  cows  that  I  have     ah fuiigrown cows 
killed  along  the  coast  had  pups  in  them,  and  have  ^^    ^^^^'' 
never  killed  but  one  that  had  given  birth  to  their  young  and  were  in 
milk,  and  have  no  recollection  of  having  killed  a  barren  cow.    The 
younger  ones  do  not  have  pups  in  them,  and  are  about  one-half  male 
and  one-half  female.     The  full-grown  cows  leave  this  vicinity  for  the 
north  earlier  than  the  younger  ones  do.     I  catch  more 
young  seals  in  May  and  June  than  I  do  earlier  in  the  co^sl""*  ^'''^^  "^'"^ 
season.     Seals  do  not  haul  out  uj)on  the  laiul  along  the 
coast  and  give  birth  to  their  young.     I  have  never 
known  pups  to  be  born  in  the  water  nor  on  the  kelp.         ^^"  p"^^-'"  ^''*^- 

About  two  years  ago  I  begun  to  hunt  with  guns,  but  always  carried 
a  spear.  Since  I  have  been  hunting  with  guns  I  lose  a 
great  many  seals  that  I  shoot.  I  kill  some  dead  and  ^y^,'*'*''  "^  ^'^'^  '"^^ 
they  sink  like  a  rock.  Some  that  I  shoot  are  wounded 
and  get  away  and  probably  die.  I  have  caught  a  good  many  seals  that 
had  shot  ui  theih.  Seals  are  not  so  plentiful  now  as  they  were  a  few 
years  ago.     They  began  to  decrease  about  five  or  six 

"^  AT  T  ^  -i.  4-  Decrease. 

years  ago.     A  good  many  years  ago  I  used  to  capture 
seals  in  the  Straits  of  San  Jaun  de  Fuca,  but  of  late  years,  since  so 
many  schooners  and  white  men  have  come  around  here  shooting  with 
guns,  that  only  a  few  come   in  here  and  we  do  not  hunt  in  the  straits 
any  more.     1  used  to  catch  forty  or  fifty  seals  in  one  day,  and  now  if 
I  get  six  or  seven  I  M^ould  have  great  luck.     I  have  to  go  a  long  dis- 
tance to  get  seals  now.     Seals  are  wild  and  afraid  of  an  Indian.     Tliey 
have  become  so  since  the  white  man  and  the  trader  began  to  shoot 
them  with  shotguns  and  rifles.     In  a  short  time  there  will  be  no  seals 
left  for  the  Indian  to  kill  with  the  spear.     In  hunting 
with  the  spear  I  get  almost  all  the  seals  that  I  hit.  .pear?*""^  ^^'^^  **** 
Once,  in  the  month  of  June,  I  caught  a  seal  that  had  a 
pup  in  it.     I  carefully  cut  the  x^up  out  of  its  mother 
271G — VOL  u 2a 


386  TESTIMONY 

wim     ^"^^  placed  it  in  the  water  and  it  drowned.    I  have 
up  can  no  swim,     ^^^.^^j^  ^.^^^  piips  out  of  tlic  mother  scal  and  tried  to  rear 
them,  but  in  two  or  tliree  days  it  Avouhl  sicken  and  die. 

Ellabush  (his  X  mark). 
Witness: 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and   sworn  to  before  me  on  the  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  Alfred  Irving,  Afalah  Indian,  sealer  {master). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Si' ATE  OF  Washington, 

.County  of  Clallam,  ss  : 
Alferd  IrviuL;',  being  duly  swori],  deposes  and  says:  I  am  about  tO 

years  old,  and  am  a  native  Makali  Indian,  and  reside 
Experience.  ou  the  N"eah  Bay  Keservation,  State  of  Washington, 

United  States  of  America.  My  occupation  is  hunting 
and  fishing,  and  I  am  one  of  the  headmen  of  my  tribe.  I  am  master 
and  one-half  owner  of  the  schooner  Mary  FarT^er.  I  have  been  en- 
gaged in  hunting  seals  ever  since  I  was  old  enough.  Formerly  my 
tribe  hunted  in  canoes  and  used  spears  exclusively,  but  in  the  last  two 
years  a  few  of  them  have  used  shotguns.  Previous  to  about  ten  years 
ago  we  seldom  went  more  than  20  miles  out  to  sea  and  sealed  about 
that  distance  off  Cape  Flattery.  Since  that  time  some  of  our  tribe 
have  owned  three  or  foiir  small  schooners,  and  those  that  go  out  in 
them  put  their  canoes  and  si)ears  on  the  scliooners  and  are  carried 
from  50  to  75  miles  off  Cape  Flattery  and  along  the  coast  from  Colum- 
bia River  to  Barclay  Sound.     In  the  earlier  years  when  I  went  hunting 

we  would  not  go  (uit  of  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de 
sa wu?n '^ de'^'^Fucf  Fuca  duriiig  tlicwiuter  moutlis  ami  early  in  the  spring. 
about  1st  of  January,  Thc  scals  commcncc  to  appear  in  the  Straits  of  San  Juan 
iniddfoof'ju'iy.'''^""*  (le  Fuca  about  the  1st  of  January  or  the  last  of  Decem- 
ber and  (;ome  and  go  to  the  middle  of  July.  The  gen- 
eral course  seemed  to  be  to  the  north,  and  by  the  middle  of  June  the 
groMni  cows  were  most  all  gone,  but  the  younger  ones  used  to  be  quite 
plentiful  until  about  the  middle  of  July,  when  they  would  also  dis- 
appear. 
I  have  always  used  spears  in  hunting  seals,  and  seldom  wounded  or 

hit  one  that  I  did  not  get,  until  in  1891,  which  year, 

apear?^^^  ^'      ^^^  and  the  oidy  One,  I  went  to  Bering  Sea  and  used  the 

Waste  of  life  shotgnii  part  of  the  time.     I  found  in  the  use  of  the 

shotgun  that  a  great  many  of  the  seals  that  were  killed 
m^eiTn  Be™  ng  sll!''  ^^^  wouudcd  wcrc  lost,  aud  that  those  that  I  secured  in 

the  Bering  Sea  were  nearly  all  females  that  had  given 
birth  to  their  young  and  were  in  milk.  Our  vessel  captured  about  4G0 
seals  at  a  distance  of  about  100  miles  from  the  Pribyjov  Islands,  most 
aU  of  which  were  cows  in  milk.    We  used  shotguns  aud  secured  about 


TAKEN  AMONG  THE  MAKAH  INDIANS.  387 

two  seals  out  of  five  that  we  sliot.     About  one-lialf  of  those  caught 
along  the  coast  were  full-grown  cows  with  pups  in  them, 
a  few  were  medium-sized  males,  and  the  rest  were  feSs"a^nrcoTsr* 
younger  seals  of  both  sexes.     I  have  never  caught  a 
full-grown  cow  in  the  straits  or  along  the  coast  that  did  not  have  a  pup 
in  her.     I  am  intimately  acquainted  with  the  coast  from  here  to  Bar- 
clay Sound,  and  I  know  of  no  place,   nor  have  not 
heard  of  any  place,  where    seals  come  to  laud,  nor  co?"t  °°*  ''^"^  ''^  "'^ 
neither  do  I  believe  it  to  be  possible  for  them  to  have      ^  ,    .    ^.  ,^   . 

, ,      .  •       ,,  ,  j^i       1     1  11  ii      •„        Pelagic    Dirtn    im- 

their  young  m  the  water  or  ou  the  kelp  and  have  their  possible. 

pups  live.     Seals  are  not  as  plentiful  now  as  they  were      Decrease. 

before  white  men  commenced  hunting  them  with  guns 

around  here  some  six  or  seven  years  ago.     Tliey  are  more  shy  now  and 

it  is  much  more  difficult  for  the  hunters  to  creep  up  and  spear  them 

than  it  was  a  few  years  ago.     If  they  keep  on  killing  them  with  the 

guns  there  will  be  none  left  in  a  little  while. 

His 

Alferd  X  Irving. 

mark. 

Witness : 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  37tli  dav  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 

[SEAL.]  ClAEENCE   P.   BROWN, 

Notary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  Ishica,  Malcah  Indian,  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss : 
Islika,  being  duly  sworn,   deposes  and  says:    My  age  is  about  60 
years.     I  am  a  native  Indian  of  the  Makah  tribe,  and  reside  on  the 
reservation  at  the  Neah  Bay  Agency,  in  the  State  of  Washington, 
United  States  of  America.     I  am  by  occupation  a  fisherman.     I  have 
hunted  seals  along  the   coast  ever    since  I  was  old  ^^  erience 
enough  to  do  so.    I  have  always  used  spears  while  hunt-     ^i'®"*'"*'*'- 
iiig  the  seals  in  canoes.     I  have  hunted  seals  in  tiie  Straits  of  San  Juan 
de  Fuca,  40  or  50  miles  oft'  Cape  Flattery,  until  about  seven  years  ago; 
since  then  I  have  frequently  gone  as  far  south  as  the  Columbia  River 
and  t(^  the  northward  to  the  far  end  of  Vancouver  Island,  and  fully 
one-half  of  the  seals  we  catch  are  cows  with  young  in 
them.     I  have  been  outsealingoncethisyear  and  we  cap-  naf/Zcows'^*^^"*^  ^"^^" 
tured  three    seals;   one    of  which,  in  dividing    thein 
u}),  became  mine.     The  one  I  got  was  a  full-grown  cow  with  a  pup  in 
it.     In  the  months  of  January  and  February  the  pups  in  tlie  cows  are 
so  small  that  one  will  not  notice  whether  the  cow  is  i^regnant  or  not 
unless  he  cuts  her  open,  but  later  on  in  the  season  it  may  be  observed 
without  cutting  them  open.     I  have  never  killed  a  cow  on  the  coast 
that  bad  given  birth  to  her  pup  and  was  giving  milk,      ^      ^  ^    , 

1  T  _iii  c>,„iiDo  uot  haul  ap  on 

nor  have  I  ever  seen  a  pup  born  the  same  year.     Seals  coast. 

do  not  haul  out  upon  the  land  along  the  coast  and  ^^j.-^^y^"'^  "*  '^***" 

breedj  nor  do  they  give  birth  to  theii-  young  in  the  ""^ ""  ''  ^' 


388  TESTIMONY 

water  or  upon  the  kelp.     I  think  a  i)ui)  born  in  the  water  or  upon  kelxj 
woukl  sink  and  die.    Years  ago  we  couhl  see  seals  all  over  the  water. 
Pelagic  birth  impos-   '^'^^^  ^^"^  "^^  '^o  plentiful  uow.     They  have  been  grow- 
siiiie. "  ing  less  and  less  ever  since  the  white  man  came  in  and 

Decrease  began  to  hunt  them  with  guns,  about  six  or  seven 

years  ago,  and  so  many  vessels  went  into  the  business. 

ISHKA  (his  X  mark). 
Witness: 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  Selicish  Johnson,  Malcah  Indian,  scaler. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 
Selwish  Johnson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  about 
30  years  old;  am  a  native  Makah  Indian,  and  reside 
Experience.  ^^  ^^^^  -g.^^^  ^^  ^j^^  ludiau  Eeservatioii,  State  of 

Washington,  United  States  of  America.  My  occupation  is  that  of 
hunting  and  fishing.  I  have  been  engaged  in  catching  seals  ever 
since  I  was  old  enough  to  do  so,  and  have  always  hunted  with  a 
spear.  In  former  years  we  used  to  hunt  in  the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de 
Fuca,  and  in  the  summer  around  Cape  Flattery,  but  for  the  last  few 
years  we  have  had  to  go  farther  to  get  them,  and  now  we  hunt  fi-om 
Columbia  Kiver  to  Barclay  Sound.  We  put  our  canoes  and  spears  on 
board  of  a  schooner,  and  go  out  from  10  to  00  miles  off  Cape  Flat- 
tery. Have  been  out  this  season,  and  caught  thirteen 
pregnant  cows?  *'^  seals  arouud  Cape  Flattery,  seven  of  which  had  pups 
with  the  in  them,  the  balance  being  young  seals,  about  one-half 
spear.  each  of  male  and  female.    We  lose  but  very  few  seals 

that  we  hit  with  a  spear.     In  all  of  my  experience  as 

Sex  indistinguish-  a  scal  huutcr  I  havc  captured  but  one  or  two  old  bulls, 
able  in  the  water.        j  .^^^^  unable  to  distinguish  a  male  seal  from  a  female 

_      . ,    ,     *       seal  while  at  a  distance  in  the  water.     I  have  never 

Do  not  haul  out  on  ,  •  mi        i  j-i  j.  n 

coast,  or  give  birth  to  caught  a  COW  111  milk  along  the  coast,  nor  a  small  pup 

^oung  in  water  or  on    ^j^^^-  j^.^^j    |-)ggjj  ^^,^.jj  ^]^.j^   y^,^^,^       g^,j^|g  ^^  ^^^  -^^^^^  ^^^^ 

^^'  upon  tlie  land  and  breed,  along  the  coast,  nor  give 

Decrease.  birth  to  their  young  in  the  water  or  on  the  kelp. 

About  six  years  ago  I  noticed  the  seal  herd  began  to 

decrease,  and  they  are  getting  less  each  year  ever  since  the  white 

hunter   came   about  here  and  commenced    killing    them  with  guns. 

They  kill  and  wound  a  great  many  that  they  do  not 

Waste  of  life.  get.    I  have  speared  a  great  many  seals  that  had  shot 

in  them.    They  are  very  scarce  now,  and  very  wild 


TAKEN  AMONG  THE  MAKAH  INDIANS.  389 

and  difficult  to  catch.     If  hunted  with  guns  they  will      Appear  off  cape 
all  soon  be  destroyed.     Seals  appear  off  Cape  Flattery  and'jlmiary.'^andare 
in  December  and  January,  and  nearly  all  of  them  are  goneby  Juiy'i. 
gone  by  the  first  of  July. 

His 

Selwisit  X  Johnson. 

mark. 

Witnesses : 

John  P.  MoGltnn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[SEAL,]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Wotary  Public  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


Reposition  of  James  Lighthouse,  Malcah  Indian  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washin(^ton, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 
James  Liglithouse,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:    I  am  a  na- 
tive Indian  of  Makah  tribe,  and  reside  at  Neah  Bay,  on  the  Indian  lie- 
servation,  in  the  State  of  Washington,  United  States  of  America.     I 
am  about  55  years  of  age,  and  my  occupation  is  that  of 
hunting  and  fishing.     I  am  the  owner  of  the  schooner     Experionce. 
C.  C.  Ferkins.  I  have  been  engaged  in  sealing  and  tish-      o.  o.  PerUns. 
ing"  ever  since  I  was  old  enough  to  do  so.     I  have  al- 
ways hunted  seals  with  the  spear,  and  have  never  used  the  gun  or  been 
in  Bering  Sea.    I  have  always  sealed  in  the  Strait  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca, 
and  around  Cape  Flattery,  and  up  and  down  the  coast  from  Barclay 
Sound  to  the  Columbia  Kivcr.    I  commenced  going  North  to  Barclay 
Sound  about  ten  years  ago.     Seals  are  not  nearly  so     ^ 
plentiful  now  as  they  used  to  be.     About  seven  years 
ago  white  men  commenced  to  hunt  seals  in  this  vicinity  with  guns, 
since  which  time  they  have  been  decreasing  in  numbers  and  have  be- 
come wild  and  hard  to  catch.     I  am  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
bays  and  coast  froiu  here  to  Barclay  Sound,  and  I  know  of  no  place  on 
the  coast,  neither  have  I  heard  of  any,  where  seals 
haul  out  upon  the  land  and  give  birth  to  their  young,   coasV*  '"^''^  "^  "° 
nor  do  I  believe  that  they  give  birth  to  their  young  in 
the  Avater  or  on  the  kelj).     Of  all  the  seals  captured  bv     ^^o  not  born  in  the 
me,  about  one-half  of  them,  I  think,  were  cows  with  ^'^teroron  keip. 
pups  iu  them,  and  it  is  very  seldom  that  I  have  ever  caught  a  full- 
grown  cow  that  was  barren  or  did  not  have  a  pup  in      ^ne-baif  of  seals 
her;  nor  have  I,  in  my  long  exi^erience,  caught  a  cow  taken  are  pregnant 
that  was  in  milk,  or  tbat  had  recently  given  birth  to  ''"'''■'■'• 
her  young.     I  seldom  ever  kill  an  old  bull,  for  there  are  but  very  few 
of  them  tliat  mingle  with  the  herd  along  the  coast.     I  am  unable  to 
tell  a  male  seal  from  a  female  while  in  the  water,  unless  it  be  an  old 
bull  with  a  long  wig.     Seals  are  not  as  plentiful  and  are  more  shy  than 
they  used  to  be,  and  are  more  difficult  to  catch,  be- 
cuuse  they  have  been  hunted  so  much  for  the  last  five       ^^""^^^^ 
or  six  years  with  guns. 


390  TESTIMONY 

My  tribe  used  to  liiiiit  exclusively  iu  canoes,  and  did  not  go  many 

_  miles  from  tlie  cape,  but  in  the  last  ten  or  twelve  vears 

Hunting  by  Indiana.    .^  g.^^^^i  many  of  the  liuuters  put  their  canoes  on  the 

small  schooners,  owned  by  some  of  us,  and  we  go  farther  out  into  the 

sea,  and  from  the  Columbia  liiver  to  Barclay  Sound,  to  hunt  seals. 

Unless  we  use  guns  we  will  have  to  stop  hunting  them,  for  they  are 

getting  so  wild  we  can  not  catch  many.    I  know  that  a 

*^  ^  "    '  ^'  great  many  must  be  lost  by  the  white  hunters,  for  a  great 

many  that  I  catch  have  shot  in  them,  and  some  are  badly  wounded. 

The  first  seals  appear  in  the  strait  and  on  the  coast  about  the  last  of 

Mi-iation  of  e       I>ecember  and  feed  along  the  coast,  and  seem  to  be 

igia  ion  o  aea  s.  ^Q^j^jj^g  slowly  to  thc  uorth,  uutil  about  the  middle  of 

June,  at  which  time  the  coavs  are  pretty  much  all  gone,  but  the  smaller 

seals  remain  until  about  the  middle  of  July.     I  seldom  see  an  old  bull, 

and  when  I  do  he  is  much  farther  from  land,  and  it  is  early  in  the 

season. 

Formerly,  we  used  to  hunt  seals  for  food  and  sold  the  skins  to  traders 

.  for  $2  or  $3  each,  but  for  the  last  few  years  we  have 

been  getting  big  prices  for  the  skins  and  we  catch  all 

^indisciiminate  kiu-  ^g  ^^^  without  regard  to  size  or  sex.     Ten  years  ago 

"'  I  seldom  saw  a  white  hunter  shooting  seals,  but  now 

Waste  of  life.         tlic  sca  is  full  of  them  and  they  are  banging  away  all 

the  time,  getting   some  but  killing  and  wounding  a 

great  many  they  do  not  get. 

liis 

James  x  Lighthouse. 

mark. 

Witness : 

John  P.  McGltnn. 
0.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clabence  p.  Brown, 

Notary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  Osly,  MaMh  Indian  sealer. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  GlaUam,  ss: 

Osly,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am   a  native  Makah 

Indian,  and  reside  on  the  Indian  reservation  at  Neah  Bay,  in  Clallam 

County,  State  of  Washington,  United  States  of  America.     I  am  about 

28  years  old,  and  am  a  fisherman  and  hunter  by  occupa- 

Experience.  tiou.     I  havc  bccii  engaged  at  seal  hunting  along  the 

coast  for  the  last  ten  years.    At  first  I  hunted  in  large 

canoes,  but  soon  commenced  to  go  hunting  in  scliooners.    I  have  sealed 

all  along  the  coast,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  IJiver  to  the  passes 

^    ,  ^      ^,     ,       leadinginto  tlieBeiingSoa,  and  do  notknow of  anyplace 

Seals  do  not  hanl  up  ,,     ^  ,       ,  i     i         i         j.  at       i,  ,,,l         a,^„l.^ 

on  coast,  and  are  not    Oil  the  COaSt  wllCrO  SCalsliaul  Out  upOll  tllC  iaiKl.      bCalS 

born  in  water  or  on   ^^^^  „y^  give  birth  to  tlicir  youug  in  the  water  nor  on  the 

^"  kel]).     About  six  years  ago  I  went  to  Bering  Sea,  as  a 

Favorite,  1886.  a  huntcr,  on  the  sealing  schooner  Favorite.  McClean, 

master.     She  carried  one  stern  boat  and  ten  canoes; 


TAKEN    AMONG    THE    MAKAH    INDIANS.  391 

we  captured  about  4,700 seuls,  most  all  of  v.Licli  were  catcii  mostly  preg 
COW  seals  giving  iiiilk.  The  majority  or  the  seals  Ave 
cauglit  in  the  Bering  Sea  were  cows  that  had  given  birth  to  their  young. 
We  captured  these  at  a  distance  ot  about  100  miles  away  from  the 
Pribylov  Islands.  We  used  the  spear  more  than  the  gun,  and  secured 
nearly  all  of  them  that  we  hit  with  it,  but  lost  a  great 

T      4.T      J  1      i  p        I  -1-1  Waste  of  lift. 

many  seals  that  we  shot;  we  preier  to  use  the  S])ear, 

because  in  so  doing  we  do  uot  lose  so  many  nor  frighten  tliCm  away. 

About  four  years  ago  I  went  to  Bering  Sea  as  a  hunter  in  the  seal- 
ing schooner  C/(r(//cH^/e>',  Williams,  master.    She  carried      ^„  „         ,„,„ 
boats  and  one  canoe.     There  Avere  three  white  men  m 
each  boat  and  two  Indians  in  the  canoe.     We  caught 
about  2,000  seals,  most  of  \vhich  were  cow^s  in  milk.   .  Catcii  mostly  uurs- 
The  white  hunters  who  used  guns  in  the  Bering  Sea  "'sco^^s. 
were  banging  away  at  the  seals  sometimes  all  day  long,  and  they  would 
lose  a  great  many  of  those  that  they  had  shot.     I  do  not  think  that 
they  brought  to  the  sch.ooner  one-half  of  those  that  they 
killed,  to  say  nothing  of  those  that  they  wounded  and 
got  away.     I  am  unable  to  tell  the  sex  of  the  seal  while  it  is  in  the  water, 
unless  it  be  an  old  bull  with  a  long  wig. 

In  1889  I  again  went  to  the  sea,  in  the  schooner  James  G.  Swan.    Seals 
were  not  so  thick  in  the  sea  that  year  as  thev  Avere 
about  four  years  previous  to  that  time.     Seals  are  like-      ■^'''"'*  ^-  '^^""'i^^o 
wise  rapidly  decreasing  all  along  the  coast.     I  have     Decrease. 
never  killed  an  old  bull  or  barren  cow  along  the  coast, 
neither  have  I  killed  a  cow  in  milk  along  the  coast,  or  anywhere  else 
than  in  the  Bering  Sea.    Small  black  pups  aie  not  seen  in  the  water  along 
the  coast.     Seals  tirst  appear  off  Cape  Flattery  about 
the  1st  of  January,  and  pass  on  up  the  coast  and  begin  co^t^^ ''"'*''''*'  "^ 
to  disappear  in  June,  the  old  cows  leaving  first,  and 
about  the  last  of  June  they  are  all  gone. 

OSLY  (his  X  mark). 

Witness : 

C.  P.  Be  OWN. 
John  P.  McGlinn. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892 
[l.  s.]  Claeence  p.  Beown, 

Kotary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington, 

residing  at  Fort  Angeles^  Wasli. 


Deposition  of  Wilson  ParJcer,  Indian  sealer. 

habits  pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 
Wilson  Parker,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native 
Makah  Indian  and  live  on  the  reservation  atlSIeah  IJay,  State  of  Wash- 
ington, United    States  of  America,  and  am  by  occupa- 
tion a  hunter  and  fisherman.     I  have  been  engaged  in  g,.fn,^,r'®"'^®  Indian 
seal  hunting  for  about  eighteen  years;  the  first  eight 
or  ten  years  I  used  to  go  as  a  steerer-man  in  large  canoes,  three  men  Id 


392  TESTIMONY 

a  canoe,  and  the  Indians  in  tlie  canoe  used  spears.     We  linnted  10  or  15 

miles  off  shore  and  about  the  same  distance  north  and 

Sealing  off  coast.       ^^^^^^^  ^^j.  ^^^^^  Flattery.     I  used  to  hunt  for  seals  iu  the 

Straits  of  Sail  Juan  de  Fuea,  but  of  late  years  have  not  done  so  because 
the  seals  do  not  (!ome  into  the  straits  any  more.     During  the  last  eight 
or  ten  years  I  have  been  hunting  seals  in  smaller  canoes  and  were  taken 
farther  out  to  sea  by  schooners  that  would  carry  ten  or  fifteen  small 
canoes,  each  canoe  manned  by  two  Indiaiis.     I  have  sealed  in  that  man- 
ner all  the  way  along  the  coast  from  the  Columbia  Eiver  to  the  upper 
end  of  the  Yaucouver  Island  and  have  never  seen  a 
co?rt.""*^  ^""^  "'^  ™  place  along  there  where  the  seals  hauled  out  upon  the 
land.     Seals  do  not  give  birth  to  their  young  in  the 
water  nor  on  the  kelp.     I  never  saw  any  black  pups  in  the  water,  but 
we  used  to  catch  a  great  many  more  gray  pups  than  we  do  noAV,  and  I 
have  never  captured  any  cows  along  the  coast  that  w'ere  giving  milk 
and  that  had  given  birth  to  their  young  that  year.     I  never  have  cap- 
tured any  full  grown  cows  on  the  coast  that  were  bar- 
Lie in  wat«!"^" '*"''■*    ^'^'"5  ''^^^^  seldoui  scc  any  old  bulls  and  can  not  tell  the 
sex  of  a  seal  in  the  water. 
Seals  are  very  much  more  scarce  than  they  were  when  I  began  to 
seal  in  schooners.     I  never  see  any  more  big  herds 

Decrease.  jjj^^  j  ^^^,^,^1  ^^^  ^^^^^^    |^  -^  ^^^^^^^  ^^^^,^    difficult    to    get   tO 

them  now  than  in  former  years.  They  have  got  wild  and  shy,  because 
they  have  been  hunted  too  much  witb  guns.  I  have  been  out  seal- 
ing this  year  and  caught  16  seals;  5  of  them  were  full-grown  coavs 
that  had  pui)S  in  them.  The  rest  were  young  seals  about  2  years 
old,  both  male  and  female,  excepting  1,  and  that  was 
Migration.  ^  ^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^     rpj^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^^  appear  in  this  vicinity 

about  the  1st  of  January,  and  pass  along  up  the  coast  in  June  and 
July.     The  cows  most  all  disappear  in  June  and  the  younger  seals  a 
little  later. 
„       .  ,     X  1  •        I  have  alwavs  hunted  with  a  spear  and  never  with 

Has  not  hunted  in  i    .       *  ,  •      -r-.       •  r-i 

Bering  Sea.  a  guu,  and  havc  never  been  in  Bering  Sea. 

^^  his 

Wilson  x  Parkee. 

mark. 

Witnesses : 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  *  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

notary  Puhlic  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  Chestoqua  Peterson,  cleric  of  trader. 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 
Chestoqua  Peterson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  24  years 
of  age,  and  am  the  son  of  Peter  Brown,  the  chief  of  the  Makah  Indians. 
I  reside  at  IsTeah  Bay,  Clallam  County,  State  of  Wash- 
Experience,  ington.  United  States  of  America.     I  am  by  occupa- 
tion a  clerk  iu  the  trader's  store  here,  and  I  speak  the 


tAKEN   AMONG    THE    MAKAH    INDIANS.  393 

English  language  well,  and  can  interpret  the  Chinook  and  Indian  lan- 
guages. During  the  last  eight  yi  ars  I  have  been  engaged  in  buying 
and  liandling  seal-lurs  for  my  employer  at  Xeali  Bay.  I  assort  the  furs 
into  different  classes  and  qualities  and  usually  divide  them  into  four 
grades — first,  .second,  third,  and  fourth. 

The  first-class  is  composed  mostly  of  the  skins  of  full-grown  cows. 
I  distinguish  the  skins  of  males  from  those  of  cows  because  the  skins 
of  the  ccjws  have  white  whiskers  and  those  of  males 

r  1       1         1  •    1  Classes  of  skins. 

black  whiskers. 

The  second  class  I  place  the  skins  of  younger  seals  that  are  2  years 
old  and  over.  They  all  have  black  whiskers,  both  male  and  feiuiile, 
except  perhaps  a  few  seals,  whose  whiskers  are  beginning  to  turn 
white. 

The  third-class  I  place  the  skins  of  all  seals  that  are  less  than  2  years 
old,  excepting  the  gray  pups. 

The  fourth-class  1  put  the  gray  pups. 

The  third  and  fourth  classes  are  about  half  male  and  half  female. 
About  one-third  of  all  the  skins  taken  here  are  graded  as  first-class 
skins,  and  are  mostly  female  skins.     In  former  years  the  Indians  would 
take  a  greater  i)roportion  of  imj^s  than  they  do  now.     I  know  this  be- 
cause of  the  skins  that  are  offered  for  sale  now.     In  tlie 
schooner  James  (}.  t^icantlxi^  year  the  Indians  captured     ^^^crease. 
198  skins,  and  among  the  whole  lot  there  were  only  2  skins  of  pups. 
The  seals  taken  far  off  the  shore  are  larger  than  those  caught  near  the 
coast  or  in  the  straits.     There  are  not  as  many  seal 
skins  offered  for  sale  now  as  in  former  years,  and  last     James  G.swan,\%^2. 
year  our  people  caught  less  than  one-eighth  of  what 
they  used  to  prior  to  1880. 

Chestoqua  Peterson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Clarence  I\  Beown, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  8tate  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  John  Tysum^  Malcah  Tmlian  (sealer). 

habits.    pelagic    sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 
John  Tysum,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  nm  about  29  years 
old.     I  am  a  native  Indian  of  the  jNlakah  tribe;  I  reside 
on  the  reservation  at  the  Xeah  Bay  ^Vgency.     I  am  by  .    Experience. 
occupation  a  hunter  and  fisherman.     1  have  been  en- 
gaged in  hunting  seals  ever  since  I  was  old  enough.    In 
1889  I  entered  tl'ie  liering  Sea  in  the  schooner  James  G.     •^"'"'•'  ^-  '^«"'«>i«^- 
Swan.     I  was  never  there  before,  nor  have  I  Ix'cn  there         ,.     , 
Since.     About  two  years  ago  I  l)<\gan  to  iiunt  seals  with 
the  shotgun,  but  I  have  always  carried  a  spear  in  my  canoe,  and  frcfiuently 
use  it.     1  have  sealed  w\^  and  down  the  coast  in  canoes  between  De- 
struction Island  and   tlie  north  end  of  Vancouver   I.sland.     In  latter 
years  I  have  gone  seal  hunting  in  schooners  that  carried  Indian  canoes. 
Generally  each  canoe  is  manned  by  three  Indians,  one  of  which  carries 
a  spear.    When  a  seal  or  a  school  of  seals  are  sighted  the  canoe  is  low- 


394  TESTIMONY 

ered  and  tlielncliaiis  go  toward  tlie  seal  and  tiy  to  capture  tliem,  and  at 

niglit  we  return  to  the  schooner  with  our  catch.     The  seals  are  placed 

on  board  the  schooner  and  skinned,  sometimes  the  carcasses  are  thrown 

.^  into  the  sea,  and  soinetiines  tliey  are  saved  for  food. 

i-ra  ion.  Seals  appear  on  the  coast  about  the  last  of  December, 

and  they  are  nearly  all  gone  up  north  by  the  middle  of  July. 

About  half  the  seals  caught  along  the  coast  are  cows  that  have  white 

,        whiskers  and  have  pups  in  them.    A  good  many  young 

Pregnant  females.  ,  ,„  i,-  -ij.r»  it 

males  and  lenniles,  Irom  1  to  2  years  old  are  cap- 
tured. They  all  have  black  whiskers.  I  have  never 
killed  anvold  bulls  along  the  coast,  but  have  killed  a 
coSTt.""*  '''"'^  "^  ""  very  few  hirge  cows  late  in  the  season  that  were  bar- 
ren. Seals  do  not  haul  out  upon  the  land  along  the  coast 
and  give  birth  to  their  young;  nor  do  they  breed  on 
Waste  of  life.  ^^^  j^^j^^  ^^.  •  ^^  ^j^^  watcr.     I  get  most  all  the  seals  that 

I  hit  with  the  spear.  I  lose  about  one-half  of  those  I  shoot  with  a  gun. 
If  I  kill  a  seal  right  dead,  it  sinks  almost  as  quick  as  a  rock,  and  if  it 
is  slightly  wounded  they  run  away  and  are  lost. 

I  have  captured  a  great  many  seals  with  the  spear,  and  found  shot 

.  .  ^^  in   them.     I  have  never  captured  any  cows  in  milk 

Sear  *°^  '"     '^^"''^  along  the  coast,  but  when  in  the  Bering  Sea,  in  1889, 1 

sealed  off  about  90  miles  from  the  seal  islands  and 

caught  cows  in  milk    there.     During  the  last  5  or  C 

D.ciease.  yeais  scals  have  decreased  in  numbers  very  rapidly.    A 

great  many  of  the  white  men  are  poorhunters,  and  lose 

Waste  of  hie.  ^  ^.^.^.^^  ^^^^^^^  ^^^.  ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^j^.^^  ^j^^^^  ^j^^^^^        r^.^^^,  ^^^^^^^^ 

and  shoot,  and  shoot,  and  don't  get  any  seals,  and  that 

makes  them  wild,  so  that  an  Indian  can't  get  near  them 

isration.  with  a  si)ear.    The  cow  seals  leave  the  vicinity  of  Gape 

Flattery  sooner  than  the  young  seals  do  and  are  almost  all  gone  in 

June,  but  I  have  killed  young  ones  as  late  as  July. 

his 

John  x  Tysum. 

mark. 

Witness: 

John  P,  McGltnn. 
•    0.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D., 
1892. 
[seal.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Fublic  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  WatMns,  Makah  Indian  scaler. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 

Watkins,  being  buly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  That  I  am  a  native 

Makah  Indian,  and  reside  at  Neah  Bay  on  the  Indian  Eeservation  in 

,the  State  of  Washington,  United  States  of  America.     My  age  is  about  35 

.  years,  and  I  am  a  hunter  and  tisherman  by  occupation. 

xpenence.  ^  havc  been  hunting  seals  all  my  life,  or  since  I  was  old 

hnutin.-'^  °'*'*^""^^  '^^  enough.    Previous  to  ten  years  ago  I  always  hunted 

seals  with  a  spear  iu  a  large  canoe,  and  from  20  to  30 


tAKEN    AMONG    THE    MAKAH    INDIANS.  396 

miles  around  Cape  Flatteiy  and  from  60  to  100  miles  up  and  down  the 
coast.  Each  canoe  carried  3  Indians,  and  I  was  the  spearman,  and 
generally  secured  about  all  of  the  seals  that  I  hit,  but  would  sometimes 
miss  them  and  they  would  swim  away.  In  hunting  with  schooners 
during  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  we  would  take  ten  or  fifteen  smaller 
canoes  on  board  and  go  up  and  down  the  coast  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  Kiver  to  the  upper  end  of  Vancouver  Island.  We  send  but 
2  men  out  in  the  small  canoe.  I  have  always  used  ^^  ^^^^ 
the  spear  in  hunting  the  seals  and  none  of  tlie  hunters  Guns  frighten  the 
that  went  with  me  ever  used  the  gim.  We  do  not  like  *'^''^^- 
to  use  guns  because  it  scares  the  seals  away. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  place  along  the  coast  where  the  seals  haul  out 
upon  the  land  and  give  birth  to  their  young,  nor  can      g^.^,^  ^^^  ^_^^^  ^ 
they  give  birth  to  their  young  in  the  water  or  on  the   water. 
kelp  and  have  them  live.     Within  the  last  live  or  six      Decrease. 
years  the  seals  are  becoming  fewer  and  fewer,  and  are 
wild  and  shy  and  very  hard  to  catch.     Most  of  the  seals     Pregnant    females 
captured  along  the  coast  are  cows  with  pups  in  them. 
I  have  never  captured  any  cows  in  milk  or  that  had  given  birth  to 
their  young  that  year  on  coast,  and  I  do  not  recollect  of  ever  hav- 
ing caught  an  old  bull.     The  seals  first  appeared  about     no old buiis caught. 
the  cape  the  last  of  December,  and  the  grown  females     off  coast  December 
all  leave  for  the  north  in  June,  but  we  kill  some  of  the  tiiuune. 
younger  seals  up  to  the  middle  of  July,  and  then  they  leave.    I  have 
not  caught  any  gray  pui)S  this  year  and  have  never  hunted  seals  in  the 
Bering  Sea.     So  many  schooners  and  white  men  are  ,,  ,, 

.  ,1  -,1  n       1  .1  j_  ii      j_  j_T  A  o  gray  pups  caught. 

hunting  them  with  guns  all  along  the  coast  that  they 

I    .  •  IT     I'll        T  nn  jiiXtCriDllltlXlOD, 

are  getting  all  killed  oft. 

Watkins  (his  X  mark). 
Witness: 

C.  P.  Brown. 
John  P.  McGlinn. 

Subscribed  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Claeence  p.  Brown, 

Notary  Pttblic  in  and/or  the  IState  of  Washington^ 

residing  at  Port  Angeles,  Wash. 


Deposition  of  Charley  White,  3falah  Indian,  sealer. 

habits.    pelagic  sealing. 

State  op  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss: 
Charley  White,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  about  40 
years  old,  and  ain  a  native  j\Iakah  Indian.     I  reside  on 
the  Indian  Keservation  at  Neah  Bay,  State  of  Wash-        xpencnce. 
ington.   United    States    of   America.     I    am  by  occupation  a  hunter 
and  fisherman,   and    have    been    so    engaged    all  my   life.     I    have 
hunted   seals  in  canoes  all  along  the  coast,  betweeu  Grays  Harbor 
and  the  northern  end  of  Vancouver  Island.     Years 
ago  we  went  out  in  tlie  ocean  in  canoes,  but  in  later  iiuuu,|g"^''  °^  ^'"^'^^ 
years  we  take  our  canoes  out  on  the  ocean  in  schooners 
and  then  hunt  seals  from  the  schooners.     Have  never  been  any  farther 


596  TESTIMONY 

north  than  Barclay  Sound.    I  have  always  used  spears  in  hunting  the 
seals,  and  very  seldom  lose  one  I  hit.     While  out  hunt- 
preg^iut  fwuaks"^^*  i"&  ^^^^^  y*-'^i'  '^^  caught  sixtccu  seals:  one-halfof  them 
were  cows  with  pup,  the  remainder  were  yearlings  and 
two  years  old,  of  both  sexes.     Seals  begiu  to  appear  on  the  coast  the 
latter  part  of  December,  and  they  are  almost  all  gone  by  the  10th  of 
Mi'vrition  '^^^h^-    Tlic  COWS  appear  to  leave  for  the  nortliward 

igi.i  ion.  earlier  than  the  younger  ones.     While  out  seal  hunt- 

ing last  year  I  captured  a  few  seals  that  the  white  hunters  had  wounded 
and  lost,  and  found  a  good  nuiny  shot  in  their  bodies.     I  have  captured 
a  good  many  seals  lately  that  had  buckshot  in  them.     Seals  do  not 
haul  out  on  land  at  Barclay  Sound  nor  along  the  coast, 
wftw-^  "^*  ^"™  ^  nor  do  I  think  they  give  birth  to  theii*  young  in  the 
water  or  on  the  kelp. 
Seals  were  always  plenty  in  the  Strait  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca  and 
along  the  coast  until  the  white  hunter  came  here  and 
commenced  shooting  them  some  six  or  eight  years  ago. 
Since  that  time  they  have  decreased  very  rapidly. 

his 

Charley  x  White. 

^^  mark 

Witness: 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A. 
D.  181(2. 
[SEAL.]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Fuhlic  in  and  for  the  tState  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  Wispoo,  Indian,  sealer, 

HABITS,      pelagic   SEALING. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss  : 

Wispoo,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native  Indian 
of  the  Makah  tribe,  and  reside  on  the  reservation  at  Neah  Bay.     I 

am  about  35  years  old,  and  am  by  occupation  a  hunter 

•  xporience.  ^^^  fishemiau.     I  havc  hunted  seals  all  my  life,  or 

since  I  was  old  enough  to  do  so.     I  have  sealed  up  and  down  the 

coast,  between  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  Eiver  and  the  upper  end 

of  the  Vancouver  Island  and  Barclay  Sound.     I  am  familiar  with  the 

bays  and  inlets  along  the  coast,  and  I  do  not  know  of 
co?s't.'^°*  ^'^"^  ^^'  ""  ^^y  place  on  the  coast  where  the  seals  haul  out  upon 

the  land  and  breed.  They  do  not  give  birth  to  their 
pups  in  the  water  nor  on  the  kelp.  Sometimes  daring  a  heavy  storm 
a  few  seals  will  be  driven  on  shore  for  a  short  time,  but  will  not  stay 
but  a  few  hours.     Until  about  eiglit  years  ago  I  used  to  catch  seals  in 

the  Straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca,  but  for  the  last  two 

Sealing  ill  straits.  .i  j.i  i  i  •       j.-u  j.       -i. 

or  three  years  they  have  been  so  scarce  m  the  straits 
tliat  we  do  not  try  to  hunt  them  any  more.  About  ten  years  ago  I 
commenced  hunting  seals  from  schooners,  using  smaller  canoes  than  I 

formerly"  did,  and  have  always  used  spears  in  hunting 
e  agic  sea  mg.        geals.    About  sevcu  or  eight  years  ago  schooners  came 


TAKEN    AMONG    THE    MAKAH    INDIANS.  397 

in  witli  white  men  who  used  shotguns,  and  have  gradually  increased  in 
number  and  size  of  vessels,  until  now  there  are  nearly  one  hundred 
sealing'  schooners  engaged  in  sealing  along  the  coast. 

Seals  are  not  near  so  i)lentiful  as  they  were  seven  or  eight  years  ago. 
I  think  the  cause  of  this  is  that  they  have  been  hunted 
so  much  by  white  hunters,  who  use  shotguns  and  rifles.        ecrease. 
Most  all  the  seals  caught  by  me  along  the  coast  were 
cows  tliat  had  pups  in  them.     I  never  killed  a  barren  takeu^*^*    females 
cow  or  one  that  was  in  milk,  and  have  never  seen  a 
black  pup  in  the  water  along  the  coast,  but  used  to  capture  a  great 
many  gray  pups,  but  this  year  I  have  not  seen  one.    Seals  tirst  api)ear 
off  Cape  Flattery  about  the  last  of  December.    The 
cows  seem  to  leave  first,  and  in  July  nearly  all  of  the     ^'S'"'*'""- 
seals  have  disappeared.     I  am  familiar  with  the  Avest  coast  of  Vancou- 
ver Island,  and  have  been  in  Barclay  Sound,  Clayquot  Sound,  and 
talked  with  the  Indians  there,  and  none  of  us  know  of  any  place  along 
the  coast  where  seals  haul  out  upon  the  land  and 
breed,  nor  have  I  heard  any  Indian  speak  of  such  a  ^^^^  ^^^  ''''"^  "p  "° 
place.     Seals  do  not  give  birth  to  their  young  in  the 
water  nor  on  the  kelp.    Many  of  the  seals  I  have  speared  had  shot  and 
bullets  in  them.     This  was  never  seen  before  until  about  eight  years 
ago,  and  now  it  is  a  frequent  occurrence. 

WiSPOO  (his  X  mark). 
Witness : 

John  P.  McGlinn. 

C.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 

[SEAx,.]  Olakence  p.  Brovs^n, 

Notary  Public  in  and  for  the  State  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  Hish  YtiUa,  Malah  Indian,  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Washington, 

County  of  Clallam,  ss  : 
Hish  Yulla,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  about  00 
years  old,  and  am  a  native  Indian  of  the  Makah  tribe,  and  reside  on 
the  Neah  Bay  Eeservation,  in  the  county  of  Clallam,  State  of  Wash- 
ington, United  States  of  America.     I  have  been  a  hunter  and  fisher- 
man all  my  life.    Years  ago  I  used  to  hunt  seals  in  the 
Straits  of  San  Juan  de  Fuca  in  the  winter  time,  and      Experience. 
in  the  summer  time  I  Avould  hunt  them  in  canoes  from 
10  to  20  miles  off  Cape  Flattery,  and  of  late  years  I  hujit  in  a  small 
canoe,  and  put  it  on  a  schooner  and  go  up  and  down  tlie  coast  between 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River  and  Barclay  Sound.     I  have  always 
used  spears  in  hunting  the  seals.    I  have  been  out  on  the  Pacific  Ocean 
this  year  seal  hunting,  and  caught  three  seals;  they 
were  large  cow  seals,  and  had  pups  in  them.     One  and  ar^femlics!*^* '^*"^'^* 
two  year  old  seals  are  about  equally  male  and  female.   I 


398  TESTIMONY 

have  never  seen  a  young  black  pup  along  the  coast,  nor 

give^'wrth^o  pVp^  on   ^  Ijavc  uevcr  known  the  seals  to  haul  out  upon  the 

coast.  land  along  this  coast  and  give  birth  to  their  young.     I 

never  killed  a  cow  in  milk  along  the  coast.     Within  the 

Decrease.  last  five  or  six  years  seals  have  decreased  in   number 

very  fast  and  are  becoming  very  shy,  and  it  is  difficult 

to  creep  upon  them  and  hit  them  with  the  spear.     Years  ago,  the  heads 

of  seals  along  the  coast  would  stick  up  out  of  the  water  almost  as  thick 

as  the  stars  in  the  heavens,  but  since  the  white  man,  with  so  many 

schooners,  have  come,  and  began  to  shoot  and  kill  them  with  the  guns 

they  have  become  very  scarce. 

Almost  one-half  of  the  seals  1  catch  are  cow  seals 
are pre/nant^ftLafe".  and  havc  little  pups  iu  them.  The  cow  seals  are  the 
"When  seals  leave  A^'st  to  Ica  vc  the  coast,  but  tlic  youug  scals  stay  longer 
coast.  here,  and  are  not  all  gone  until  in  July. 

HiSH  YuLLA  (his  X  mark). 
Witness: 

John  P.  McGlinn. 
G.  E.  Gay. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1802. 

[seal.]  Clakence  p.  Brown, 

Notary  Puhlic  in  and  for  the  Slate  of  Washington. 


Deposition  of  Thomas  Zolnols,  Mal'ah  Indian,  scaler. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  oe  Washington, 

Comity  of  Clallam,  ss: 

Thomas  Zoluoks,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native 
Makah  Indian  and  reside  on  the  reservation  at  ISTeah 

Experience.  ^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^.  Washington,  United  States  of  America. 

I  am  24  years  old,  and  am  by  occupation  a  hunter  and  fislierman.  I 
have  been  engaged  in  hunting  seals  ever  since  I  was  9  or  10  years  old. 
Until  about  1880  I  hunted  scals  in  large  canoes,  in  v/hich  I  always  used 
the  spear.  In  the  lasteightor  ten  years  I  have  hunted  for  seals  insmall 
canoes  carried  on  schooners,  and  sealed  oft*  Cape  Flattery  from  20  to  75 
miles,  and  as  far  south  as  the  Columbia  River  and  north  up  to  the  passage 
into  Bering  Sea,  but  have  never  huntedfor  seals  in  those  waters.    About 

oiu  third  of  cows  one-third  of  all  the  cows  1  caught  along  the  coast  were 
caught  are  pregnant,  cows  with  pups  lu  thcui ;  ucvcr  cauglit  auy  old  bulls, 
and  used  to  catch  more  gray  pups  than  I  do  now.  Most  all  the  rest  of 
the  seals  I  caught  have  been  1  and  2  years  old,  and  are  about  equally 
male  and  female.     I  never  have  seen  or  heard  of  a  place  along  the  coast 

Do  not  haul  upon  whcrc  the  scals haul out upoii  land.  I  neverhave  seen 
oast.  any  pups  born  the  same  year,  nor  have  I  ever  caught 

any  cow  seals  on  the  coast  that  were  in  milk. 

Seals  are  much  scarcer  now  than  they  used  to  be  six  or  eight  years 
ago.    They  used  to  go  ten  or  fifteen  in  a  bunch,  but 

Decrease.  ^^^^^^  ^^  scldom  scc  morc  than  two  or  thre^>  together. 

A  great  many  that  I  have  caught  in  the  last  thi-ee  or  four  years  have 


TAKEN  AMONG  THE  MAKAH  INDIANS.  399 

shot  in  them,  and  many  have  been  badly  wounded.     The  seals  first 

appear  oil' the  cape  about  Christmas,  but  do  not  come     Appear   off    capo 

in  the  straits  now  like  they  nsed  to,  and  they  are  very  Flattery  about  christ- 

shy  and  wild.    They  appear  to  be  passing  to  the  north-  °*''^- 

ward,  up  the  coast,  and  in  Jnly  are  nil  gone.     In  Imnt-      ^^.^        ,^j^,^^ 

mg  with  spears  1  capture  nearly  all  that  1  hit.     it  so 

many  white  hunters  keep  liunting  the  seal  with  shotguns  as  they  do 

now,  it  will  be  but  a  short  time  before  they  will  all  be  gone. 

'  his 

Thomas  x  Zolnoks. 

mark. 

Witness : 

0.  P.  Brown. 

C.  Peterson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  on  this  27th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal,]  Clarence  P.  Brown, 

Notary  Fvhlic  in  and  for  the  8tat6  of  Washington. 


TESTIMONY  TAKEN  IN  SAN  FRANCISCO. 


De]}Ositio7i  of  Charles  Adair,  s(aJ<r  (loat-jiidJer). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 
Charles  Adair,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  by 
occupation  a  sailor.     I  reside  in  Port  Town  send.     I  have  made  two 
.  sealing  voyages  in  tlie  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  as 

xpeiieuce.  seaman  and  boat  pnller.    In  1889  I  went  onthe  Ameri- 

jamcs  cs'M an.  1889.  can  schoouer  James  G.  Swan,  and  the  other,  in  1890,  in 
jiosie  oisen,  1820.      the  Eritisli  schooner  i?06"i!e  Olsen,  of  Avhich  Captain  Mc- 
Lean was  master.    We  left  abont  the  1st  of  March  in 
the  James  G.  Sican,  the  voyage  being  made  about  Cape  I'lattery,  the 
mouths  of  the  Straits  of  Fuca  and  the  entrance  of  Puget  Sound,  and 
,, ,    .       ,.      ^     were  gone  about  six  weeks.     We  caught  about  185 

lelagic  seahiic;  le-  -,,-,,  ■,  •  i  i  -n     i    j_i 

males  priiicipaiiy  ta-  scals,  mostJy  icmalcs  lu  youug,  and  we  killed  them 

^™-  while  they  were  asleep  on  the  water.    The  first  day  I 

hunted  we  killed  15,  and  used  rifles  and  shotguns,  but  w^e  used  the 

Waste  of  life  sliotguus  mostly.    We  secured  one  out  of  about  every 

five  that  we  shot  at  or  killed. 

The  Bosie  Olsen  left  Victoria  about  the  5th  of  March  and  w^ent  down 

to  Neah  Bay,  down  to  Cape  Flattery,  about  80  miles  south.    W^e  cruised 

around  there  about  five  weeks,  and  had  about  275  seals,  when  we  started 

north.     Then  w^e  went  to  Queen  Charlotte  Sound  on  up  to  the  Bering 

Berin    Sea  time  of  ^^^"     Reentered  the  Bering  Sea  through  Miickawa 

enterinf.  '"^'  ^"^  ^    Pass  about  the  Ist  of  July,  and  commenced  hunting 

seals  wherever  we  could  find  them,  among  wiiich  were 

30  tTTso ''miles" from  a  gTcat  nuiuy  cows  giving  milk,  w^hich  we  killed  from 

islands.  30  to  150  miles  from  the  islands.     We  had  a  row  on 

.         .    board  because  some  of  the  hunters  were  green  hands 

enced!  *'^^'  "^^^^^®"'  and  the  men  would  not  go  out  in  the  boats  with  them. 

They  took  the  hunters  out  of  our  boats  and  put  them 

into  the  other  boats  that  made  no  catch,  and  then  we  kicked  that  they 

should  put  the  green  hunters  into  our  boats,  because  everything  they 

would  shoot  would  sink  on  them  and  were  lost.     We  cruised  around 

there  for   awhile  and  finally  the  captain   thought  he  would   try  the 

Boat-  uUer    a  of    inlands.     We  got  $oO  a  month,  and  25  cents  from  the 

oa  -pu  er,  pay  o  .   j^^^^gj^g  ^^^^  25  cciits  for  cacli  skiii  off  the  boat.     We 

Eaidiiigtheisiamis.   rcfused  to  go  ou  the  islaiids  on  those  terms,  as  we  did 

not  care  to  take  the  risk  unless  he  gave  us  -f  1.25  a  skin. 

The  captain  would  not  give  us  that,  so  we  cruised  around  again  and  at 

last  we  came  to  terms,  the  captain  agreeing  to  give  us  $1  a  skin.    Wethen 

400 


TESTI'MOlSfY    TAKEN   IN   SAJST   FRANCISCO.  401 

went  over  toward  St.  Paul  Island,  but  were  driven  away  by  a  revenue 
cutter.  We  cruised  around  in  the  sea  till  the  latter  x)art  of  October, 
when  we  started  for  hojne.  Our  entire  catch  for  that  Females,  percent- 
season  was  1,270  skins.  1  think  we  got  on  an  average  age  of. 
about  two  males  to  ten  females.  An  experienced  waste  of  life. 
luiiiter  would  get  one  out  of  every  three  that  he  shot  or  euwd."*'*'^'  '^''p®'^' 
killed,  and  a  green  hunter  would  get  about  one  out  of  Hunter,  iiiexperi- 
every  seven  or  eight  that  he  shot  or  killed.  enct-a. 

Charles  Adair. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  6th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892.= 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fiiblie. 


Deposition  of  Charles  J.  BeJilow,  furrier,  San  Francisco. 

pelagic  catch. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Charles  J.  Behlow,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  reside  in  San 
Francisco,  State  of  California,  and  am  by  occupation  ^^  erience 
a  fur  merchant,  and  have  been  so  engaged  permanently     ^p*^"**"*'''- 
for  the  last  thirty-tive  years,  during  which  time  I  have  been  constantly 
handling  large  quantities  of  raw  fur-seal  skins  from  all  different  loca- 
tions, and  can  readily  distinguish  the  respective  quality,  size,  age,  and 
sex.     On  May  7  of  this  year  1  examined  355  salted 
fur-seal    skins,   ex-steamer    Umatilla    from    Victoria,   t^'^um^c^wnAml  °^ 
and  found  the  same  to  be  fresh  skins  taken  off  the 
animal  within  three  months.     They  were  killed  in  the  North  Pacific. 
On  examination  1  found  they  were  the  skins  known  as  the  northwest 
coast  seals,  and  belong  to  the  herd  which  have  their     j^ortiiwest    coast 
rookery  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     The  lot  contained  310  seals. 
skins  of  the  fur-seal  cow  (matured).     From  the  shape     -Nfeariyaiipregnam. 
of  the  *skin  most  all  of  these  cows  must  have  been 
heavy  with- iiuj),  and  same  cut  out  of  them  when  ca])tured.     Eighteen 
skins  of  the  fur-seal  male  (matured).     Twenty-seven  skins  of  the  fur- 
seal  gray  pup,  from  6  to  9  months  old;  sex  doubtful. 

On  June  2,  I  examined  78  salted  fur-seal  skins,  ex-steamer   ^Yalla 
Walla  from  Victoria,  and  found  the  same  to  be  fresh 
skins  taken  off  the  animal  within  three  months.     They  t^'\y^%aiia%^l 
were  killed  in  the  ISTorth  Pacific. 

On  examination  I  found  they  were  the  skins  known  as  the  North- 
west Coast  seals,  and  belong  to  the  herd  which  have 
their  rookery  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  The  lot  contained  Northwest  Coast 
()6  skins  of  the  fur-seal  cow  (matured).  From  the  shape  *' Nearly aii pregnant. 
of  the  skin  most  all  of  these  cows  must  have  been 
heavy  with  pup,  and  same  cut  out  of  them  when  cajitured.  Five  skins 
of  the  fur-seal  male  (matured).  Seven  skins  of  the  fur-seal  gray  pup, 
from  6  to  9  months  old.     Sex  doubtful. 

On  June  7  I  examined  268  salted  fur-seal  skins  ex-steamer  Umatilla 
from  Victora,  and  found  the  same  to  be  fresh  skins  taken 
off"  the  animal  within  three  months.    They  were  killed 
in  the  North  Pacific.     On  examination  I  found  they      Nortiiw'os\  Coast 
were  the  skins  known  as  the  Xortliwest  Coast  seals,  -^<*=^|^j  ^^  jre^nant 
and  belong  to   the    herd    which    have  their    rookery  ^^'^^^'^  pro^nan  . 
on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     The  lot  contained  212  skins 
2716— VOL  n ^26 


402  TESTIMONY 

of  btie  far-seal  cow  (matured).  From  the  shape  of  the  skin  most  all  ot 
these  cows  must  have  been  heavy  with  pup  and  same  cut  out  of  them 
when  captured.  Eleven  skins  of  the  fur-seal  male  (matured).  Forty- 
five  skins  of  the  fur-seal  gray  pup,  from  0  to  9  mouths  old.  Sex 
doubtful. 

On  the  same  date  I  also  examined  124  salted  fur-seal  skins  ex-Uma- 

'^Umatiiia "  1892      ^*^^^'  ^"*^"^  Victoria,  and  found  the  same  to  be  fresh 

skins  taken  off  the  animal  within  three  months.    They 

were  killed  in  the  Korth  Pacilic.     On  examination  I  found  they  Avere 

the  skins  known  as  the  j^orthwest  Coast  seals,  and  be- 

^mithwest  Coast  long  to  the  herd  wliich  have  rookery  on  the  Pribilof 

Islands.     The  lot  contained  93  skins  of  the  fur-seal  cow 

(matured).     From  the  shape  of  the  skin  most  all  of  these  cows  must 

Neariyau  pregnant,  bavc  bccu  hcavy  witli  pup  and  samc  cut  out  of  them 

when  captured.     Itiiteen   skins  ot  the  fur-seal  male 

(matured).    Sixteen  skins  of  the  fur-seal  gray  pup.  from  G  to  9  months 

old.     Sex  doubtful. 

1  notice  on  exainining  seals  caught  this  spring  that  there  is  a  lack 
of  the  larger  size  of  productive  animals,  and  the  lots 
isMn^  "^  ^'^'^^^  *^™^*^    mostly  contain  the  skins  of  the  medium-sized  seals, 
running  from  2  to  3  years  of  age. 

Chs.  J.  Behlow. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  mo  this  24:th  day  of  June,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Koiary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  Charles  J.  Behlow,  furrier,  ISan  Francisco. 

pelagic  catch. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Charles  J.  Behlow,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  sa3^s:  I  re- 
side in  San  Francisco,  State  of  California,  and  am  by 
occupation  a  fur  merchant,  and  have  been  so  engaged 
permanently  for  the  last  thirty-five  years,  during  which  time  I  have  been 
constantly  handling  large  quantities  of  raw  fur-seal  skins  fi'om  all  dif-' 
ferent  locations,  and  can  readil}^  distinguish  the  respective  quaUty,  size, 
age,  and  sex. 
On  July  13, 1892, 1  examined  1,342  salted  fur-seal  skins,  ex-schooner 
Examined  catch  of  -E^'^^wm  and  Loui^e  from  the  Xorth  Pacific  Ocean,  and 
the ' stiiooner  Emma  fouud  saiuc  to  be  frcsli  skius  takcii  off  the  animal  with- 
and  Louise.  j^^  f^^^^,  inoutlis.     Tlicy  wcre  killed  in  the  North  Pacific. 

On  examination  I  find  they  were  the  skins  known  as 
skins.  ^^"^^^       ^^^     the  Northwest  Coast  seals,  and  belong  to  the  herd 
wliicli  have  their  rookery  on  the  Pribylov  Islands.    The 
ceSfcmarJs"°     ^^^  !<>*  coutaiucd  four   skins   of  the   fur-seal,  large  bulls 
(breeding  bulls),  123  skins  of  the  fur-seal,  male  (mostly 
matured),  98  skius  of  the  fur  seal,  gray  pup,  less  than  one  year  old,  sex 
doubtful;  1,112  skins  of  the  fur-seal,  cow  (mostly  matured).     From 
Mostly  prc'Tiant      thesluxpe  of  tlu3  skill  luost  all  these  cows  must  have  been 
heavy  with  pup,  and  same  cut  out  of  them  when  cap- 
tured. Charles  J.  Behlow. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  14th  day  of  July,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Rotary  Fublic, 


TAKEN   IN   SAN   FRANCISCO.  .  403 

Deposition  of  Charles  J.  Behloic,  furrier, 

pelagic  catch. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Charles  J.  Belilow,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  in 
the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of  Cali-  ^  j-ience 
fornia;  I  am  by  occupation  a  fur  merchant,  and  have 
been  so  engaged  permanently  for  the  last  thirty -five  years,  dirring  which 
time  I  have  been  constantly  handhng  large  quantities  of  raw  fur-seal 
skins  from  many  difierent  localities,  and  I  can  readily  distinguish  the 
respective  quality,  size,  age,  and  sex. 

On  the  26th  instant  I  examined  fifteen  salted  fur-seal  skins  ex-schooner 
Eose  S2yar]cs  from  the  North  Pacific  Ocean,  and  found      Examined  catch 
the  same  to  be  fresh  skins  taken  oft"  the  aminal  within  of  the  Bose  sparks. 
two  months.     They  were  killed  in  the  ^STorth  Pacific, 
and  that  they  are  of  the  skins  known  as  the  iSTorthwest  Coast  seals,  and 
belonged  to  the  herd  which  have  their  rookery  on  the  Pribylov  Islands. 

The  lot  contained :  2  skins  of  the  fur  seal  (matured) ;      ^^.^^^^  ^^  ^^^.^^  ^ 
2  skins  of  the  fur-seal  gray  pup  under  one  year  of  age  the  catch. 
(sex  doubtful) ;  11  skins  of  the  fur-seal  cow  (matured),      ^^^^^jy  f^maiea. 
And  from  the  shape  of  the  latter  most  all  of  these  cows 
must  have  been  heavy  with  i)up,  and  some  cut  out  of  them  when  cap- 
tured. 

Chs.  J.  Behlow. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  30th  day  of  July,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  Charles  J.  Behlow,  furrier. 
pelagic  catch. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 

Charles  J.  Behlow,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  in 
the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of  California,  and  I  am 
by  occupation  a  fur  merchant  and  have  been  so  en- 
gaged permanently  for  the  last  thirty-five  years,  during  xpencnce. 
which  time  I  have  been  constantly  handling  large  quantities  of  raw  fur- 
seal  skins  from  many  different  localities,  and  I  can  readily  distinguish 
the  respective  quality,  size,  age,  and  sex. 

On  the  29th  instant  I  examined  2,170  salted  fur-seal  skins  ex-schooner 
Fd.  E.  Webster,  tliat  were  taken  by  said  schooner  off'  the     Examiuati  on  of 
coast  of  Japan  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.     I  found  them  to  be  catcii'of  the  jEd.  e. 
fresh  skins  skinned  off  the  animal  within  four  months    ^''«^*'«''- 
last  past,  and  that  they  are  of  the  class  of  skins  known  as  liussiau  seals, 


404  TESTIMONY 

and  they  belongs  to  tlie  herd  haviug  its  rookery  on  the  Commander 
Islands  and  the  Bobbins  Bank. 

The  lot  contains  320  skins  of  the  fnr-seal  male  (mostly  matured) ; 

105  skins  of  the  fur-seal  gray  pup  under  one  year  of 

laSiVca'tch^""""  age  (sex  doubtful);  1,7-15  skins  of  the  fur-seal   cow 

(mostly  matured).     From  the  shape  of  the  latter  most 

y  emae.         ^^  ^^  thesc  COWS  luust  havc  becu  heavy  with  pup,  and 

the  same  cut  out  of  them  when  captured. 

I  find  the  skin  in  this  lot  to  ruu  much  larger  in  sizes  than  those 
known  as  the  Northwest  seals  that  are  now  taken  on  the  American  side. 
The  greater  percentage  of  these  li,170  salted  lur-seal  skins  are  of  the 
large  breeding  cows  with  fully  developed  teats. 

Some  years  ago  the  catch  of  the  IS^orthwest  seals  taken  in  the  Xorth 
Pacific  Ocean  and  the  Bering  Sea  (on  the  American  side)  contained  a 
great  number  of  the  large  breeding  cows  as  above  described;  but  of 
late  years,  on  examiniug  the  catches,  I  find  very  few;  and  this  year 
Old  stock  of  breed  ^^'^^'^^^^y  ^'^y?  pi'oviug'  couclusively  that  tlie  old  stock  of 
ing  cows  almost  ex-  productivc  COWS  is  aluiost  exterminated.  The  herd  to 
terminated.  which  the  2,170  scals  abovc  referred  to  belong,  and 

Rnssian  and  AJas-  k^own  as  "Eussiau  Seal,"  aud  have  no  connection  what- 
kauherdadonotmin-  cvcr  with  the  scals  taken  ou  tlic  coast  of  Noi'th  Aiiier- 
^^*^"  ica  or  in  the  Bering  Sea,  and  known  as  the  Northwest 

seal,  the  herd  that  have  their  rookery  on  the  Pribylov  Islands. 

Chs.  J.  Behlow. 
SubscribcMl  aud  sworn  to  before  me  this  30th  day  of  July,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  William  Bcndt^  Jitter-out  of  scaling  vessels,  and  managing 
oioner  of  the  schooner  Bowhead. 

pelagic  sealing-. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

William  Bendt,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside 
in  San  Francisco.     My  occupation  is  that  of  saloon 
Experience.  kccpcr  aiid  lodgiug-house  keeper.    I  have  been  engaged 

in  fitting  out  sealing  vessels  and  sending  them  to  the 
North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  for  eight  or  nine  years.  I  fitted  out  the 
schooners  Fowler,  Laura,  C.  R.  White,  and  others.  I  am  now  the  man- 
aging owner  of  the  schooner  Boiohcad.  I  furnished  my 
ou^^t':'''"''  ''•"*^°"'«^-  vessels  with  rifles  and. shotguns,  and  each  vessel  car 
ried  from  three  to  seven  boats,  with  three  men  to  the 
miTe^J^'^from'^  Pi^b/iof  boat,  a  huiitcr,  Doat-puller,  and  steerer,and  when  in  the 
Islands.  Bering  Sea  we  take  seals  from  10  to  150  miles  from  the 

Decrease  ^^^^  ishiiids.  Thcrchas  been  a  great  decrease  of  seals  in 

the  last  few  years  from  what  there  was  in  former  years. 
Prohibition    neces-   They  are  also  getting  shy  and  scared  from  being  hunted 
^^^^'  so  much,  and  they  arc  now  very  hard  to  catch.     If  they 

do  not  protect  them  in  the  Bering  Sea  it  will  be  but  a  few  years  before 
they  will  be  exterminated. 


TAKEN   IN    SAN   FRANCISCO.  405 

There  is  very  little  m  the  sealing  business  now,  the  cost   Df  fitting 
out  a  vessel  being  from  |5,(K)0  to  $0,000,  and  you  have  to  take  the  risk 
of  having  your  vessel  confiscated.     I  sent  my  vessel  this  year  over  to 
the  coast  of  Japan.     There  were  some  seventy-odd  schooners  fitted  out 
last  year  from  Victoria  and  tliey  all  got  good  catches,  while  from  liere 
there  were  only  from  ten  to  fifteen  schooners  fitted  out,  and  thej-  did 
not  do  as  well.     From  my  knoAvledge  of  the  business  I  am  certain  that 
tlie  fur-seal  will  soon  be  exterminated  if  it  is  not  protected  in  the  Ber- 
ing Sea.     We  might  kill  some  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  if  there  did  not  too 
many  vessels  go  out  to  hunt  them.     I  know  of  none,  nor 
neither  do  I  believe  there  is  any  place  where  the  fur-  PHbUoo^kmd^.^  °" 
seals  haul  up  to  breed  on  land  along  our  shores  or  in 
the  Bering  Sea,  except  on  Pribylov  Islands,  and  further 
I  do  not  believe  it  possible  for' the  female  to  give  birth  poSt'.*'   ''""*''  ™' 
to  its  young  in  the  water  and  have  it  live. 

W.  Bendt. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  A.  1).  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlie. 


Deposition  of  Martin  Benson^  nealer,  and   master  of  James  G.   Sivar 

and  Leo. 

pelagic  sealing-. 

Martin  Benson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  have  been 
engaged  in  sealiug  five  years,  as  master  of  the  James  G.  Swan  and  the 
Leo,  in  Bering  Sea  and  North  Pacific  Ocean.     I  began     Experience 
to  take  seal  oft'  Cape  Flattery  about  March  1.     Fol- 
lowed the  seal  north  and  entered  Bering  Sea  about     Migration. 
July  20.     The  seal  are  constantly  on  the  ]nove  up  the  coast  from  the 
time  they  first  make  tlunr  appearance  oft"  Cape  Flattery.    The  spear  and 
shotgun  have  Ijeen  used  by  me.     But  few  seal  are  lost  that  are  struck 
with  spear.    About  60  per  cent  are  lost  when  shot  with  shotgun  and  a 
larger  proportion  are  lost  when  rifle  is  used.     Seventy-      seventy-five    per 
five  per  cent  of  the  seal  taken  on  the  coast  are  cows  cent  cows  with  pup 
with  pup.     And  the  larger  proportion  of  those  killed  *''^^®"- 
in  Bering  Sea  are  also  cows.     Have  killed  cow  seal,  with  milk  in  them, 
05  miles  from  the  Pribilof  Islands.     I  think  cow  seal  are  tamer  than 
young  male  seal.     A  few  male  seal  are  taken,  ages  ranging  from  1  to 
5  years.     Once  in   a  while  we   catch   an  old  bull  in  the  I'acific  Ocean. 
The  sex  of  the  seal  can  not  be  told  in  the  water  unless  it  be  an  old  bull, 
which  is  told  l)y  its  size. 

I  use  no  discrimination  in  hunting,  but  kill  everytliing  that  comes 
near.     When  seals  are  shot  when  they  first  put  their  .....     .v.-,, 

heads  above  water  they  sink  at  oiu;e  and  are  hard  to  .^indiscnmmate 
secure.     Alwaystry  to  shoot  seal  in  tlie  head.     If  head 
is  not  exposed,  we  shoot  them  in  other  ])arts  of  the  body.     It  is  only  a 
question  of  three  or  four  years,  if  this  indiscriminate      Decrease, 
slaughtering  of  seals  is  not  stopi)ed,  tliey  will  become 
exterminated.     IsTever  have  heard  of  or  seen  any  pups  ^fteroi""an.vu'iIer^ 
being  born  in  the  water  or  anywhere  else  on  the  coast  else  outside  rribiiof 
outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.     I  have  never  heard  of 


406  TESTIMONY 


Fur  seal 
haul  up  on 
■where  tl 


'■^^  rstV*  3Tiy  fur-seal  hauling  upon  the  coast  elsewhere  than  on 

.„  .11111  ou  I'lib-   the  Pribilof  Islands.     If'iielagic  sealinj>- is  stopped  in 

iiot  Islands.  Boring  Sea  for  a  number  of  years  seal  would  become 

Protection.  plentiful  again;  if  not  stopped  they  will  soon  be  exter- 

minated. 

Martin  Benson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  befin-e  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.    W.   LAVfiNDER, 

United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Thomas  Bradley^  sealer  {boat  puller), 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  op  California. 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Thomas  Bradley,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside 

in  San  Francisco.     My  occupation  i.s  that  of  a  seaman. 

aggie    oss,       .   j^^  i;«;84  I  shi])p('d  Oil  the  Maf/f/ie  Ross  as  a  boat-puller 

for  a  sealing  voyage  to  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea.     We  left 

Victoria  about  May,  going  north,  and  sealed  all  the  way  to  the  Bering 

Sea.     We  had  about  sixty  before  entering  the  Bering  Sea,  nearly  all 

of  which  were  females  witli  young  pups  in  them.      We  entered  the 

Bering  Sea  the  middle  of  May  and  captured  300  while 

Mostly     pregnant  in  there.     Most  of  tliese  were  mother  seals  with  their 

®'''^^'*'  breasts  full  of  milk.     We  had  six  boats,  four  men  to  a 

boat,  two  boat-pullers  and  a  steerer  and  hunter.     We 

Rifles  u.sed.  killed  them  with  rifles.     We  used  to  shoot  at  anything 

we  ran  across,  and  got  about  a  third  of  what  we  killed 

Two-thirds  lost.       ^^,  wounded.     I  do  not  know  how  many  miles  off  the  seal 

islands  we  were  when  we  caught  them,  as  I  did  not  know  the  distances. 

Thos.  Bradley. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  15th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1S92. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


De2)osition  of  Thomas  Brown  (iVo.  <2),  scaler. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Thomas  Brown,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside 
in  San  Francisco.     My  o(!Cui)atiou  is  that  of  a  laborer.     I  made  a  seal- 
ing voyage  to  the  ]S"orth  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  on 
c/er.iKrBerfnftea!  the  Alexander,  of  whicli  Captain  McLean  was  master. 
We  sailed  from  Victoria  in  January,  1885,  going  south 
to  Cape  Blanco,  sealing  round  there  about  a  mouth,  when  we  bore  north 


TAKEN    IN    SAN   FRANCISCO.  407 

to  tlie  Bering"  Sea,  sealing  all  tbe  way  up.     We  had  250  seals  before  en- 
tering the  sea,  the  largest  percentage  of  which  were  fe-      0.1.3^^^,^   pa^t  jc^. 
males,  most  of  theiu  having  young  pups  in    them.     I  males,  mostly  preg- 
saw  some  of  the  young  pups  taken  out  of  them.     We  "'™*- 
entered  the  sea  along  about  the  1st  of  May  and  caught  between  600 
and  700  seals  from  30  to  ]50  miles  off  the  seal  islands,  and  four  out  of 
five  were  females  in  milk.     1  saw  the  milk  running  on      ^,^^^^  ^^  ^^  ^^^ 
the  deck  when  we  skinned  them.      We  had  six  boats,  miles  from  Pribiiof 
three  men  to  a  boat,  a  boat-puller,  hunter,  and  steerer.  islands. 
They  used  mostly  shotguns,  using  a  rifle  for  long  range.     We  got  on  an 
average  three  0/  five  out  of  every  twelve  killed  and 
wounded.     It  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  weather.   paUyS!  ^'''°"" 
There  were  lots  of  seals  in  the  water  at  that  time. 

Thos.  Beown. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  15th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL,.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Motary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  John  G.  Gantwell,  lieutenant^  Revenue  Marine. 

pelagic  sealing". 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 

John  C.  Cantwell,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  1  am 
a  second  lieutenant  in  the  United  States  Eevenue-Ma- 
rine  Service.     I  have  been  on  duty  in  Bering  Sea  dur-   i^24g||™n|f|!f/  ^° 
ing  the  summer  mouths  of  the  years  1884,  1885,  1886, 
and  1891,  and  have  frequently  been  on  shore  at  the  Pribiiof  Islands 
and  in  the  waters  adjacent  thereto.    Have  always  made  it  a  careful 
study  and  paid  particular  attention  to  tlie  number  of  seal,  both  on  the 
Pribiiof  Islands  and  in    the  waters  of  Bering  Sea.     ^^  erience 
Whenever  opportunity  afforded  have  visited  the  rook-        ^penence. 
eries  for  the  purpose  of  photograx)hing  and  sketching  the  animals  and 
studying  their  habits,  numbers,  etc.     1  have  boarded  a  large  number 
of  vessels  fitted  out  as  sealers  and  engaged  in  sealing,  and  have  con- 
versed with  their  masters  and  crews  on  the  subject  of  pelagic  sealing. 
From  information  gathered  from  these  and  otlier  sources,  and  by  com- 
parison of  testimony  given  by  the  seal  hunters,  w^ould      waste  of  life; 
say  that  at  least  66  per  cent  of  seals  killed  or  wounded  mostly  pregnant  f«> 
escape  and  are  never  recovered,  and  that  75  per  cent  "'^^'^®' 
of  seals  shot  in  the  IsTorth  Pacific  Ocean  are  females  heavy  with  young, 
and  that  80  per  cent  of  seals  shot  in  Bering  Sea  from  July  1  to  Sep- 
tember 15  are  females,  most  of  which  have  given  birth  to  their  young 
and  are  mostly  caught  while  feeding  at  various  distances  from  land. 

Have  observed  carefully  the  areas  occupied  by  the  seals  on  the  rook- 
eries and  hauling-out  grounds,  especiallv  at  Northeast  Point  and  the 
reef  on  St.  Pauf  Island,  in  1884,  1885,  1886,  and  1891, 
and  on  both  rookeries  the  areas  formerly  occupied  by  grmu'ids  decreaafng?' 
seals  have  greatly  decreased,  so  much  so  that  at  first 
appearance  it  seemed,  in  18^,  as  if  the  liauling-out  grounds  had  been 
entirely  deserted.  Subsequent  examination  disclosed  the  fact  that  this 
was  not  strictly  true,  there  still  being  a  small  number  of  male  seals  left 


408  TESTIMONY 

on  those  gTouncts.    Have  also  observed  that  the  seals  are  iniich  more. 

scattered  ou  the  breeding  rookeries  than  in  former  years  (1884,  1885, 

1886);  also  that  the  nninber  of  seals  in  the  Avater  has 

proportionately  decreased,  and  that  they  have  grown 

very  much  more  shy  and  dithcult  to  api)roach.     Without  presuming  to 

be  absolutely  correct,  would  estimate  the  number  of  seals  present  at  St. 

Paul  Island  during  the  year  1891  to  be  about  10  per  cent  of  the  number 

there  in  former  years  of  observation  (1881, 1885,  and  1886).     I  have  also 

observed  seals,  presumably  fishing,  at  distances  vary- 

Femaies  feeding.      j^^.  ^.^__^^^  ^^  ^^  ^^^  j^^. j^^  ^^.^^^^  ^^^^  island,  and  am  of  the 

opinion  that  most  of  the  seals  seen  at  distances  more  than  10  miles  from 
land  during  the  breediug  season  are  females. 

I  did  not  observe  any  nnusually  large  number  of  dead  pnps  on  tlie 
rookeries  in  my  visits  to  the  islands  until  the  year  1891. 
Dead  pups.  During  the  mouth  of  September  of  that  year,  in  com- 

pany with  Mr.  J.  Stanley  Brown,  I  visited  the  Starry  Ateel  and  eastern 
rookeries  on  St.  George  Island  and  saw  more  than  the  average  number 
of  dead  pups  and  a  great  many  living  pups,  evidently  in  very  poor  con- 
dition, and  either  dead  or  dybig  from  starvation,  differing  in  this  respect 
from  the  condition  in  which  they  are  ordinarily  found  at  this  time  of 
the  year.  Subsequently  in  ]^ovember,  1891,  1  visited  the  Polovinia 
rookery  on  St.  Paul  Island,  and  in  the  course  of  one  hour's  slow  walking, 
covering  perhaps  li  miles  of  ground,  estimated  the  number  of  dead  pup 
seals  to  benot  less  than  1,000.  I  consider  this  number  enormonsly  in  excess 
of  the  normal  mortality.  I  was  informed  at  the  time 
Autopsies.  ^Yiat  the  stomachs  of  dead  pups  had  been  examined  by 

the  medical  officers  at  the  island  and  no  traces  of  food  were  found 
therein.      From  jjersonal  observation  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  fully  90 
per  cent  of  them  died  of  starvation  great  emaciation 
^^Dcatii  from  starva-  being  apparent.     It  will  be  necessary  to  iirevent  at 
once  further  open-sea  or  coastwise  killing  of  seals,  both 
Prohibition  ueces-  in  Bering  Sca  and  the  northern  Pacific  Ocean,  if  they 
^''"■^  are  to  save  them  from  extinction  on  the  Pribilof  Is- 

lands. 

The  j)resent  system  of  taking  seals  on  the  islands  in  vogue  and  prac- 
ticed by  the  lessees  under  governmental  supervision 
Management.  ^^^  j^^  ^^  opiuiou,  tlu'  bcst  that  cau  bc  dcviscd  for  build- 

ing up  and  peri^etuating  this  great  industry,  and  if  the  pelagic  hunter 
and  his  destructive  methods  were  banished  from  the  waters  of  the 
Bering  Sea  and  ISTorth  Pacific  it  would  be  but  a  few  years  when  these 
islands  would  again  be  teeming  with  seal  life.  The  weapons  used  by 
pelagic  hunters  are  rifles,  shotguns,  and  spears.  I  have  heard  of  nets 
being  used,  and  have  seen  one  on  board  a  sealer  (the  Eliza  Edwards, 
Bering  Sea,  1891),  but  know  nothing  of  it,  further  than  mere  hearsay. 
The  other  weaj)ons  I  have  seen  in  use. 

J.  C.  Cantwell, 
Second  Lieiiienant,  TJ.  8.  B.  M. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13tli  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
'    [SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  409 

Deposition  of  James  L.  Gartheuf,  sealer  {master),  1877-1887. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

James  L.  Cartlicut,  beiiij>-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  sajs:  I  am  79 
years  of  age.     I  reside  in  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco.    My 
occupation  is  that  of  a  mastin-  mariner.     I  was  engaged     ^^^^^^-^^^^^^ 
in  hunting  the  fur-seals  in  the  North  Pacific  in   1877 
to  1887,  and  during  the  latter  part  of  the  time  in   Bering  Sea.     I 
usually  left  San  Francisco  in  February  or  March  of  each  year  and 
sealed'  along  the  coast,  following  the  herd  north  on     ^j^^^^j^^^ 
their  way  to  their  breeding  grounds  on  the  Pribylov        '^"^ '"''' 
Islands  in  the  Bering  Sea.     I  usually  entered  the  sea  about  the  1st  of 
July  and  came  out  in  September.    About  85  per  cent  of  my  catch  of 
seals  along  the  coast  of  the  North  Pacific  were  females,  and  most  all  of 
them  were  cows  in  pup,  and  I  used  to  kill  most  of  them  while  asleep 
on  the  water.     I  lost  a  great  many  that  were  kiUed  by     ^^^^^  ^^  ^.^^ 
their  sin.king  before  we  could  get  to  them.    I  think  on  an  cipaiu-  female,'  and 
average  I  got  one  out  of  every  three  killed,  but  some  mostly  preguaut. 
of  my  hunters  did  not  do  as  well.     It  is  difficult  to  get  more  than  one 
breel'hing  seal  out  of  six  killed.     It  is  tlie  custom  for  hunters  to  brag 
about  how  many  seals  they  get  out  of  the  number  killed,  and  in  trying 
to  outdo  each  other  they  generally  exaggerate  the  facts.     During  the 
months  of  March,  April,"  May,  and  June  the  seals  in  the  North  Pacific 
are  traveling  leisurely  towards  the  passes  into  Bering  Sea. 

About  80  per  cent  of  the  seals  1  caught  in  the  Bering  Sea  were 
mothers  in  milk,  and  were  feeding  around  the  fishing 
banks  just  north  of  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  I  got  t/'25u'"mik"'^^from 
most  of  my  seala  from  50  to  250  miles  from  the  seal  pribiiof  islands.  "^"^ 
islands.     1  don't  think  I  ever  sealed  within  25  miles  of 
the  Pribylov  Islands.     They  are  very  tame  after  giving  birth  to  their 
young  and  are  easily  approached  by  the  hunters.     When  the  females 
leave  the  islands  to  feed  they  go  very  fast  to  the  fishing  banks,  and 
after  they  get  their  food  the>  will  go  to  sleep  on  the  waters.    That  is 
the  hunter's  great  chance.     I  think  we  secured  more  in  proportion  to 
the  number  killed  than  we  did  in  the  North  Pacific.    I      yij.^,^^,„g 
hunted  with  shotgun  and  rifle,  but  mostly  with  shot- 
gun.    Seals  were  not  nearly  as  numerous  in  1887  as  they  were  in  1877, 
and  it  is  my  belief  that  the  decrease  in  numbers  is  due  to  the  hunting 
and  killing  of  female  seals  in  the  water.   I  do  not  think 
it  possible  for  seals  to  exist  for  any  length  of  time  if     nuclease. 
the  present  slaughter  continues.    The  killing  of  the  fe-      Dead  pups. 
males  means  the  death  of  her  born  or  unborn  i)up,  and 
it  is  not  reasonable  to  expect  that  this  immense  drain  on  the  herds  can 
be  continued  without  a  very  rapid  decrease  in  their  numbers,  and  which 
practically  means  extermination   within   a  very  few 
years.     If  the  seals  are  to  be  saved  there  must  be  no  ^ar?;''"^'"""  "'''^■'" 
killing  at  any  time  in  the  waters  of  Bering  Sea,  and  it       ' 
is  also  very  important  for  their  preservation  that  no  females  be  killer! 
in  the  North  Pacific.  They  must  be  protected  in  both  of  these  waters  or 
they  will  be  exterminated.     I  have  never  known  of  .routoni 

seals  hauling  out  on  land  anywhere  on  the  coast  excex^t  vrih^oTl^^da/^^ 


410  TESTIMONY 

at  the  Pribylov  Islands.    I  went  sealing  for  eight  years 
San ixego sGizediD  jn  fhc  schooiiGr  Scifi  Dicgo.     Sho  was  seized  by  the 

revenue  cutter  in  188G  in  Bering  Sea,  about  120  miles 
from  the  seal  islands  and  nortli  of  Unalaslva.    She  was  taken  with  her 
cargo  of  about  584  seal  skins  to  Sitka  and  forfeited  by  the  court. 
The  year  following  I  went  in  the  schooner  Sylvia  Handy ^  a  new  and 

elegant  vessel.  Slie  was  also  seized  in  Bering  Sea, 
sefzedjssT.  "^""''^  about  170  mlles  from  St.  Paul  Island  and  17  miles  from 

Unalaska  She  was  taken  to  Sitka  and  condemned 
with  her  cargo  of  nearly  1,700  skins  on  board.  These  seizures,  with  the 
cost  of  btigaticm  which  followed,  broke  up  the  firm  of  L.  N.  Handy  & 
Co.  and  myself,  and  we  had  to  quit  the  business,  as  I  perceived  the  Gov- 
ernment was  condemning  American  vessels  for  sealing  and  releasing 
British  vessels  for  the  same  olfense.  They  treated  us  very  badly.  I 
am  still  iu  hopes  we  will  be  paid  by  it  lor  our  losses.  In  the  Sylvia 
Handy  1  had  also  26  seal  skins  wMiicli  I  liad  bought  from  a  native  hunter 
whose  wife  was  sick  and  he  wanted  medicine  for  her.  I  gave  him  med- 
icine and  bought  his  skins  to  accommodate  him.  There  could  be  no 
doubt  but  they  were  legally  caught,  but  they  were  taken  from  me  and 
finally  sold.  The  judge  (Dawson)  of  the  court  afterwards  told  me  they 
should  not  have  been  condemned,  and  had  he  known  it  sooner  he  would 
not  have  permitted  them  to  have  been  taken  from  me  and  sold  on  ac- 
count of  the  Government.  Most  of  the  sealing  fleet  is  now  absent  from 
this  port  in  the  hands  of  sealers  of  experience,  having  been  so  engaged 
for  several  years.  So  far  as  I  knoAV,  their  views,  if  they  could  be  ob- 
tained, would  be  in  harmony  with  my  own  opinions  as  herein  expressed. 

Jaivies  L,  Cathcut. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  0th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  Charles  Chall all, -sealer,  1888-1890. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Charles  Challall,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  in  San 
Francisco;  my  occupation  is  that  of  a   sailor;  I  have 
Experience.  ^^'^^^  Sealing  u})  tlic  coast  and  in  Bering  Sea  three  sea- 

sons, commencing  in  1888  and  ending  in  1890.     In  1888 
randerbiit    1888-  ^  """^"^  *^"  *^^^  VandcrMlt.     We  did  not  go  into  the  Ber- 
white.  188D;'  Hamii.  iug  Sca  that  year.     In  1889  I  went  on  the  White,  and 
ton,  1890.  |j^  2890  I  went  on  the  Hamilton.    They  were  all  sealers. 

We  generally  left  San  Francisco  in  March  or  April,  and  we  sealed 
along  the  coast  up  to  Queen  Cliarlotte  Sound.     The  largest  catch  Ave  ever 
made  between  San  Francisco  and  Queen  Charlotte  Sound  was  in  1888 
Decrease  ^\\(i\\  wc  cauglit  300  scals.   There  was  much  less  number 

of  seals  to  be  seen  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  in 
1890  than  in  1888.    We  were  hunting  in  the  Bering  Sca  most  of  the 
time  off  Seventy-two  and  Unamak  Pass,  and  we  caught  the  seals  as  they 
Females feedin-       ^^"^^  S<>iiig  to  and  from  the  Pribilof  Islands  to  feed  on 
the  fishing  grounds.    We  caught  a  great  many  seals  on 


TAKEN    IN    SAN   FRANCISCO.  411 

the  fishing  banks  just  north  and  close  by  the  Aleutian  Archii)elago. 
Most  of  the  seals  we  killed  going-  up  the  coast  were 
females  heavy  with  pup.     I  think  9  out  of  every  10  fema'ila^kfiied^'^^'^* 
were  females.     At  least  7  out  of  8  seals  caught  in  the 
Bering  Sea  were  mothers  in  milk.     The  vessels  I  went  out  in  had  from 
4  to  6  boats  each.     Each  boat  had  3  men,  a  hunter,  and  2  jmllers. 
The  average  hunter  would  get  1  out  of  every  3  that  he 
shot;  a  poor  hunter  not  nearly  so  many.    There  are  21         as    o  i  e. 
buckshot  to  a  shell.     I  think  a  great  many  seals  are  wounded  by  hunt- 
ers that  are  not  taken.     The  gunshot  wounds  more  seals  than  tlie  rifle. 
I  think  the  aim  of  the  hunter  is  to  kill  the  seal  rather  than  wound  it. 
When  they  are  in  school  sleeping  we  get  a  good  many.     We  did  not  get 
as  many  we  shot  at  in  the  Bering  Sea  as  we  did  on  the  coast.     If  we  got 
1  out  of  every  3  that  we  wounded  in  the  Bering  Sea  we 
were  doing  pretty  well.     I  do  not  know  of  any  place  PHMrofishmX!^  "" 
where  the  seals  haul  up  on  this  coast  except  on  the  seal 
islands. 

Chas.  Chaxlall. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2d  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  Daniel  Claussen,  sealer. 

■      PELAGIC   SEALING". 

Be  it  remembered,  that  on  the  26th  day  of  February,  1892,  at  my 
office,  434  California  street,  in  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco, 
State  of  Califoriua,  before  me,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and 
for  said  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of  California,  duly 
appointed  and  commissioned  to  administer  oaths,  etc.,  personally  ap- 
peared Daniel  Claussen,  who,  being  first  duly  sworn,  testified  as  fol- 
lows: 

Daniel  Claussen,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 

By  the  Notary  : 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occupation? — A.  My  name 
is  Daniel  Claussen;  age,  32;  I  reside  in  San  Francisco  and  am  by  occu- 
pation a  seal  hunter. 

Q.  Are  you  a  citizen  of  the  United  States'? — A.  I  am;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  State  are  a  resident  of"? — A.  California. 

Q.  Have  you  been  engaged  in  catching  seals  in  the  Pacific  and  Bering 
Sea,  and  for  how  long!? — A.  I  have  been  engaged  in     t,     ..• 
sealing  in  the  Pacific  and  in  Bering  Sea  for  the  last  six       xpi-ii""*- 
years. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  Mostly  female. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A. 
About  80  per  cent. 

Q.  What  i)ercentago  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  ^^ostiypreguantfe- 
were  with  pup  ? — A.  About  70  per  cent.  ^^  "''■ 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  you  destroy  a  large  percentage  of  seals  that 
you  do  not  catch ! — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  is  that  percentage  ? — A.  We  catch  about  7     y^^^^  ^f  life 
seals  out  of  10. 


412  TESTIMONY 

Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Pacific  and.  when  does  it 
end? — A.  Soalin<>:  coiiimcnces  in  the  Pacific  about  the  1st  of  January 
and  ends  about  the  1st  of  July. 

Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Bering  Sea  and  when  does  it 
end? — A.  Sealing  conimences  in  the  Bering  Sea  about  the  1st  of  July 
an<l  ends  about  the  last  of  October. 

Q.  Wliat  i)ercentage  of  seals  are  taken  comjiared  to  those  you  de- 
stroy in  doing  so;  in  other  words,  how  many  do  you  actually  get  out 
of  those  you  shoot? — A.  We  get  about  75  per  cent  of  what  vre  shoot. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  you  first  started  in  the  business  and  was 
inexperienced  in  hunting,  that  you,  like  all  other  beginners,  destroyed 
a  much  larger  i)roportion  than  you  now  do? — A.  It  is;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  you  shoot  at  mostly  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake? — 
A.  Asleep. 

Indiscriminate       Q-  If  awakc,  do  you  shoot  at  them  while  breeching? — 
siauiiiiter.  A.  We  slioot  any  we  can  get. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  any  seals  born  in  the  water,  and  is  it  your 

opinion  that  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be  born  in  the 

poSfJf  ^'^^  "°'  water?— A.  Xo,  sir;  they  would  drown  if  born  in  the 

water. 

Haul  out  only  on       Q.  Do  vou  kuow  of  any  placc  where  seals  land,  out- 

Prib.iof Islands.         ^-^j^  ^f  ^j,"^  ^^^  islands?— A.  I  do  not. 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals  as  compared 
to  i)revi()us  years? — A.  I  think  there  has. 

Q.  If  there  is  a  decrease,  to  what  do  you  attribute  it? — A.  To  the 

killing  and  hunting  of  them  by  seal-hunters. 
Decrease.  q^  p^  ^^^  ^^^^  pcrlsh  with  the  COWS  that  you  kill  ?— 

A.  Certainly. 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion,  if  sealing  continues  unrestricted,  that  they  wiU 
soon  be  exterminated? — A.  I  think  so;  yes,  su\ 

Q.  In  your  opinion  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in 
Bering  Sea  to  i)revent  the  herd  from  being  extermi- 
^^rohibitiou  neces-  natcd?- A.  It  is  absolutely  uecessaiy  iu  (uy  opiuiou. 

Q.  What  months  of  the  year  do  you  think  they  should 
be  protected? — A.  Prom  the  1st  of  July  to  the  last  of  October  I  think 
they  should  be  protected. 

Q.  Do  you  generally  shoot  seals  with  a  rifle,  or  a  shotgun? — A.' 

Firearms.  MoStly  with  a  shotgUU. 

Q.  W  hat  shot  do  you  use,  buckshot  or  fine  shot? — 
A.  Buckshot. 

Q.  Judging  by  the  direction  that  seals  were  traveling  in  the  spring 
of  the  year,  during  your  experience,  where  do  you  suppose  wafi  their 
destination? — A.  To  the  rookeries  in  the  Bering  Sea. 
Q.  Do  you  think  it  would  be  better  that  the  Bering  Sea  should  be 
^,   .       ,_   .      eutuely  closed? — A.  I  think  it  would  be  better. 

Closing   of  Bering  " 

Sea. 

Daniel  Claussen. 
State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss  : 
I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  said  city  and  county 
of  vSan  Francisco,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  witness  in  the  foregoing 
dc])Osition  named  was  by  me  duly  sworn  to  testify  tlie  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth;  that  said  deposition  was  reduced  to 
writing,  and  Avhen  completed  was  carefully  read  over  to  said  witness, 
and  by  him  subscribed  in  my  i)resence. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN   FRANCISCO.  413 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  affixed 
my  seal  of  office  this  2Gth  day  of  February,  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  BEirNETT, 

JS^otary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  Feter  Collins,  scaler  {hoat-jpuller). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Peter  Collins,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  by 
occupation  a  sailor  and  reside  in  San  Francisco.     I 
was  engaged  as  a  boat-puller  during  the  years  1888     Experience. 
and   1889.     On  both  trips   I  went  out    on  the  voy-      ^^^^  jy,,^,^,,,^-^,, 
age  of  the    sealing   schooner    San  Dieyo   to    Bering 
Sea.     In  1888  we  left  here  in  February,  and  commenced  to  seal  off 
the  coast  near  San  Francisco  and  cauglit  about  300  seals  in  the  North 
Pacific ;  we  then  went  into  the  Bering  Sea  about  the  middle  of  July, 
and  left  there  about  the  1st  of  September.     We  got  900  seals  in  1888, 
and  1,100  in  1889,  in  the  Bering  Sea.     The  hunters  used     pi^earms. 
both  shotguns  and  rifles.     They  used  a  rifle  to  shoot 
breeching  seals,  and  a  shotgun  to  shoot  sleepers  and  tramps.     The 
shotgun  is  not  as  tatal  as  tlie  rifle,  but  wounds  a  great  many  more. 
Fully  three-fourths  of  the  seals  shot  in  the  Korth  Pa- 
cific were  females  with  young.     Mother  seals  pregnant  f,^X"'^  ^''^^°'"* 
are  more  easily  caught  than  young  bachelors,  and  I 
am  sure  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  go  on  land  to  breed, 
and  I  have  never  heard  of  them  going  anywhere  else 
than  on  the  seal  islands  for  that  purpose.     An  average  prMioMsi'Sd  °^^  "'' 
hunter  will  get  one  out  of  four  of  breet;hing  seals,  and 
one  out  of  three  of  sleepers  that  he  kills,  but  a  common  hunter  will  not 
get  so  many. 

The  hunters  will  kill  any  seals  that  come  along,  it  being  impossi- 
ble to  tell  the  sex  in  the  water,    l^early  all  the  cows      ^^ste  of  me. 
are  in   milk  during  the  months  of  July  and  August 
while  they  are  out  seeking  food,  and  I  have  seen  mothers      i"'"scnmmato. 
with  their  breasts  full  of  milk  killed  100  miles  or  more     Mothers  feeding. 
from  the  seal  islands.     I  know  they  go  great  distances     decrease. 
in  search  of  food.     There  were  not  nearly  as  many  seals 
to  be  found  in  1880  as  there  were  in  1888.     I  think  the  decrease  is 
caused  by  the  great  destruction  of  females  killed  in  the  sea  by  the 
hunters,  and  if  something  is  not  done  to  protect  them      rrotection    ueces- 
from  slaughter  in  the  IS'orth  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,   sary. 
they  will  all  be  gone  in  a  few  years. 

Peter  Collins. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to,  before  me,  this  2d  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892 

[seal.]  CLEIVIENT  BEN'dETT, 

Notary  Fublic. 


414  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Washington  C.  Coulson,  Captain  U.  S.  li.  3f.,  in  command 

of  the  Rush. 

PELAGIC  SEALING  AND  PRIBILOF  EOOKERIES. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  iSati  Francisco,  ss: 

Washingtou  C.  Coulson,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says: 

I  am  captain  in  the  United  States  Revenue-Cutter  serv- 

ji^i^h'^'^mrLincoU,   ICC.     At  prescut  1  am  in  eomnmnd  of  the  United  States 

1870.  '   revenue  cutter  Jxush.     I  was  attached  to  the  United 

States  revenue  cutter  Lincoln,  under  the  command  of 

Capt.  C.  M.  Scammoii,  during-  the  year  1870,  from  June  until  the  close 

of  the  year,  as  a  third  lieutenant,  and  have  been  an  ofQcer  in  the  rev- 

st   Piiii  and  St    ^"^^^c  service  ever  since.     In  the  month  of  that  year  I 

George'  islands    in  Avas  in  the  Bering  Sea  and  at  the  seal  islands  of  St. 

^^'"'  Paul  and  St.  George.     I  went  on  shore  at  both  islands 

,     ,        ,         and  observed  the  seals  and  seal  life,  the  method  of  kill- 

Abiindanco  of  seals    •  .  x  j.-        i  j.-       ^      ^      j.i  j.  i  _^ 

in  1870.  mg,  etc.     1  noticed  particularly  the  great  number  of 

seal,  which  were  estimated  by  those  competent  to  judge 
that  at  least  5,000,000,  and  possibly  6,000,000,  were  in  sight  on  the  dif- 
ferent rookeries.  To  me  it  seemed  as  though  the  hillsides  and  hauling 
grounds  were  literally  alive,  so  great  was  the  number  of  seals.  At  St. 
George  Island,  though  the  seals  were  never  in  as  great  numbers,  nor 
were  there  so  many  hauling  places,  the  seals  were  very  plentiful.  At 
this  time  and  for  several  years  thereafter  jielagic  sealing  did  not  take 
,,  ,  place  to  any  extent  and  the  animals  were  not  diverted 

Management.  |,  ,,      .  ,  ,  •,  ,.  -,  .  -n   ,-.  n 

irom  their  usual  paths  ot  travel.  All  firearms  were  for- 
bidden and  never  have  been  used  on  these  islands  in  the  killing  and 
taking  of  seals.  In  fact,  unusual  noise  even  on  the  ships  at  anchor  near 
these  islands  is  avoided. 

Visiting  the  rookeries  is  not  permitted  only  on  certain  conditions,  and 
anything  that  might  frighten  the  seals  avoided.     The  seals  are  never 
killed  in  or  near  the  rookeries,  but  are  driven  a  short  distance  inland, 
to  grounds  especially  set  a])art  for  this  work.     I  do  not  see  how  it  is 
l)()ssible  to  conduct  the  sealing  pro(;ess  with  greater  care  or  judgment. 
Under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Redpath  on  St.  Paul,  and  Mr.  Webster  on 
St.  George  islands,  men  who  hav^e  superintended  this  work  for  many 
years,  the  natives  do  tiie  driving  and  the  killing  is  per- 
_^Dnving  and  kill-  foi'med  under  the  supervision  of  flie  Government  agents. 
The  natives  understand  just  how  much  fatigue  can  be 
endured  by  the  seals,  and  the  kind  of  weather  suitable  for  driving  and 
killing,  no  greater  precaution  in  that  regard  can  be  taken.     The  evi- 
dence of  this  is  in  tiie  small  percentage  of  animals  injured  or  overheated 
in  tliese  drives.     I  do  not  believe  the  animals  are  much  frightened  or 
disturbed  by  the  process  of  selecting  the  drives  from  the  rookeries,  nor 
do  1  tliink  it  has  a.  tendency  to  scare  the  animals  away  from  the  islands. 
During  the  seasons  of  1800  and  1801  I  was  in  command  of  the  rev- 
itush  i89o-"ji  enue  cutter  Ruf^h  in  Bering  Sea  and  cruised   exten- 

sively in  those  waters  around  the   seal  islands  and 
the  Aleutian  group.     In  the  season  of  1890  I  visited  the  islands  of  St. 
Paul  and  St.  George  in  the  months  of  July,  August,  and  September, 
and  had  ample  and  frequent  ()pi)ortunities  of  observing  the  seal  life  as 
Decrease  comi)ared  with  1870.     I  was  astonished  at  the  reduced 

numbers  of  seals  and  the  extent  of  bare  ground  on  the 
rookeries  in  1890  as  compared  with  that  of  1870,  and  which  in  that 


TAKEN   IN    SAN   FRANCISCO.  415 

year  was  teemiug  witli  seal  life.     lu  1890  the  North 

American  Commercial  Company  were  unable  to  kill   comnLreiaiCwupa^ 

seals  of  suitable  size  to  malce  their  quota  of  60,000  "JJot^^^"- *'"i8^o"''"™  ^'* 

allowed  by  their  lease,  and,  in  my  opinion,  had  they  ^^°  ^  ^ 

been  i)ermitted  to  take  50,000  in  1801,  they  could  not  have  secured  that 

number  if  they  had  killed  every  bachelor  seal  with  a  merchantable 

skin  on  both  ishinds,  so  great  was  the  diminution  in  the  number  of 

animals  found  tliere. 

'  I  arrived  with  my  command  at  St.  Paul  Island  June  7. 1891;  at  that 
date  very  few  seals  had  arrived  and  but  a  small  num-      ^^    p^^j  ^^^^  g^ 
ber  had  been  killed  for  fiesh  food.     On  the  12th  of  Georgo    islands    iii 
June,  1891,  we  were  at  St.  George  Island  and  found  a  ^^^^• 
few  seals  had  been  taken  there,  also  for  food,  the  number  of  seals  arriv- 
ing not  being  enough  to  warrant  the  killing  any  great  number.    Dur- 
ing that  year  I  was  n,t  and  around  both  these  islands  every  month  from 
and  including  June  until  the  1st  day  of  December  (excepting  October), 
and  at  no  time  were  there  as  many  seals  in  sight  as  in  1890.     I  assert 
this  from  actual  observation,  and  it  is  my  opinion  we     jje^^rease 
will  find  less  this  year,  and  should  pelagic  sealing  in 
the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  continue,  it  is  only  a  question  of  a 
very  few  years,  when  seal  in  these  seas,  and  especially  at  the  seal  islands, 
will  be  ii  thing  of  the  past,  for  they  are  being  rapidly  destroyed  by  the 
killing  of  fenmles  in  the  open  sea. 

As  to  the  percentage  of  seals  lost  in  pelagic  sealing  where  the  use  of 
firearms  is  employed,  I  am  not  able  to  state  of  my  own      ^,Yr^,l^,  ^f  nie 
observation,   but  from   conversations  with  those  en- 
gaged in  the  business  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  number  secured  is 
small  compared  with  those  lost  in  attempts  to  secure  them.     No  men- 
tion Avas  ever  made  of  any  unusual  number  of  dead     ^^^^ 
pups  upon  the  rookeries  having  been  noticed  at  any       ^    ^"^'^' 
time  prior  to  my  visit  in  1870,  but  when  I  again  visited  the  islands  in 
1890  1  found  it  a  subject  of  much  solicitude  by  those  interested  in  the 
perpetuation,  and  in  1891  it  had  assumed  such  proportions  as  to  cause 
serious  alarm.     The  natives  making  the  drives  first  discovered  this 
trouble,  then  special  agents  took  note,  and  later  on  I  think  almost  every- 
one wlio  was  allowed  to  visit  the  rookeries  could  not  close  their  eyes 
or  nostrils  to  the  great  numbers  of  dead  pups  to  be  seen  on  all  sides. 
In  company  with  Special  Agent  Murray,  Cai)tain  Hooper,  and  Engineer 
Breiton,  of  the  Cortcin,  I  visited  the  Keef  and  Gobatch  rookeries,  St. 
Paul  Island,  in  August,  18!)1,  and  saw  one  of  the  most  pitiable  sights 
that  I  have  ever  witnessed.     Thousands  of  dead  and  djing  pups  were 
scattered  over  the  rookeries,  while  the  shores  were  lined  with  emacia- 
ted, hungry  little  fellows,  with  their  eyes  turned  toward      ^^^^^^  ^^.^^ 
the  sea  uttering  plaintive  cries  for  their  mothers,  which        "  "^'^'*^  ' 
were  destined  never  to  return.     Numbers  of  them  were 
opened,  their  stomachs  examined,  and  the  fact  revealed  tio"?'"'  ^"'™  '^''"'^ 
that  starvation  was  tlie  cause  of  death,  no  organic  dis- 
ease being  apparent. 

The  greatest  number  of  seals  taken  by  hunters  in  1891  Avas  to  the 
westward  and  northwestward  of  St.  Paul  Island,  and  the  largest  num- 
ber of  dead  pups  were  found  that  year  in  rookeries  situated  on  the  west- 
ern side  of  the  island.  This  fact  alone  goes  a  great 
way,  in  my  opinion,  to  confirm  the  theory  that  the  loss  caSosd^ath JTf'impa! 
of  the  mothers  was  the  cause  of  luortality  among  the 
young. 


416  TESTIMONY 

After  the  mother  seals  have  given  birth  to  their  young'  on  the  islands, 
^  ,    she  goes  to +he  water  to  feed  and  bathe,  and  I  have 
toioomiufsfiomPlib-  observed  them,  not  only  aronnd  the  ishmds,  but  from 
iiofisiands.  80  to  100  miles  out  at  sea. 

In  different  years,  the  feeding  grounds  or  the  location  where  the 
greater  number  of  seals  are  taken  by  poachers  seem  to  differ;  in  other 
words,  tlie  seals  frequently  change  feeding  grounds.     For  instance,  in 
1887,  the  greatest  number  of  seals  were  taken  by  poachers  between 
Unamak,  Akatan  Passes,  and  the  seal  islands,  and  to  the  southwest- 
ward  of  8t.  George  Island.     In  1889,  the  catching  was  largely  done  to 
the  southward  and  eastward,  in  many  cases  from  50  to  150  miles  dis- 
tant from  the  seal  islands.     In  the  season  of  1890,  to 
Change  iu  locatiou  ^j^g  .soutlnvai'd  and  southward  and  westward,  also  to 
northwest  and  northeast  of  the  islands,  showing  that 
the  seals  have  been  scattered.    The  season  of  1891,  the  greatest  number 
were  taken  to  northward  or  Avestward  of  St.  Paul,  and  at  various  dis 
tances  from  25  to  150  miles  away. 

On  my  cruise  to  St.  Matthews  and  Unamak  Island,  we  did  not  dis- 
cover any   seal   within  25  or  30  miles  of   those  islands,   nor   do  1 
„    ,.  ,        know  of  or  believe  that  the  seals  haul  out  upon  land  m 

Pribiiof  islands. '        aiiy  ot  the  American  waters  oi  iJering  Sea,  except  at 
the  Pribiiof  Islands.     If  the  seal  life  is  to  be  preserved 
Protection  neces    for  Commercial  purposes,  the  seals  must  be  protected, 
^''"^'  not  only  in  the  Bering  Sea,  but  in  the  water  along  the 

Pacific  coast  from  the  Aleutian  Passes  to  the  Columbia  Eiver. 

Wash.  C.  Coulson, 
Captain,  U.  S.  Revenue  Marine. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  A.  D., 
1  892. 

[L.  S.] 

Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  ofLeander  Cox,  marine  engineer,  sailing  since  1871  between  San 
Franciseo  and  Bering  Sea. 

PELACrlC   SEALING. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Franeisco,  ss: 
Leander  Cox,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  52 
years  of  age.     I  am  by  occuj^ation  a  marine   engineer.     I  reside  in 
)eri-ne  ^^^^  Fi'aiicisco.     I  first  wcut  to  the   Bering  Sea  in 

xpentntL.  1871,  aiul  liavc  been  going  there  annually  since  1874. 

During  tlie  winter  time  I  have  been  eiiiployed  as  engineer  on  a  pas- 
senger vessel  running  between  here  and  Victoria,  British  Columbia, 
nniking  occasional  tri])s  soutli  to  San  Diego,  Cal.  I  saw  but  very  few 
seals  between  here  and  San  Diego,  but  north  from  here  to  Victoria  I 
have  formerly  seen  large  herds  of  them  slee])ing  and  playing  on  the 
water  during  the  winter  and  spring  months.  In  May 
:Migration.  ^^^^^  Junc  tlicy  congregate  about  the  passes  to  enter 

the  Bering  Sea,  and  I  have  seen  them  in  great  numbers  at  this  time. 
During  my  annual  cruising  in  Uering  Sea  and  to  and  from  the  Pribiiof 
Islands  I  have  carefully  noted  the  number  and  appearance  of  seals  in 


TAKEN   IN    SAN   FRANCISCO.  417 

the  water  and  on  the  breeding  rookeries  fi'om  the  deck  of  my  vessels 

and  have  also  repeatedly  visited  the  hauling  grounds  tiorn  year  to  year, 

and  it  was  about  1S84  and  1885  that  bare  spots  began 

to  appear  on  the  rookeries,  so  much  so  that  myself  and  .oSfericfs!"  ""  ''''*''*  °^ 

the  other  officers  often  spoke  of  it  and  discussed  the 

causes  therefor. 

The  decrease  in  number  of  seals  both  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  in 
the  waters  of  the  Bering  Sea  and  Xorth  Pacific  has  been    ^^^^_^^^^  ^^^^^^^^ 
very  rapid  since  1885,  especially  so  m  the  last  three  or 
four  years,  and  it  is  my  opinion  that  there  is  not  now  more  than  one- 
third  of  the  number  of' sea  Is  in  these  waters  and  on  the  islands  that 
there  were  ten  years  ago.     I  attribute  this  decrease  to      ^^^^^^  ^^  ufeprin- 
the  terrible  slaughter  of  female  seals  now  going  on  in  cipaiiy  female. 
the  sea.    I  believe  the  days  of  the  fur-seal  are  pretty 
much  over,  and  if  therenniant  istobesaved,  they  must  ^J™^'''^*'*'"  necea- 
be  protected  in  the  waters  of  the  jSTorth  Pacific  as  well  as  *"' ' ' 
in  those  of  Bering  Sea,  from  the  rifle  and  shotgun  of  the  hunter.     1  am  of 
the  opinion  that'it  will  take  careful  nursing  for  some  years,  under  the 
most  favorable  circumstances,  to  restore  the  number  of  seals  to  anything 
like  what  it  was  prior  to  1878.     I  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Alaska  Com- 
mercial Company,  the  former  lessees  of  the  seal  islands,  and  their  in- 
structions were  to  use  the  utmost  care  in  taking  their     ^^^^^^,^^,,^. 
quota  of  seals,  so  that  there  might  be  no  diminution  in        '    ° 
number  from  year  to  year,  and  I  personally  know  those  instructions 
were  rigidly  enforced.     From  my  experience,  observation,  and  conver- 
sation with  seal  hunters,  1  am  of  the  opinion  that  fully 
75  per  cent  of  their  catch  are  females,  and  that  a  vast  nI\ni/iema\J.''^''^' 
number  of  the  seals  killed  by  them  are.  lost.     1  am  not 
now,  and  never  have  been,  in  the  employ  of  the  present  lessees  of  the 

seal  islands. 

Leander,  Cox. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  Gth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1802. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  FuhUc. 


Deposition  of  John  Dalton,  senlcr  (boat-puller), 

PELAG-IC  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

Citif  and  connty  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
John  Dalton,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  32 
years  of  age.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco.     My  occupation  is  that  of  a 
sailor.     I  made  a  sealing  voyage  to  the  North  Pacific      ^^  erienco 
and   Bering   Sea  in  1885,  on  the  schooner  Alexander,       ^^■ 
of  which  Capt.  J.  F.  McLean  was  master.     I  was  a  ni-'^^fr-  ^^^'='  ^ 
boat-puller,     ne  lett  Victoria  m  January  and  went 
south   to    Cape    Flattery   and    Cape   Blanco,    sealing   around    there 
about  two  months,  when  we  went  north,  sealing  all  the  way  i\\)  to 
the  Bering  Sea.     We  had  between  100  and  300  seals  before  entering 
the  sea.     Most  all  of  them  were  females  with  pups  in  them.     V\e  en- 
tered the  sea  to  the  best  of  my  recollection  about  June,     ^^g^y  females. 
and  caught  about  900  seals  in  there,  two-thirds  of  which 

271G— VOL  II 27 


418  TESTIMONY 

were  motlier  seals  with  their  breasts  full  of  milk.  I  saw  the  milk  flow- 
in*::  on  the  deck  when  we  skinned  them.  We  had  six  boats,  each  boat 
having-  a  hunter,  a  boat-puller,  and  steerer.  We  used  shotguns  all  the 
time;  we  had  ritles,  but  we  did  not  use  them.  When 
it  was  rongh  weather,  we  got  one  out  of  six  that  we 
killed  or  wounded,  and  in  smooth  weather  we  could  get  on  an  average 
one  out  of  three  and  sometimes  three  out  of  five.  The  waters  were  full 
of  them  at  that  time.  We  caught  them  from  50  to  60  miles  off  the  seal 
islands. 

J.  Dalton. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April  A.  D. 
1892. 
[L.  s.]  Clement  Bennett. 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  Joseph  Dennis^  sealer. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  Comity  of  San  Francisco-,  ss  : 
Joseph  Dennis,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  re- 
side in  San  Francisco.     3ly  occupation  has  been  that  of  seaman  for 
.  the  last  three  years.     1  was  on  the  VandcrhiH  in  1888, 

xpeutnte.  ^^_^^   being  the  only  sealing  trip  I  ever  made.     We 

Yanderbiit,  1888.       scalcd  from  Sau  Fraucisco  to  Queen  Charlotte  Island, 
and  caught  })etween    500    and  600  seals,  nearly  all 
M().Hti.v  pregnant  fv-  females     licavv     with    young.     I    have    seen    alive 
yonng  pup  taken  out  of  its  mother  and  kept  alive  for 
three  or  four  days.     We  sealed  from  10  to  120  miles  off  the  coast,  but 
was  lun'er  up  in  the  Bering  Sea  sealing'.     We  hunted 
coSLSeiaficWrth"  J^ostly  witli  sliotguus,  aud  captured  about   one-half 
that  we  killed  and  wounded.    I  never  knew  or  heard 
of  seals  hauling  uj)  ah)ng  the  coast  or  giving  birth  to  their  young  in  the 
water. 

Joseph  Dennis. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2d  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  Richard  Dolan. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

Ciiy  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Eichard  Dolan,  having  been  duly  sW'Orn,  deposes  and  says;  I  am 

55  years  of  age.     i  reside  in  San  Francisco.     I  am 

xpenence.  ^^^  occupatiou   a  lougsliorcman.     I    made  a  sealing 

.  voyage  to  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  in  1885, 

ing  Sea'h*iiJii5°    ^     t)"  the  schooucr  Alexauder,  of  which  Caj)tain  McLean 

was  master.     We  lett  Victoria  the  latter  end  of  Jau- 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FEANCISCO.  419 

nary,  and  went  south  to  Cape  Blanco,  sealing  around,  there  two  or 
three  mouths,  when  we  started  north  to  the  Bering-  Sea,  sealing-  all  the 
way  up.     We  had  between  200  and  300  seals  l)efore  entering  the  sea,  a, 
great  many  of  them  being  females  with  i)Ups  in  them.    We  entered  the 
Bering  Sea  about  the  latter  part  of  April,  and  got  over 
800  seals  in  there,  most  of  them  being  females  in  milk,   „^^^^^^  miikirg  fc- 
and  we  killed  them  from  20  to  100  miles  off  the  seal 
islands.     I  saw  the  milk  running  on  the  deck  when  we  were  skinning 
them ;  that  was  the  only  way  1  could  tell  they  were  females.     We  had 
six  boats  on  board,  each  boat  having  a  boat-puller,  hunter,  and  stcerer. 
We  used  shotguns.     We  also  had  rities,  but  only  used  them  to  shoot  at 
long  range.     On  an  average  all  the  hunters  will  get  one      ,,^   ^    ,.,.^ 
out  of  every  three  or  four  seals  that  they  killed  or 
wounded.     There  were  iilenty  of  seals  in  the  water  at  that  time. 

ElCHAED    DOLAN. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13tli  day  of  April,  A.  I).  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  James  Henry  Douglass^  pilot  on  the  Bush  and  Corwin,  1882 

to  1888. 

pelagic  sealing  and  pllibilof  rookeries. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco^  ss: 
James  Henry  Douglass,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States.     I  am  by  occupation  a  master  and  pilot 
of  vessels.     My  residence  is  Alameda,  Cal.     I  have  had 
a  long  exi)erience  sailing  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Ber-      Experience. 
ing-  Sea.     I  went  to  the  seal  islands  in  Bering  Sea  over 
twenty  years  ago,  and  have  been  there  many  times  subsequently  while 
in  the  employment  of  the  Covernment.     From  1882  to  1888  I  cruised 
consecutively  in  Bering  Sea  as  pilot  on  the  revenue  cutters  Bush  and 
Corwin,  and  was  often  on  the  seal  islands,  our  vessel  being  frequently 
anchored  offshore  in  the  adjacent  waters.     I  had  abundant  opportunity 
and  leisure  to  watch  the  habits  of  the  fur-seals,  both  on  the  Piibilof 
Islands  and  in  the  waters  of  the  Northwest  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering- 
Sea.     During  my  last  visits  to  the  islands  I  observed      jj  .  ^ 
a  very  marked   diminution   in   the   number  of  seals 
thereon  as  contrasted  with  the  herd  seen  on  the  rookeries  five  or  six 
years  previously.     I  am  familiar  with  the  area  and  topography  of  the 
various  rookeries  on  the  islands,  and  have  observed  that  spaces  for- 
merly occupied  by  seal  herds  are  now  vacant  and  i)arts      ,  ,    . 

r.   ,1  1        -ii  mi  •      T      •        J--  Grass  on  rookeries. 

01  them  covered  with  grass.     This  diminution  was  par- 
ticularly noticeable  in  1887  and  1888,  the  last  two  years  of  my  visits  to 
the  islands. 

The  cause  of  this  decrease  1  believe  to  be  due  to  the  promiscuous  kill- 
ing of  the  seals  by  hunters  on  the  open  sea  and  the  dis- 
turbance caused  by  their  presence  in  destroying  the 
mother  seals  and  scattering  the  herds.     1  ha\e  conversed  Avitli  a  great 
many   persons   who  luive  been    engaged  in    sealing  in  the  Northern 
waters,  and  their  uniform  testimony  is  to  the  effect  that  the  open-sea 


420  TESTIMONY 

Imnting  is  rapidly  destroying  the  fur-seals,  and  that  it  is  only  a  ques- 
tion of  a  few  years  until  they  entirely  disappear  if  the  jx'lagic  sealing 
continues.  Since  tlie  seal  Imntinfi-  began  to  be  industriously  pnrsned 
about  the  years  1884:-'85,  and  the  transfer  of  American  schooners  to  the 
British  tlag  at  Victoria,  British  Colombia,  took  j)]ace  to  avoid  seizure, 
I  have  been  made  acquainted,  both  from  observation  and  conversation 

ScaUerinn-  of  herd  ^^^^^^  scahn's,  of  the  fact  of  the  growing  scarcity  of  seals, 
ca  tnngo  ci  s.  |)^^^,j,,g  jjjy  yoyagcs  uj)  and  doAvn  the  coast  I  have  fre- 
quently seen  fur-seals  in  small  groups  at  ])oiiits  where,  until  lately,  they 
were  never  known  to  appear  before.  Tliis  scattering  of  the  herd  is  un- 
questionaldy  in  large  part  due  to  the  fact  that  expert  hunters  first  aim 
to  kill  the  leader  of  these  small  herds,  when  the  remaining  members  be- 
coming confused  and  scattered  fall  an  easier  prey  to  the  sealer,  or  losing 
their  way  wander  oft"  in  their  fiightcned  condition  to  new  grounds  away 
from  the  nsnal  path  to  the  islands  where  they  are  killed  by  Indians  or 
sealers  ahmgslun'e. 

My  information  and  observation  is  that  a  very  large  proportion  of 
those  killed  along  the  coast  and  at  sea  from  Oregon  to  the  Aleutian 

-^  .    .^     ,.r     ,      Islands  are  female  seals  with  i>u])s:   I  think  not  less 

■nith  pup.  than  Do  per  cent.    The  proportion  ot  lemale  seals  killed 

in  the  Bering  Sea  is  equally  large,  but  the  destruction 

to  seal  life  is  much  greater,  owing  to  the  fact  that  when 

a  mother  seal  is  killed  her  suckling  i)up  left  at  the 

rookery  also  perishes.     Impregnation  having  also  taken  place  before  she 

left  the  rookery  in  search  of  food,  the  ftetns  of  the  next  year's  birth  is 

likewise  destroyed.     I  also  found  that  females  after  giving  birth  to 

tlieir  young  at  the  rookeries  seek  the  codfish  banks  at  various  points 

^     ,    „   ,.  at  a  distance  of  from  40  to  125  miles  from  the  islands 

Females  feeihns.  /?r>ii_,.  j_ii^  ij. 

lor  lood,  and  are  rrcqiiently  absent  one  or  more  days  at 
a  time,  when  they  return  to  find  their  young. 

I  have  noticed  that  the  females  when  at  sea  are  less  wild  and  dis- 
trustful than  the  bachelor  seals,  and  dive  less  quickly  in  the  presence 
of  the  hunter.  After  feeding  plentifully,  or  when  resting  after  heavy 
weatlier,  they  appear  to  fall  asleep  upon  the  surface  of  the  water.  It 
is  then  they  become  an  easy  target  for  the  hunters. 

About  seven  years  since  I  was  on  the  revenue-cutter  Corwin  when 

San  Die  o  seized    ^^'*^  scizcd  the  Sealing  schooner  San  Diego  in  Bering 

1885.  '   Sea.     On  the  schooner's  deck  were  found  the  bodies  of 

some  twenty  seals  that  had  recently  been  killed.     An 

Majoritv  of  femaio  examination  of  the  bodies  disclosed  that  all  of  them, 

skius  on  boani.  ^^,jj-|j  ■^^-^^  .^  gji|o]e  exccptiou,  were  females,  and  had 

their  young  inside  or  were  giving  suck  to  their  young. 

Out  of  some  500  or  600  sfdns  on  board  I  only  found  some  5  of  the 
number  that  were  taken  from  males.  1  have  also  been  present  at  nu- 
merous other  seizures  of  sealing  vessels,  some  eighteen  in  number,  and 
other  seizures,  au(i  aiuoug  the  scvcral  thousaud  skins  seized  I  found  on 
skins  aboard.  '  examination  that  they  were  almost  invariably  those  of 
lemales.  There  certainly  was  not  a  larger  proportion 
of  males  than  five  to  the  hundred  skins.  This  great  slaughter  of  mother 
seals  certainly  means  a  speedy  destruction  to  seal  life. 

I  have  myself  observed,  ancl  have  so  learned  from  others,  that  for  the 

last  ten  or  fifteen  years  there  were  more  seals  at  the  islands  than  there 

were  twenty-two  years  ago  when  I  first  visited  the  Pribilof  Islands;  an 

Mana-.meut  lucrcase  duc,  witliout  doubt,  to  the  very  careful  pro- 

'  '"        "  tection  and  fostering  of  the  seal  herds  afforded  by  the 

Alaska  Comme.Tcial  Company,  then  lessee  of  the  islands. 

J.  U.  Douglass. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  421 

Subscribed  and  s\Yorii  to  before  me  this  22d  day  of  April,  A.  D,  1802 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Dejjosition  of  Peter  Biiffy,  sealer  (boat  puller). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Peter  Duffy,  having-  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  by 
occui)ation  a  seaman.     I  reside,  in  San  Francisco.     I 
was  in  the  Bering   Sea  in  1884  and  1885,  on  board  the     Experience. 
Sea  Otter,  of  which  Captain  Williams  was  master.  I  was     ^^^  ^^^^^  .^  ^^^^^ 
a  boat-puller.    We  left  San  Francisco  and  fished  up  the  Sca  lu  issi-'ss.       " 
coast  until  we  entered  the  Bering-  Sea,  in  July,  and 
sealed  about  the  sea  until  we  were  driven  off  by  the     Driven  off  by  tiie 
revenue-cutter  Coricin.    From  there  we  went  to  the 
Copper  Islands.     Our  whole  catch  amounted   to  900     Waste  of  life,  mostly 
skins,  and  we  killed  mostof  them  with  rifles.     We  only  ^!|];'"s  or  i.reguaut 
got  about  one  out  of  eight  that  we  sliot  at,  and  they 
were  most  all  females  giving  milk  or  in  pup.     When  we  cut  the  hide  off 
you  could  see  the  milk  running  from  the  breasts  of  the  seals.     The  sec- 
ond year  we  got  over  1,300  skins;  some  of  them  were  cows  with  i^upsin 
them,  and  most  all  the  rest  were  cows  giving  milk  and  some  of  the  lat- 
ter we  killed  as  far  from  the  rookeries  as  Unimak  Pass.     I  can  not  tell 
the  sex  of  the  seal  in  the  water.     Our  hunters  were 
ordinary,  average  hunters.     We  tried  to  make  a  raid   ,  ]'^^'} »"  st.  George 
oil  St.  George  Island,  but  the  Coricm  was  after  us  and 
we  kept  out  of  its  way. 

Peter  Duffy. 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  me,  this  Gth  day  of  April,  ]802. 
[L.  S.J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  M.  G.  Ersldne,  master  mariner  for  ticentyfonr  years. 

pelagic  sealing  and  pribilof  rookeries. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

M.  C.  Erskine,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  55 
years  of  age.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco.     I  am  a  mas- 
ter mariner  by  occupation,     I  have  been  going  to  the      Ex-pei-ienco. 
Bering  Sea  twenty-four  years.     I  went  first  to  the  seal  islands  in  April, 
1868,  and  have  been  going  there  ever  since,  visiting  the 
islandseveryyearuntill890,    Ihavebeencriiisingaiong-   jg^g-^'  islands  isos- 
thecoastfrom  here  to  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  haveha(l 
an  opportunity  of  ascertaining-  the  habits  of  the  seals.    A  year  ago  last 


422  TESTIMONY 

March  I  saw  a  herd  of  seals  of  from  500  to  000  just  above  Cape  Men- 
docino. 1  Inivc  also  often  met  large  numbers  scattered  along  the 
coast  of  Cape  Flattery,  geneially  from  10  to  -0 miles  offshore.  I  have 
never  been  aioniid  the  coast  fnmi  Sitka  to  Prince  William  Sound. 
From  what  I  have  seen  and  heard  I  believe  seals  are  found  from  Cape 
Mendocino  u])  to  Cape  Flattery  in  the  winter  months.  In  December, 
January,  I'ebrnary,  and  IVfarch  of  the  years  1890  and  1891  1  was  run- 
ning on  the  regular  passenger  trips  from  here  to  Puget  Sound.  I  fre- 
quently saw  both  seals  and  hunters.  I  think  the  seals 
Mar"rJid  April***  '"  eomnumce  to  leave  the  coast  working  their  way  north 
in  March  and  Ai»ril.  Two  years  ago  this  siting,  within 
20  or  .')()  miles  off"  CayK'  Flattery,  west  of  the  coast  of  Vancouver,  I 
sighted  one  trip  5  or  0  sealing  schooners. 

While  there  is  some  difference  in  the  appearance  of  the  female  and 
old  male  seals,  I  do  not  think  it  would-  be  possible  for  the  hunters  to 
tell  that  difference  in  the  sea  at  any  great  distance.  I  have  noticed 
that  the  seals  gather  in  large  herds  at  the  passes  about  the  time  they 
are  ready  to  go  into  the  Bering  Sea,  and  that  they  are  more  scattered 

>  t  ,r  „f  "^'^'^''^ '"^^'^'^^ '^^'^'^s?  ^^^*' *'^^''^*     I  «:iw  one  schooner's  catch 
females  t^iken"  '"'"'    cxamiucd  at  Unalaska  in  1889,  and  there  were  found  a 
Appear  in  Berins  l<ii'8'«  P^r  ceutage  of  female  seals  among  them.     The 
Sea  lattei    part   oT  seals  generally  appear  in  the  Bering  Sea  about  the 
^'"'  ■  latter  part  of  April.     I  think,  however,  their  arrival 

depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  season.  The  large  bachelor  seals  and 
the  old  bulls  are  the  first  to  enter  the  sea  about  April  or  May,  and  the 
cows  generally  commence  to  arrive  and  are  seen  by  thousands  in  the 
middle  of  June.  For  many  years  prior  to  1890  I  have  observed  the 
rookeries  fi^om  my  ship  and  also  from  the  islands.  The 
rookeries'^'ifilsr  '"  first  dccrcasc  in  the  nnmbei' appearing  on  the  rookeries 
and  in  the  surrounding  sea  that  I  particularly  noticed 
was  in  the  summer  of  1881,  and  it  has  become  more  marked  from  year 
to  year  since.  For  the  last  three  or  four  years  their  disappearance  has 
been  very  marked.  In  Oitober,  18!)!),  I  made  a  trip  from  Unalaska  to 
St.  Michaels.  When  about  2i)  miles  south  of  St.  George  we  commenced 
to  watch  for  seals  passing  the  Za}tandie  rookery  close  in  shore,  along 
the  west  end  of  St.  George  Island  to  Otter  Island  and  Swil  Island  rock 5 
thence  to  Xortheast  Point  abont  a  mile  and  a  half  oft'  shore. 

When  we  started  I  requested  the  officers  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  and 
to  report  if  they  saw  any  seals  in  the  water.     I  was  on  deck  most  of  the 
time  myself,  also,  and  we  only  saw  2  seals  in  the  whole  run,  whereas, 
ten  years  ago,  when  on  a  similar  voyage,  seals  were  so  j)lentifnl  that  it 
was  impossible  to  count  them.     From  my  long  observa- 
^^Decieaaea  to  one-    ^j,)^^  j  ^Jq  j^^-j^  think  tlicrc  arc  as  many  seals  by  tAVO- 
thirds  now  annually  arriving  on  the  islands  or  in  those 
waters  as  there  were  ten  years  ago,  Avhen  I  first  commenced  to  notice 
that  they  were  decreasing.     By  tliis  statement  I  nu'am  to  say  that  only 
one  third  as  many  are  now  to  be  seen  as  formerly.     I  have  often  ob- 
served the  diiving  and  killing  of  the  seal  on  the  islamls 
ins  anSing. '" ''"  ^y  the  former  lessees,  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company, 
and  Iknow  the  companyrequire<l  the  seals  tobehandled 
with  great  care,  and  that  the  iiistru(;ti(ms  from  the  company  were  to  that 
eftect  and  rigidly  enforced.     Until  Ininting  and  killing  was  commenced 
by  hnnteis  in  the  open  sea  I  observed  no" appreciable  decrease  in  the 
number  arriving,  which  was  about  1884.     In  my  ophiion  the  chasing  of 
the  seals  and  the  shooting  of  them  has  a  tendency  to  frighten  them  and 
disturb  them  autl  prevents  their  increasing  as  they  Avould  if  they  were 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  423 

left  undisturbed  in  the  waters.     From  my  observation  of  the  methods 

employed  by  the  open-sea  liunters  I  belieye  that  a  very 

large  propoi"tion  of  those  kiUed  by  them  are  lost.     I   ^^Wasteofufesoper 

have  often  heard  sealers  so  express  themselves.     Tliey 

have  said  to  me  that  they  get  only  about  1  out  of  5  shot  or  kiUed; 

others  made  the  loss  still  greater.     I  think  the  latter  statement  more 

nearly  correct. 

The  large  decrease  of  seals  in  the  waters  of  the  ocean  and  sea  must 
unquestionably  be  caused  by  the  indiscriminate  killing 
now  going  on'  by  poaching-  schooners,  and  if  not  dis-  .^  i°<ii'^"  i"'i>'«te  kiii- 
continued,  it  will  most  certainly  be  a  matter  of  a  very 
few  years  before  the  seals  will  be  exterminated.  I  have  been  Ibr  the 
past' twenty-four  years  and  am  now  employed  by  the  Alaska  Commer- 
cial Company,  the  former  lessees  of  the  seal  islands,  and  my  opportu- 
nity for  gathering  the  facts  licrein  set  forth  has  been  of  the  most  favor- 
able chara(;ter,  both  at  the  seal  islands  as  well  as  in  the  liering  Sea.  I 
am  not  now  and  never  have  been  in  the  employ  of  the  present  lessees 
of  the  seal  islands. 

M.  C.  Erskine. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  Cth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  George  Fairchild,  sealer  {hoat-jniUer). 

PELACfIC   SEALING. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
George  Fairchild,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  re- 
side in  San  Francisco.    I  am  a  sailor  by  occupation.      ^^^   . 
I  made  a  sealing  voyage  to  the  North  Pacitic  and        -'^pentnce. 
Bering  Sea  on  the    Sadie    Clyde,   of  which   Captain      ^''"''"'  ^'^^^''  ^^'^■ 
Dockerty  was  master.    I  was  a  boat-puller.    We  sailed  from  Victoria 
on  the  10th  of  April,  188S.     We  went  north  to  the  Bering  Sea,  sealing 
all  the  way  up,  and  got  110  seals  before  entering  the  sea.     Most  of 
them  were  cows,  nearly  idl  of  which  had  pups  in  them. 
We  took  some  of  the  pups  alive  out  of  the  bodies  of  p„^'"^"-^    '"^'^    *" 
the  females.     We  entered  the  Bering  Sea  May  25th, 
and  we  got  703  seals  in  there,  the  greater  quantity  of  which  were  fe- 
males with  their  breasts  full  of  milk,  a  tact  Avhich  1  know  by  reason  of 
having  seen  the  milk  flow  on  the  deck  when  they  were  being  skinned. 
We  had  5  boats  on  board,  each  boat  having  a  hunter,      ^\r.,^jy  „f  ^^^^ 
boat  puller,  and  steerer.     We  used  shotguns  and  rifles. 
We  got  1  out  of  every  5  or  (5  that  we  killed  or  wounded.      Cim^t  soais  lo-so 
We  wounded  a  great  many  that  we  did  not  get.     We  '""^'^  ^i"'"  ^^  *'"  "*■ 
caught  them  from  10  to  50  miles  off  the  seal  islands. 

George  Fairohild. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  Ai)ril,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


424  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  George  Fogel,  managing  owner  since  1888. 

PELAGIC   SEALINa. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  Count}/  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

George  Fogel,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  52 

years  of  age.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco.     My  occupa- 

Experience.  ^j^^^j  jg  ^j^.^^  ^f  ^  merchant.     I  have  been  interested  in 

sealing  schooners  for  four  years,  prior  to  189:3.     1  sent 

a  H.  White  and  out  the  6'.  H.  White  and  Kate  Manning  to  the  Bering 

KateManmno.  g^^  ,^^^^^  -^^^.^j^  Pacific.   We  equipped  our  vessels  with 

shotguns  and  rifles.   They  generally  left  here  in  March  and  hunted 
along  the  coast  to  the  passes,  and  then  into  the  Bering  Sea  and  re- 
turned here  in  August  or  September.     The  seals  taken  by  them  were 
^,     ,     „,     ,      nearly  all  females,  as  the  bulls  are  scattered  about  and 
■   go  out  to  sea  a  great  distance,  and  it  does  not  pay  to 
go  after  them,  while  the  females  go  in  big  bands  and  do  not  travel  off 
shore  as  far  as  the  bulls.     We  always  sold  our  skins  in  San  Francisco. 
From  the  ammunition  we  furnished  tliem  I  learned  that  some  of  tlie 
Ex  cits  got  a  SCI    liin'tei"^  on  au  avcragc  used  from  two  to  three  rounds 
for  2  or  3  rounds  of  of  shf)t  to  a  scal,  wliilc  otliors  uscd  from  forty  to  fifty 
8hot,  others,  40  to  50.   ro^uds.    Froui  tlie  reports  of  the  officers  to  me  I  learned 
that  tlie  seals  were  much  scarcer  in  1891  than  they 
Decrease.  were  iu  1888,  whcu  I  first  sent  them  out.     I  have  gone 

out  of  the  business  because  it  became  so  unprofitable  on  account  of  the 
scarcity  of  seals.  I  give  them  four,  years  more,  and  if  they  keep  on 
hunting  them  as  they  do  now,  there  will  be  no  more  seals  left  worth 
going  after. 

A  few  years  ago  you  could  go  off  shore  about  50  miles  from  San  Fran- 
cisco and  you  would  come  across  thousands  of  seals  leisurely  going 
uoitli,  Avhile  now  we  see  but  very  few.     I  fitted  out  the 
i/gne ,  in      .         scliooucr  Cygnet  iu  1871,  which  was  one  of  the  first  seal- 
ers to  go  to  the  Bering  Sea,  and  we  had  no  trouble  in  getting  seals  at 
that  time, for  they  were  very  i)l(Hitiful  and  gentle,  and  would  stand  up 
and  look  at  the  hunters  until  they  shot  them.     You  can  not  do  that 
now.     Seals  have  been  growing  very  scarce  within  the  last  few  years, 
and  it  does  not  pay  to  fit  out  sealing  schooners.     I  attribute  the  decrease 
Antarctic  sells         ^'^  uumbers  to  tlicir  being  hunted  so  nuich.     In  1870, 1 
sent  a  vessel  to  (Jhillaway,  off  the  coast  of  Chile,  where 
there  Avere  thousands  of  seals  in  those  waters.     This  last  season  the 
Hancock  returned  from  a  trip  there,  and  the  captain  informed  me  that 
Decrease  there  wcrc  uo  scals  Avorth  mentioning.    They  would 

have  been  good  rookeries  to-day  if  they  had  been  pro- 
tected from  marauders.     The  South  Shetland  rookeries  were  in  the  same 
condition  in  former  years,  while  to-day  you  could  not  get  a  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  seals  if  you  were  to  hunt  there  the  whole  season.    My 
experience  is  that  the  seal  herds  iu  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea 
have  been  greatly  depleted  within  the  last  few  years 
^  jroiiibition   ueccs    ^^  ^^^  coustaut  ])ursuit  and  killing  of  them  in  the  water 
by  hunters,  and  unless  it  is  sto])ped  at  once  they  will  be 
^  ,.     ..,,.„    exterminated.     The  increased  value  of  skins  iu  the  last 

Indiscriniiuate  kill-     ,.  ,  t  •■,,-,     •  ■  t  j  •    j_ 

ins-  few  years  has  stimulated  inexperienced  men  to  gomto 

the  busiuess;  and  they  slaughter  everything  in  sight 
without  regard  to  sex.  Go.  Fogel. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  9th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892 
[L.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  425 

Be  it  remembered  tliat  on  tbe  2d  day  of  Marcb,  1892,  at  my  office, 
434  California  street,  in  tlie  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of 
California,  before  me,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  j)ublic  in  and  for  said 
city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of  California,  duly  appointed 
and  commissioned  to  administer  oatbs,  etc.,  personally  appeared  Luther 
T.  Franklin,  who,  being  first  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 

Deposition  of  Luther  T.  Franldm,  sealer. 

PELAGIC  SEALING. 

LuTHEU  T.  Franklin,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows : 
The  Notary: 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occupation'? — A.  My 
name  is  Luther T.  Franklin;  age,  35;  residence,  at  present,  Oakland; 
occupation,  seal-hunter. 

Q.  Are  you  a  citizen  of  the  United  States? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  State  are  you  a  resident  of? — A.  State  of  California. 

Q.  Have  you  been  engaged  in  catching  seals  in  the  Pacific  and  Be- 
ring Sea? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  For  how  long  a  time  have  you  been  so  engaged? — A.  Three  sea- 
sons. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you     Experience. 
have  taken  in  the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  The 
majority  of  them  are  females.     Last  year  I  killed  72,  and  out  of  the  72 
there  was  only  3  males. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken 
w^ere  cows?— A.  About  90  to  95  per  cent.  J^^^"  ^^  i'*'^'  •^*'"* 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken 
were  with  pup? — A.  All  tliat  are  killed  in  the  Pacific 

•XT  1   XT  XT       J.  1   -11      1     •        XI         -11       •  111  pup  or  milkm;;. 

are  with  pup,  and  those  that  are  kdled  in  the  Bering 

Sea  have  been  delivered  of  pujjs  on  the  islands  and  are  with  milk. 

Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Pacific,  and  when  does  it 
end? — A.  Sealing  commences  in  the  Pacific  about  the  beginning  of 
February,  and  ends  about  the  1st  of  May. 

Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Bering  Sea,  and  what  date 
does  it  end? — A.  Sealing  commences  in  the  Bering  Sea  about  the  1st  of 
May,  and  ends  about  the  last  of  September. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken,  compared  to  those  you  de- 
stroy in  doing  so?  How  many  do  you  get  of  those  you  shoot? — A.  That 
depends  upon  the  hunter.  The  general  average  is  about  35  ^^  ^^  j.^^  ^^,,4 
35  to  40  are  taken  out  of  100  that  are  killeii.  taken  of  those  kiiU'ii. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  you  tir.st  started  in  the  business  and  was 
inexperienced  in  hunting,  that  you,  like  all  other  beginners,  destroyed 
a  much  larger  proportion  than  you  now  do? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  you  shoot  at  mostly  asleep  on  the  water,  or  awake? — 
A.  Mostly  asleep. 

Q.  Do  you  shoot  at  them  while  breeching? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  any  seals  born  in  the  water? — A.  No,  sir. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  is  it  possible  for  them  to  be  born      ,. ,    .    , .  ,,    . 

XI  X       MA       -KT  •  -x     •  J  •!  1  Icla'rie     birth     iin- 

m  the  water? — A.  JNo,  sir;  it  is  not  possible.  possible. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  place  where  seals  land,  out-  j,,,,,^  „„  ^i^.^inn 

side  of  tlieseal  islands? — A.  1  do  not;  except  in  the  fall,  islands  in  the  fau. 
they  land  on  the  Aleutian  Islands. 


426  TESTIMONY 

Q.  Has  tliere  boon  any  decioaso  in  tlio  quantity  of  seals  as  compared 
to  previous  years? — A.  1  have  not  been  on  the  islands 
'^^"''^^'*'  in  the  hist  lew  years,  but  I  shouhl  imagine  there  has 

been  a  great  decrease. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  decrease! — A.  To  tlie  number  of 

vessels  that  are    up  there  engaged  iu   killing  seals, 

^*"®*^'  nearly  all  of  which  are  females.     Last  year  there  were 

72  vessels  fitted  out  from  Victoria  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  vessels  that 

are  fitted  out  at  other  other  places. 

Q.  1)(»  the  ])ups  ]»erish  with  the  cows  that  you  kill? — 
Deadpup8.  ^    Naturally  they  must. 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion  ii'  sealing  continues  unrestricted  that  they  will 
soon  be  oxteiininated? — A.  Certainly  they  will. 

Q.  In  your  ojjinion,  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  iu 
tlu^  Bering  Sea  to  i)rovent  the  herd  from  being  exterminated? — A.  Cer- 
tainly. 

Q.  For  what  months  in  the  year  is  it  necessary  to 
^cu>,o  season  uec.s-   j,^,,^^^.^  ^|j^,  ^,^^^.g  i,j  t],g  Bering  Sca?— A.  From  the  first 

ol'  May  to  the  last  of  August. 

Q.  Do  you  gcnorally  shoot  seals  with  a  rifle  or  a  shotgun? — A.  Most 
all  hunters  use  shotguns,  but  I  use  a  rifle  with  .38-.40  caliber. 

Q.  Judging  by  the  direction  that  seals  were  traveling  in  the  spring 
of  the  year,  during  your  experience,  where  do  you  suppose  was  their 
destination? — A.  Tlu'  seal  islands  and  the  Bering  Sea. 

Q.  In  your  experience,  Avhile  you  were  hunting  seals,  nearly  all  the 
vsoals  that  you  killed  were  cows  and  nearly  all  had  pups? — A.  Nearly 
all  the  cows  that  were  killed  in  the  Pacific  were  witli  pup,  and  conse- 
(lucntly  the  i)ups  were  all  killed.  As  I  said  before,  out  of  72  seals  that 
I  kilU'd,  there  were  only  3  males. 

L,  T.  Franklin. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  Han  Franchco^  ss: 

I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  said  city  and  county 
of  San  Francisco,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  witness  in  the  foregoing 
deposition  luimod  was  by  me  duly  sworn  to  testify  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth.  Tliat  said  deposition  was  reduced  to 
writing,  and  when  com])U'te.d  was  carefully  read  over  to  said  witness, 
and  by  him  subscribed  in  my  ])resence. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  aflSxed 
my  seal  of  ofiice  this  2d  day  of  JNIarch,  1892. 

[L.  S.J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fnhlio. 


Deposition  of  William  Frazer^  sealer  {boat-puller). 
PELAGIC  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Franeiseo,  ss: 

William  Frazer,  having  heen  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 

22  years  of  age.     I  reside  iu  San  Francisco.     My  occu- 

Exijerieiue.  i)ation  is  that  of  a  laborer.     1  have  made  three  trips  to 

the  North  Pacific  and  Beriuff  Sea  withiu  the  last  six 


TAKEN    IN    SAN   FRANCISCO.  427 

years.     My  first  trip  was  on  tlie  Charles   Wilfion,  of 
which  Capt.  Robert  Turner  was  master,  and  the  next      t'««^'^'-'""- 
was  in  tlie  Vaiiderbilt,  and  the  hist  was  in  tlie  C.  G.  White. 
We  sailed  from  San  Francisco  on  these  trips.     I  left      ^'  ^-  ^^'''^■ 
here  on  the  Charles  }yils(>)i  in  the  early  i)art  of  March, 
and  we  followed  up  the  coast,  catchinj.-  a  few  seals  on      ^'"""''*  ^'^""'■ 
our  way,  we  were  workino;  our  way  right  up  north.     We  did  not  hunt 
in  the  Bering-  Sea  that  year,  l)ut  hunted  in  the  ISTorth  Pacific,  catch- 
ing some  300  seals.     I  was  a  boat  puller.     The  hunters  used  rifles  and 
shotguns.     They  got  about  one  out  of  every  six  they 
shot  at  or  killed,  and  sometimes  they  got  none.     The        •'^0'"'*^  "^^■■ 
greater  majority  of  them  were  females.     I  could  not  tell 
whether  a  seal  was  a  male  or  female  while  it  was  in  the  feii.aTes'*in^"pup  or 
water  unless  it  was  an  old  bull.     Mostly  all  the  fenmles  ^'i^iug. 
killed  has  unborn  pups  or  were  cows  giving-  milk.     We  did  not  kill 
any  on  the  islands.     We  never  went   in  close  enough.     We  killed 
females  giving  milk  more  than  100  miles  from  the  seal  islands.     j\fost 
all  the  seals  sunk  or  dove  out  of  sight  when  killed  or  wounded  and  a 
great  many  of  them  we  could  not  get. 

The  next  vessel  I  went  on  was  the  VanderhUt.     We  did  not  enter  the 
Bering  Sea  on  that  trip  either.      We  got  about  350  seals,  most  all  fe- 
males.    She  \vas  wrecked  and  we  came  down  on  the 
Dora,  belonging  to  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company.     yancievhiUyfvechi'A. 
The  next  tri])  was  on  the  C.  G.  White.    That  trip  we     Mostly  females. 
entered  the  Bering  Sea  on  the  Russian  side,  and  hunted      c.  g.  w/dte. 
all  the  coast  of  Japan  to  the  Bering  Sea.     1  do  not 
know  if  we  were  on  the  American  si  tie  or  not.     We  got  about  000  seals 
on  that  trip.     They  were  nearly  all  fenmles.     I  noticed  when  we  skinned 
them  that  they  were  females  in  milk,  as  the  milk  would 
run  from  their  breasts  on  to  the  decks.     We  got  back      ^'^''^  ^"  '''^'''''■ 
here  in  September,  and  landed  our  skins  here.     There      Deorease. 
were  not  as  many  seals  last  year  as  there  were  the  first  years  I  went. 

William  Frazee. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  5th  day  of  April,  A.D.,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennet, 

Notary  FubUc. 


Deposition  of  UduHird  W.  Fnnclr,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Be  it  remembered,  that  on  the  20th  day  of  February,  1892,  at  my 
office,  434  California  street,  in  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco, 
State  of  California,  before  me,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and 
for  said  city  and  county  of  San  Frauciscct,  State  of  Califoiiiia,  duly  ap- 
pointed and  commissioned  to  administer  oatlis,  etc.,  personally  a]>])eaied 
Edward  W.  Funcke,  who  being  first  duly  sworn,  testified  a^s  follows: 

Edward  W.  Funcke,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 
The  JS'otary: 

Q.  AVhat  is  you  name,  age, residence,  and  occupation? — A,  M\  name 
is  Edward  W.  Funcke;  age,  27;  residence,at  San  Francisco;  occu[>ati<»n, 
seal  hunter. 


428  TESTIMONY 

Q.  Are  you  a  citizen  of  the  United  States? — A.  No,  I  am  not. 
Q.  What  State  are  you  a  resident  of? — A.  California. 

.  Q.  Have  ycm  been  engaged  in  catching  seals  in  the 

".xpenence.  Pacific  and  B6ring  Sea,  and  for  how  long? — A.  For 

the  last  five  years ;  yes. 

Q.  Do  von  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you 
taken a^^^efemaiel"''*  I'^i^'G  talvcu  In  the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea?— A.  About 
90  per  cent  of  them  were  females. 
Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A. 
About  90  per  cent. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken 

pieguant.^''  ^"'"  ''""'  ^crc  witli  pup  ?— A.    About  60  per  cent  were  with 

pup. 

Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Pacific,  and 

of'^efiing'sfason/"'^  wlicn  docs  it  end? — A.  Sealing  commences  about  the 

1st  of  Januarj^  and  ends  about  the  middle  of  July  in 

the  Pacific. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  to 
Waste  of  life.  ^^^^^^  ^,^^^  dcstroy  iu  doiug  SO?     In  other  words,  how 

many  do  you  actually  get  of  those  you  shoot? — A.  About  30  per  cent. 
Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  you  first  started  in  the  business  and 
was  inexperienced  in  hunting  that  you,  like  all  other  beginners,  de- 
stroyed a  much  larger  proportion  than  y(m  now  do? — A.  Yes,  a  little 
more  in  pro^jortion. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  you  shoot  at  mostly  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake, 
and  if  awake,  do  you  shoot  at  them  while  breeching? — A.  Yes;  we 
shoot  at  them  while  they  are  breeching,  but  if  we  get  a  shot  while  they 
are  asleep  we  shoot  then. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  any  seals  born  in  the  water,  and  is  it  your 
•    Tter    opiiii^"' f^ifit  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be  born  in  the 
water? — A.  I  do  not  think  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be 
born  in  water;  no,  sir. 

Q.  Do  vou  know  of  anv  place  where  seals  laud  out- 
a.uiL  ''"*'"^''  °^  ^'''   ^'^i<1P  <>f  the  seal  islands?— A.  No,  sir;  I  do  not. 

Q.  Has  thei-e  been  any  decrease  in  the  cjuantity  of 
^  seals  as  comparedto  previous  years? — ^A,  There  is  a 

decrease  of  about  20  to  30  per  cent  less. 
Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  that  decrease? — A.  I  attribute  it  to 
them  being  overhunted. 

Q.  Do  the  ])ups  perish  with  the  cows  that  you  kill? — A.  Invariably 
they  do;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion,  if  sealing  continues  unrestricted,  that  they 
will  soon  be  exterminated? — A.  Yes;  I  think  they  will. 

Q.  In  your  opinion  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in 

Protection  nee 68    the  Bering  Sea  to  prcvcut  the  herd  fiom  being  exter- 

ssiry.      ^  minated?    If  so,  for  what  months  in  the  year? — A.  Yes, 

fioso  season.  ^ir;  I  think  it  necessary  from  the  1st  of  July  until  the 

middle  of  September. 

Q.  Do  you  generally  shoot  seals  with  a  rifie  or  a  shotgun;  and  if  the 

latter,  with  buckshot  or  fine  shot? — A.  We  shoot  nearly 

eaponsuse  .         ^^j^  of  tlicni  with  a  sliotguu,  usiug  buckshot. 

Q.  Judging  by  the  direction  that  seals  were  traveling  during  your 

experience,  wheie  do  you  suppose  was  their  destina- 

isia  ion.  tif)n? — A.  Well,  they  were  bound  toward  the  Bering 

Sea,  I  should  jiulge. 

Q.  Do  you  think  of  anything  else  that  is  of  value  in  regard  to  this 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  429 

seal  question  that  I  have  not  asked  you;  anything  you  wouhl  like  to 
say,  you  can  give  your  opinion  abontf — A.  Well,  in  my  o])iiiion  1  think 
that  American  vessels  should  be  allowed  the  same  privilege  as  other 
nations  in  the  matter  of  hunting  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

e.  w.  funcke. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 
I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  said  city  and  county 
of  San  Francisco,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  witness  in  the  foregoing- 
deposition  named  was  by  me  duly  sworn  to  testify  the  truth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth;  that  saul  deposition  was  reduced  to 
writing,  and  when  completed  was  carefully  read  over  to  said  witness 
and  by  him  subscribed  in  my  presence. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  affixed 
my  seal  of  office  this  2Gth  day  of  February,  1892. 
[se'al.] 

Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Puhlic. 


Deposition  of  John  Fyfe,  sealer  (boat-pnUcr). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 
John  Fyfe,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  iu 
San  Francisco.     My  occupation  is  that  of  a  sealer.     1 
made  a  sealing  voyage  to  the  North  Pacific  and  Ber-      Experience. 
ing  Sea  on  the  schooner  Alexander,  of  which  David     Alexander, is85. 
McLean  was  master.     I  was  a  boat  puller.     We  sailed 
from  Victoria  about  the  latter  part  of  January,  1885.     We  went  south 
and  sealed  between  Cape  Blanco  and  the  Columbia  River  for  two  months 
Avhen  we  went  north  and  sealed  all  the  way  ni)  to  the  Bering  Sea.     We 
caught  about  160  seals  before  entering  the  sea.     Ova^r      „.  ^ 

-. /xrw      ,.  ii  -TXT-  i  T   /I        "T^      •  .-1  Sixty  per  cent  COWS. 

100  of  them  were  cows.     We  entered  the  Bering  Sea 

about  April  and  we  got  795  in  there,  the  largest  part  of     Majority  taken  in 

which  were  mother  seals  in  milk.     When  we  were  skin-  ^^'s.^  ^'''  '"''"^'"s 

ning  them  the  milk  would  run  on  the  deck.     We  had 

six  boats  on  board,  each  boat  having  a  hunter,  two  boat-pullers,  and  a 

steerer,  four  men  to  a  boat.     We  used  rifles.     We  had      ^iperts  secure  ono 

experienced  hunters  onboard  and  we  got  one  out  of  out  of  three. 

every  three  killed  or  M'onnded.     We  killed  soine  of  them 

from  50  to  100  miles  off  the  seal  islands,  and  were  very      rook  some  5o  to  loo 

tame.     When  we  shot  the  seals  dead  they  would  sink 

and  we  would  not  get  them. 

John  Fyfe. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me   this  13th  day  of  April,  A.  I). 
1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

I^otiiry  Puhlic. 


430  TESTIMONY 

Dc_[)(>.siti()n  of  Fr(()il-  M.  (luffHcii,  sealer  {master). 
PELAGIC   SEALlNCr. 

State  of  Caltfokxta, 

City  (Old  County  of  San  Fr(()iciseo,  ss.: 

Frank  M.  Gaffney,  haviiiji-  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  1  am 

31  years  old,  an  American  citizen  and  master  of  the 

Experience.  scliooiier  JIancocky  owned  by  Lynde  &  Hougii,  of  San 

Francisco.     I  am  now,  and  Lave  been  .since  1879,  en- 

Voyage  to  Gaiapa-   gagcd  in  fisliinii'  and  seal  bunting.    In  1885Imade  avoy- 

i^?^  iSn,  igi!'"'"   age  to  the  (lala])agos  Island  as  master  of  tlie  scbooner 

Dashtnij  W<ive,  arriving  there  on  the  30th  day  of  August, 

and  renuiining  until  the  8th  day  of  December  of  the  same  year.     I 

obtained  at  this  time  on  those  islands  about  1,000  fur-seal  skins  which 

were  sold  in  Lond(m  at  an  avei  aue  price  of  about  7  shil- 

uo*t  iSrfte!  "'''''  '^°  liD8"S  each.     The  seals  upon  this'groui)  do  not  migrate. 

I  observed  the  birth  of  pups  during  frequent  intervals 

during  all  the  time  I  was  there,  and  from  the  size  of  those  a  little  older 

it  was  apparent  that  they  are  born  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.     They 

live  in  deej)  caves  under  the  cliffs,  seldom  going  into  the  sun.     Many  of 

those  obtained  by  me  were  pulled  out  of  these  i)laces  with  long  gaffs 

and  killed.     We  slaughtered  old  and  young  of  both 

sJu'rhVer."""""*'^^^  sexes.     These  seals  are  browner  and  in  other  respects 

quite  different  from  those  obtained  in  Alaska,  yet  they 

are  the  true  fur-seal. 

During  the  past  winter  I  have  made  a  second  voyage  as  master  of  the 

schooner  Haneoek  to  the  southern  waters,  in  search  of 

77l;S'in*'i89i.'^' '"   seals.     1  arri\ed  at  Kees Islet,  off  the  coast  of  Southern 

Chile  (latitude  KPlo'  simth,  longitude  75°  45'  Avest)  and 

remained  tlierefrom  December  1st  to  December  17tli,  1891,  but  obtained 

oidy  one  seal.     I  learned  that  seal  still  breed  there  in  considerable 

numbers,  but  the  Chileans  are  accustomed  to  visit  this  islet  at  an  earlier 

time  than  the  date  of  my  visit  while  the  puj)s  are  young,  and  to  kill  all 

La  \i>ifa  1880         ^''^'-^^  ^''''^  obtain.    In  1880  Captain  Mills,  of  the  schooner 

La  yiitfa,  visited  this  islet  and  obtained  a  small  catch, 

and  T  am  credibly  informed  and  believe  that  more  than  12,000  seals 

have  since  been  obtained  there. 

On  my  return  voyage  I  touched  at  Juan  Fernandez  (latitude  24°  21' 

south;  longitude  70°  10'  west),  but  got  no  seals  though 

isfand.  ^"'^"''''*^'"'   tliere  Avere"  a  fcAV  seen  about  there  in  the  water.     On 

December  25,  1801,  I  landed  at   ^lassafueros  Island 

Massafutros  Island,  (latitude  310  1 1'  south ;  lougitude  80°  50'  west)  and  got  10 

fur-seal  skins.     There  M'ere,  I  should  think,  about  200 

or  300  seals  on  the  island  when  1  arrived  there,  but  as  they  went  into 

the  water  and  did  not  come  on  shore  again  during  my  stay,  I  could  not 

secure  them.     The  [)ups  at  Massafueros  are  born  in  October,  I  think. 

They  were  old  enough  to  swim  when  I  was  there. 

A  few  days  later  I  tonclu'd  at  St.  J-'elix  and  St.  Ambrose  Islands  (lati- 
tude 20^10'  south;  longitude  80°  west)  and  saw  two  fur 
An.brose'isiamis.  ^''   ^eals.     Findhiy's  South  Pacitlc  Directory  states  that 
there  were  formerly  large  herds  of  fur-seals  on  these 
islands. 
1  touched  also  at  Guadalupe  Islands,  but  found  nothing.     Thelnter- 
^    -  ,      ,  ,    ,     national  Comi)any  have  had  the  lease  of  these  islands 

Guadalupe  Islands.    ^  i.l  i  t  •,.  -i  ii 

lor  several  years  past,  and,  as  I  am  intormed  and  be- 


TAKEN    m    SAN    FRANCISCO.  431 

lieve,  obtained  some  skins  there  as  late  as  last  year,  but  upon  the  occa- 
sion of  my  recent  visit,  the  island  was  deserted  by  both  seals  and  men; 
only  a  few  ,i>oats  remained.  1  have  been  sailing  to  the  Alaska  coast, 
chiefly  to  tiie  Shumagim  Banks,  in  the  codfish  trade  since  1879,  and  as 
master  of  a  vessel  since  188o.  I  have  made  in  all  some  twenty-five  or 
thirty  voyages  usually  between  A.})ril  and  Octol»er.  I  have  found  fur- 
seals  always  plentiful  in  the  water,  in  the  spring  and  ^_^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^ 
early  summer,  off  the  Alaskan  Peninsular,  along  the  seals  wuinn  somiics 
fishing  banks,  from  20  to  30  miles  distant  from  land,  of  Aia.skau Peninsula. 
but  have  seldom  seen  them  at  much  greater  distance  than  .30  miles. 

F.  M.  Gaffney. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  30th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  J^ennett, 

Kotary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  Thomas  Gibson,  scaler. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Thomas  Cibson,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a 
sailor  and  seal  hunter  by  occupation.     I  reside  in  San  y^.^^^^.^^^^^ 
Francisco.     I  have  been  engaged  in  sealing  for  ten 
seasons.     My  first  voyage  was  about  1881,  when  I  went  ^^^^  ^^.^,,^  ^gg^ 
out  in  the  San  Diego,  of  whicli  Capt.  Baynard  was 
master.     We  sailed  from  this  ])ort;  I  shipped  as  a  hunter;  we  started 
in  to  seal  off  the  coast  of  California  and  worked  our  way  up  to  the 
Bering  Sea.     We  got  that  vear  1,200,  of  which  I  got  400.    We  had 
five  hunters  that  trip.     The  next  trip  I  made  was  in  1882,  when  I  went 
out  in  the  American  schooner  Loolout,  of  which  Capt. 
Kelly  was  master,  leaving  here  about  the  latter  partot 
March,  and  we  sealed  all  the  way  up  to  the  Bering  Sea.     We  got  about 
500  before  we  entered  the  leering  Sea,  and  got  about  000  in  the  Bering 
Sea.     In  1883  I  went  out  in   the  American  schooner 

,--  -,-r  r,       ^  •    -,      ^ ,        ,     ttT  ,1  J.  Mary  ae  IjCo,  uisi. 

Mary  de  Leo,  of  which  Capt.  Wenworth  was  master. 

We  left  here  in  the  latter  part  of  March  and  worked  our  way  north  to 

the  Bering  Sea,  sealing  on  our  way,  getting  500  seals  before  entering 

the  Bering  Sea.     We  got  200  more  in  the  Bering  Sea,  when  I  got  lost 

while  hunting  in  a  small  boat,  and  was  picked  up  by  j^^,^,,,^^„,„,  ig83 

the  Moilie  Adams, -AiiiX  she  brought  me  back  to  Port 

Townseud.     The  Mary  de  Leo  returned  here  later,  and  I  never  learned 

how  many  seals  she  got  altogether. 

In   1881  I  went  out  in  the  American  schooner  Ahjcr,  leaving  Port 
Townsend  al)out  the  latter  part  of  jNIarch.     Capt.  Ray-  ^^^^^  jgg^ 
mond  was  master  of  her.     We  sealed  on  the  coast,  work- 
ing our  way  to  the  Bering  Sea,  up  to  which  time  we  got  about  300  seals 
and  we  got  about  250  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea.     1885  I   0,.„^gig85_ 
went  in  the  English  schooner  (ir<(ee,  I  do  not  remember 
the  captain's  nann;.     We  left  Victoria  about  the  latter  part  of  March, 
taking  the  same  route  we  caught  about  400  in  the  North  Pacific  and  about 
200  in  the  Bering  Sea,  and  then  returned  to  Victoria.  ^^^^^  seized  isse. 
In  1880 1  went  in  the  American  schooner  AUjer,  leaving 


432  TESTIMONY 

Seattle  about  the  latter  part  of  March,  and  went  north  catching  in  tlie 
North  Pacific  about  800  seals,  and  then  we  entered  the  Bering  Sea  and 
caughtabout  1,000  more,  wheu  we  were  seized  and  sentto  Sitka.  I  stayed 
in  Sitka  afew  days,  when  I  worked  my  way  to  Seattle,  arriving  tliere  about 
.  ,.    ,„„  December.  Then,  in  1887, 1  went  in  the  Englisli  schooner 

Active  1887.  ,       .  /.      i   ■    ,    /  .        j     •       r    i  ,  -iit-     i     ,., 

Active,  ot  which  (Japtam  J  ohnsou  was  master.  We  lett 
Victoria  about  the  middle  of  March  and  went  as  far  as  Cape  Cook,  and 
caught  about  200  seals,  when  she  was  lost  and  I  was  landed  on  Cape 
Cook,  and  came  right  down  along  the  coast  to  Clockouc  Sound,  and 
from   there  went  down    to   Bartlett  Sound  and  joined    the  English 

schooner  Seaicard  about  a  month  or  two  after  sailing 

from  \  ictoria.     Captain  Lyman  was  master.     He  had 

400  seals  before  I  joined  her.     We  went  along  the  coast,  catching  250 

seals,  and  entered  the  Bering  Sea,  getting  about  300  more,  and  came 

home  about  the  1st  of  September. 

In  1888 1  went  out  in  the  English  t^clioonev  Bosa  Lee,  leaving  Victoria 

about  the  latter  part  of  March,  going  along  the  coast 

rwm  Lee,  1888.         ^^^^^^  catchiiig  about  200  seals  in  the  North  Pacific ;  then 

we  entered  the  Bering  Sea  and  got  100  more.     I  did  not  go  out  the  next 

season,  which  wonld  be  1889.     In  1890  I  went  out  m 
a  G.  wiMe,  1890.      ^j^^  ^^  ^  ^yj^  j^^.^  ^^^  \y\nc\i  Captain  Hagman  was  master. 

We  left  San  Francisco  about  the  latter  part  of  ]\[arch  and  went  to  the 
coast  of  Japan,  having  caught  ~)~)0  seals.  Then  we  went  into  the  Ber- 
ing Sea  and  caught  2~)  seals,  when  our  hunting  boat  was  blown  ashore 
on  the  Bussian  islands.  The  Bussian  authorities  gave  us  a  house  to 
live  in  and  some  clothes,  and  later  on  they  sent  us  home.  I  did  not 
know  what  had  become  of  the  schooner  C.  Q.  Vfhife  until  I  returned 
here.  The  vessels  that  I  went  out  in  had  from  three  to  six  boats,  and 
3  men  to  the  boat — 1  hunter  and  2  boat-pullers.  I  did  not  pay  much 
attention  to  the  sex  of  seals  we  killed  in  the  North  Pacific,  but  know 
that  a  great  many  of  them  were  cows  that  had  pups  in  them,  and  we 
killed  most  of  them  whi  le  tliey  were  asleep  on  the  water. 
ce^roT'tiufse*^ caught  I  kuow  that  fully  75  per  cent  of  those  we  caught  in  the 
females  in  milk.  Bcriug  Sca  wcrc  COWS  ill  milk.     We  used  riHes  and 

shot^-uns,  and  shot  them  when  feeding  or  asleep  on  the  water. 
An  experienced  huntei'  like  myself  will  get  two  out  of  three  that  he 
kills,  but  an  ordinarv  hunter  would  not  get  more  than 
gefsToutTa  kuTed-  onc  out  of  every  three  or  four  that  he  kills.  I  have  never 
an  inexperienced,  1  jieard  of  uor  know  of  scals  being  born  in  the  water, 
""  "  ^"^  ■  and  I  liaAe  never  known  of  any  place  where  they  haul 

Not  born  in  water,    up  ou  land  cxccpt  tlic  Seal  ishiuds.     I  havc  killed 
Haul  np  only  on  is-   motlicr   scals   iu    milk   from   40   to   100   miles  off  the 
land?.  seal  islands.     There  has  been  a  great  decrease  in  the 

number  of  seals  to  be  seen  in  the  Nortii  Pacific  and 
m.^cs torn  4o'"to  100  Bering  Sea  since  I  first  went  out  to  hunt  them,  and  if 
miles  from  islands.      the  large  fleet  of  vcsscls  going  to  these  waters  annu- 
Decre.i,so        '        ^^^Y  Gontinucs  to  liuiit  iu  the  future  as  in  the  past  few 
years  it  is  bcmnd  to  exterminate  the  seal. 

Thomas  Gibson. 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  me  this  Gth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Cle^ient  Bennett, 

notary  Fuhlic. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN   FRANCISCO.  433 

Deposition  of  George  Grady,  coolc  on  sealing  vessel. 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 

George  Grady,  liavin,i>-  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:*  I  am  28 
years  of  age.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco.     3Iy  occupa- 
tion is  tLat  of  cook  on  board  of  \  essels.     I  went  to  the     Experience. 
Bering  Sea  in  18S9  upon  tlie  Laura,  from  Victoria,  as      zawa  i8S9 
a  cook.     We  Lad  three  small  boats  and  caught  1,400 
seals  on  that  voyage.     We  caught  some  a  little  ways  from  Victoria, 
and  on  the  Avay  w^  to  the  Bering  Sea,  but  the  most  of  them,  about 
1,200,  we  caught  in  the  Bering  Sea.     1  was  told  by 
the  men  that  they  were  nearly   all  females,  and  I  m^tiy''fimafe1"°  ^^* 
thought  so  too,  from  the  milk  that  I  saw  in  their  breasts 
when  they  were  on  the  deck.     I  saw  over  a  hundred  little  pup   seals 
taken  out  of  the  seals,  which  they  threw  overboard.      ^^^ 
Our  hunters  used  rifles  and  shotguns.     I  have  heard        "^^' 
the  hunters  say  that  they  lost  more  seals  then  they  ^^^ 

got.  •  I  also  heard  them  say,  if  they  got  all  the  seals 
they  shot  at,  they  would  have  been  home  three  months  ahead  of  time, 
with  a  great  deal  larger  catch. 

his 

George  x  Grady. 

mark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13tli  day  of  Ajiril,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  ,     Clement  Bennett, 

Xotary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  James  Grijfin,  sealer  {hoat-puUcr). 

pelagic  sealing. 

James  Griffin,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  lam  22  years 
old,  and  live  in  San  Francisco.     I  hunted  seal  last  vear 
in  the  schooner  La  Nympha  as  boat-i)uller.     First  seal 
seen  and  taken  were  oft'  Cape  Flattery,  about  April  lo,      LaXympha,  isoi. 
and  followed  the  seal  into    Bering  Sea,   where  we 
arrived  about  July.     Tlie  shotgun  and  rifle  were  both      ^^'gration. 
used.    About  7o  per  cent  are  lost  when  shotgun  is  used.     Have  never 
seen  but  three  seal  killed  by  rifle  secured.     If  you  shoot  a  seal  in  the 
throat  it  is  hard  to  secure  him  although  each  boat  carries  a  long  gatf 
to  hook  them  out  of  the  water.     About  nine  out  of  ten 
seal  killed  in  a  season  are  females  with  i)up.     But  a     ><'ino  out  or   ten 

/.  1  xi  j_i'  •I'  -1     Killed    females    with 

very  few  males  were  taken,  their  ages  ranging  from  1   ,,„p. 
to  4  years.     But  one  old  bull  was  taken  in  the  sea- 
son.   Every  seal  is  shot  that  conies  near  the  boat,  regardless  of  sex; 
hunters  iise  no  discrimination.     Have  never  heard  of 
pups  being  born  in  the  water  or  anvwhere  else  on  the     .^I"'^^"*'* ,''""{. J." 
coastoutsideot  thelribilot  Islands,   llavenever  known  but  on    I'nbiiof  is- 
seal  to  haului)  on  the  land  along  the  coast,  except  on  ''""^*'' 
the  Pribilof  Islands.     Have  killed  female  seal  90  miles     «"  ""t  ''-^.''l"!)  ^x- 
from  the  seal  islands  that  were  full  of  milk.     I  think  Smis?" 
271G— VOL  n 28 


434  TESTIMONY 

thai  jtolagic  sealiii.c:  sliould  1)C  stoj)pecl.     Eight  months 
killed .'^'"""  f<''i>ai.s   jj^   .^   y^,.,^  jj^  ^^^^^  uuicli  to  liuiit  aiiv  animal,  and  the 
.seal  will  soon  boconio  cxtcnniiiiated  if  this  pelagic  seal- 
Protection.  ^^^^  -^  allowed  to  coiitinnc. 

James  Griffin. 

Siibsccibed  and  sworn  to  belore  me  this  14th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W,  Lavender, 
United  /States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Joseph  Grymes,  sealer  {hoat-jmller.) 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Franeisco,  ss. 
Joseph  Giymes,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside 
in  Victoria.     My  occupation  is  that  of  a  seaman.     I 
xpeuence.  made  a  sealing  voyage  on  the  schooner  Triumph  in  1890, 

Triumph,  1890.  as  a  boat-X)ullev.     We  sailed  about  January,  from  Vic- 

■g  ■  „a    .fnieof  ^o^'^'^^   Bdtish   Coluiiilua,  and  sailed  along  the  coast 
entering  aiurieaving.  uiitil  the  latter  part  of  Juuc  and  went  into  the  Bering  Sea, 
and  sealed  as  near  to  St.  George  Island  as  we  could, 
Catch  in  sea.  ^^^^  caught  about  300  or  400  seals  in  the  sea.     Our  in- 

tention was  to  make  a  raid,  but  were  driven  away  by  a  revenue  cutter. 
We  left  the  sea  about  the  latter  part  of  July.     We  used  shotguns 
and  rifles,  using  the  shotguns  mostly.    The  catch  was 
mSg^cows""'""*  *''■  mostly  females.     Those  we  got  in  the  North  Pacific 
were  females  in  pup,  and  those  taken  in  the  Bering  Sea 

Waste  of  life.  .     .     '^      ^  1,,  mi       i  j.  ii  j- 

were  cows  giving  milk.     The  hunters  would  get  on  an 
average  one  out  of  every  four  they  killed. 

Joseph  Grymes. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Depositions  of  Charles  M.  Hagman  et  al.,  sealers, 

PELAGIC    sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Be  it  remembered,  that  pursuant  to  the  request  of  W.  H.  Williams, 
esq..  United  States  Treasury  agent,  in  the  city  and  county  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, State  of  California,  on  February  1,  1892,  before  me,  Clement 
Bennett,  a  notary  ])ublic  in  and  for  said  (^ity  and  county  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, duly  ai>poiiit('d  and  (tomniissioned  to  administer  oaths,  etc.,  per- 
sonally ai)]K?ared  Charles  H.  Ilagman,  Alexander  McLean,  Gustave 
Isaacson,  Frank  Johnson,  If.  Ilarmscii,  and  Daniel  McLean,  witnesses 
who  a])])eare(l  then  and  there  to  de[)Ose  and  testify  in  the  matter  of 
the  seal  iishevies,  who,  being  first  by  me  duly  sworn,  were  then  and 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  435 

there  examined  aud  interrogated  by  W.  H. Williams,  esq.,  and  did  de- 
pose and  testify  as  follows,  to  wit: 

Charles  G.  Hagman,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 
Mr.  Williams: 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occupation? — A.  My 
name  is  Charles  G-.  Hagman;  age,  47  j  residence,  San  Francisco  j  occu- 
pation, seaman. 

Q.  Are  you  an  American  citizen? — A.  I  am. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  catching  seals  iu 
the  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  For  how  long  a  i3eriod? — A.  About  eiglit  years.        ^^  ^^.^ 

Q.  Have  you  been  master  of  a  vessel  thus  engaged  1 —       ^peneuce. 
A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  any  experience  as  to  the  habits  of  the  fur-seals? — A. 
Not  any  more  than  they  seemed  to  emigrate  in  the  winter,  and  go  north 
in  the  summer.  That  is  all  I  know  of  their  habits.  I  have  never  seen 
them  out  of  the  water. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  do  you  generally  start  out  sealing  in  the 
Pacific,  and  up  to  what  time  do  you  continue? — A.  From  the  1st  of 
February,  as  a  general  thing,  until  about  June,  on  the  coast.  Then  we 
used  to  go  in  the  Bering  Sea.  I  have  not  been  there  for  four  or  five 
years. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  are  the  seals  all  out  of  the  Pacific,  having 
gone  to  the  Bering  Sea? — A.  They  generally  leave  in 
June.     You  don't  see  but  very  few  after  June.  in  June""*  ''^  ^'''*''^*' 

Q.  According  to  your  experience,  what  percentage 
of  animals  that  are  shot  at  are  actually  taken  by  the 
boats?— A.  Most  all  of  them;  very  few  escape.     Maybe  seourS' ""^^ '^"^  "** 
out  of  the  whole  year's  catch  of  a  coui>le  of  thousand 
a  dozen  may  sink.     It  is  a  rare  occurrence  that  they  sink. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  shot  at  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake? — A.  Both. 

Q.  Do  you  ever  shoot  at  a  seal  when  awake  or  breeching? — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  What  sex  are  the  seals  taken  by  you  or  usually  killed  by  hunting 
vessels  in  the  Korth  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea? — A.  Mostly 
females.    The  biggest  percentage,  I  think,  are  females.  mS.*^^'  ^'''S"''"*  *'•'■ 

Q.  What  percentage  of  them  are  cows? — A.  I  couldn't 
tell  you. 

Q.  Out  of  a  hundred  seals  that  you  would  catch  ordinarilj^  what 
part  of  them  would  be  cows? — A.  I  am  under  oath,  and  I  could  not 
tell  you  exactly.     All  I  can  say  is,  the  greater  pi)rtion  of  them. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  are  taken  with  jnip? — A.  All  the 
large  ones  have — all  the  grown  females  have.  Very  seldom  you  find  a 
barren  one. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  are  any  of  the  pups  born  in  the  water,  or  any- 
where outside  of  the  seal  islands? — A.  It  has  never  come  under  my 
observation.  I  have  never  seen  a  seal  on  shore.  I  have  never  seen  the 
seal  islands  yet;  that  is,  St.  George  and  St.  Paul,  I  have  never  seen, 
I  have  seen  the  Copper  Islands,  on  the  Kussian  side. 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  animals  in  the 
last  few  years? — A.  As  I  have  not  hunted  on  this  coast  for  several 
years,  I  am  unable  to  say.     Wlicn  I  was  there  I  saw  no  difference. 

Q.  If  you  peoi)le  are  allowed  to  kill  females  still,  is  there  anydauger 
of  exterminating  them,  do  you  think,  supposing  you  go   on  and  kill 


436  TESTIMONY 

them  promiscuously? — A.  I  would  be  afraid  that  we  would  thiu  them 
out.     I  will  uot  say  extermiuate  them,  but  thiu  tlieiii  out. 

Q.  Do  you  thiuk  it  is  uecessary  to  protect  the  seal  iu  the  Bering 
Sea?— A.  Certainly  I  do. 

Q.  In  the  North  Pacific?— A.  In  the  Korth  Pacific 
^j^rotection  neces-  j  ^^,jjj  ,^^^  ^..^^ .  ^^^^  j„  ^j^^  Bering  Sea  I  tluuk  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary. 

Q.  Are  seals  generally  shot  with  a  rifle  or  shotgun  with  buckshot? — 
A.  Both. 

Q.  If  the  cow  seals  are  to  be  protected  in  the  Bering  Sea,  what 
months  do  you  consider  it  would  be  necessary  to  prohibit  any  being- 
taken? — A.  I  would  not  like  to  answer  that. 

Q.  Do  you  think  of  anything  else  that  is  of  value  in  regard  to  this 
seal  question  that  I  have  not  asked  you;  anything  you  would  like  to 
say,  you  can  give  your  opinion  about? — A.  I  thiuk  they 
should  look  out  for  those  poachers — these  people  that 
go  there  late  in  the  fall  and  steal  them  off  the  rookeries.  There  has 
been  cases  of  that  kind.  I  think  that  is  decidedly  wrong,  both  for  me 
and  the  seals.  That  is  what  started  the  Government  to  look  after  them 
so  well,  finding  out  that  they  had  been  clubbing  the  seals  on  the  islands. 


Deposition  of  Alexander  McLean^  ftealer  [master). 

ALEXA.NDER  McLean,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 
Mr.  Williams  : 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occuj^ation? — A.  My 
name  is  Alexander  McLean;  age,  32;  residence,  San  Francisco;  occu- 
pation, master  mariner. 

Q.  Are  you  an  American  citi/en  ? — A.  I  am. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  catching  seals  in 
the  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea? — A.  I  have. 

Q.  For  how  long  a  period? — A.  Ten  years. 

Q.  Have  you  been  master  of  vessels  thus  engaged? — A.  I  have  been 
nine  years  in  the  sealing  business. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  do  you  generally  start  out  sealing  in  the 
Pacific? — A.  L  have  varied  always  from  the  11th  of  January  until  the 
11th  of  February. 

Q.  When  do  you  call  the  season's  catch  over? — A.  About  the  11th 
of  September;  probably  a  month  later.  I  usually  get  back  about  the 
lltli  of  September. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  are  the  .seals  all  out  of  the  Pacific,  having 

gone  to  the  Bering  Sea?     What  months? — A.  To  my  knowledge  they 

would  go  into  the  Bering  Sea  after  the  20th  of  June. 

after  June  20  ^^'^''^°       ^^'  '^^<^<'oi"<^liiig  to  your  experience,  wliat  percentage 

of  animals  that  are  shot  at  are  actually  taken  by  the 

Lose  ouo  out  of  ten.  boats  ?    You  cau  ouly  estimate  it? — A.    That  is  a  very 

hard  question  for  me  to  give  you  a  proper  answer  to. 

I  do  not  think  they  lose  any  more  than  one  out  of  ten. 

Q.  What  i^ercentage  of  thos(^  shot  at  and  are  not  taken  perish? — A. 
Outside  of  that? 

Q.  Yes. — A.  I  can  not  answer  that. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  shot  at  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake? — A.  With 
me  they  are  principally  asleep  on  the  water.  Of  late  years  they  shoot 
them  a  great  deal  when  they  are  awake. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN   FEANCISCO.  437 

Q.  Do  yon  slioot  at  seals  wlien  tLey  are  awake  or  breeching? — A. 
Yes,  sir;  when  tli'^y  couie  witliiii  raiij^e. 

Q.  Of  what  sex  are  tlie  seals  taken  by  yon  or  usnally  killed  bylmnt- 
ing  vessels  in  tlie  Kortli  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea  ? — A.  rriiicipally  fe- 
males. 

Q.  What  wonld  be  yonr  judgment  as  to  the  percentage?     Out  of  a 
hundred  that  yon  kill,  how  many  of  them  would  be 
females?— A.  Say  I  would  bring  2,000  seals  in  here,  fe^l'i'elf"''' ^''"■™* 
I  may  have  probably  about  100  males;  that  is  a  large 
average. 

Q.  Lots  of  times  there  are  not  nearly  as  many? — A.  No,  sir;  not  near 
as  many. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  females  taken  are  with  pup? — A.  That 
depends  on  the  season  yon  are  killing  them  in.  When  they  are  getting 
heavy  in  pup  in  the  latter  part  of  the  season,  the  1st  of  June,  when 
you  take  a  seal  then  yon  take  two  for  one.  Yon  take  the  pup  with 
them.  That  is,  when  it  is  a  female.  This  is  before  we  go  into  tlie  sea. 
I  have  been  into  the  sea  for  severnl  years.  For  the  last  two  years  1 
have  not  gone  in  there;  that  is,  while  this  restriction  act  has  been  put 
on.     I  have  not  interfered  with  the  business. 

Q.  Your  experience  is  that  all  of  the  adult  females  that  you  shoot 
during  the  forepart  of  the  season  up  to  Julv  are  with 
pup  ?- A.  You  may  take  it  all  the  way  from  April,  May,   ^f^^f^  p'^^s'^'^"*  ^^• 
and  June;  from  April  all  the  female  seals  that  you  kill 
are  with  pup. 

Q.  Up  until  about  the  1st  of  July  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Until  they  go  into  the  Bering  Sea  ? — A.  Yes,  sir.  - 

Q,  In  your  opinion,  is  it  feasible  that  pups  can  be  born  in  the  Avater 
and  live? — A.  I  don't  believe  they  can  be  born  in  the  water  at  all  and 
live.    I  have  beard  several  people  express  themselves 
difterently.     I   think  myself  it  is  impossible.      Seals  poSbit"  ''"'''  ""' 
have  got  to  haul  up  on  land  to  breed,  and  leave  their 
pups  on  shore. 

Q.  Do  you  know  any  place  where  these  seals  go  to  land,  except  the 
seal  islands  on  the  American  side? — A.  ifo,  sir;  not  anyplace  that  I 
know  of.    There  have  been  lots  of  reports  of  places, 
but  I  have  been  to  these  places  and  could  not  find  any  i^ili^'^  "i'  ^"^'^'"^  '"■ 
seals  there. 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals  in  the  last 
few  years  over  what  it  was  a  few  years  formerly? — A.  I  have  noticed 
a  decrease  since  I  have  been  in  the  business;  I  have     Decrease 
made  a  catch  from  3,500  coming  down  to  1,500,  a  little 
less  than  one-half. 

Q.  You  do  not  consider  there  are  nearly  as  many  seals  now  as  there 
used  to  be  in  the  water? — A.  I^To,  sir;  not  now.  I  have  been  in  the 
business  for  ten  years,  and  I  think  in  another  ten  years  there  will  be  a 
great  deal  less, 

Q.  To  what  do  yon  attribute  this  decrease? — A.  I  think  it  is  on  ac- 
count of  killing  those  female  seals  when  they  have  pups,  and  the  bus- 
iness is  getting  so  that  so  many  vessels  are  going  into  it,  and  tliey  are 
killing  those  puj)s  oft".  A  seal  has  not  got  a  chance  to  go  to  work  and 
increase. 

Q.  Killing  the  females,  of  course,  destroys  the  puj)  and  the  female, 
and  makes  one  less  breed? — A.  Yes,  sir;  when  you  kill  the  female  seal 
yon  kill  the  pup  with  her, 

Q.  Did  you  ever  kill  any  seals  later  in  the  season  that  were  giN^ng 
milk  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 


438  TESTIMONY 

Q.  Tlio  mother  seals? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Jlow  far  from  the  ishuuls  liave  you  killed  those 
iniies'frora islands''''^  mother   seals  tliat  were  iu   milk?— A.  I  have  killed 
them  as  far  oft"  as  150  miles  off  the  land. 
Q.  Is  that  iu  the  Paciiic  or  Bering  Sea! — A.  Both  in  the  Pacific  and 
Berinji"  Sea. 

Q.  They  were  evidently  the  mothers  that  had  young? — A.  Yes,  sir; 
they  had  their  young.     Some  of  the  seals  had  left  their 

Females  sealing.  "^  j.i-ii  !„„•  i 

young  on  the  islands  and  were  going  away,  and  were 
through  with  them  or  going  to  feed.  Sometimes  a  seal  goes  a  long- 
way  off  the  islands  at  a  certain  time.  It  depends  where  the  feed  is. 
A  seal  does  not  think  very  much  of  traveling  a  hundred  miles;  they 
travel  very  fast  when  the}'  want  to. 

Q.  If  sealing  continues  as  heretofore,  is  there  any  danger  of  exter- 
minating them? — A.  If  they  continue  as  they  have  been,  since  I  have 
been  in  the  business,  I  will  give  them  another  ten  years;  after  that  the 
sealing  business  will  be  about  finished.  It  will  not  justify  anyone  to  fit 
out  from  here  or  anywhere  else,  and  people  that  look  after  the  sealing 
interests,  I  donottliink  they  will  benefit  anything  by  it,  if  they  don't 
protect  the  seal  life  at  present. 

Q.  Do  you  think  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in  the 
Bering  Sea  to  keep  them  from  being  extenniuated? — A.  I  do. 

Q.  Is  it  often  necessary  to  protect  them  iu  the  I^orth 
rrotection  neces    Pacific ? — A.  That  is  a  fmestion  that  should  be  iuter- 

sary.  <^-  i 

national. 

Q.  What  I  want  to  get  at  is,  is  it  your  idea  that  iu  order  to  protect 
and  keep  up  this  supi)ly  of  young  seals  that  it  is  necessary  not  only  to 
protect  them  in  the  iJcriug  Sea  but  to  protect  the  cows  as  they  are  in 
the  North  Pacific,  nearingthe  ground,  or  as  they  are  coming  out? — A. 
Yes,  sir;  in  the  way  it  is  here,  the  Pacific  Ocean  is  a  large  ocean.  The 
seals  are  spread  all  over,  and  it  would  be  impossible  to  go  to  work  and 
exterminate  them  from  these  waters  to  decrease  them  as  long  as  they 
kec])  them  out  of  the  Bering  Sea.  That  is  where  the  body  of  the  seals 
get  into.  For  40  miles  within  the  passage  they  can  not  handle  the  seals 
at  all,  because  you  don't  see  them.  They  are  travehng  too  much.  You 
may  see  a  herd  once  in  while,  but  very  rarely. 

Q.  Whereabouts  in  the  ]S'()rth  I'acific  do  you  find  tliem  the  most 
nuiuorous? — A.  You  can  start  from  San  Francisco,  and  you  carry  them 
all  the  way  up  from  the  time  you  ]ea\'e  here  until  you  get  up  to  those 
passes;  all  the  way  uj)  150  miles  to  30  miles  in  the  shore.  In  some 
places  you  come  in  closer  than  that,  according  to  the  point  of  laud  that 
you  come  into. 

Q.  Are  seals  generally  shot  with  a  rifle  or  shotgun? — A.  They  used 
to  shoot  them  with  rifles;  now  they  shoot  them  all  with  shotguns. 

Piibiiof  Til  1  Tus  ^^'  ^^  yom-  oi)iuion  do  the  seals  on  the  Eussian  side 
sian"  honiJ' "eparate  intermingle  with  those  on  the  Pacific  side,  or  are  they 
'""'■''''■  a  separate  herd  ? — A.  They  are  a  diftcrent  herd  of  seals, 

altogether. 

Q.  If  the  cow  seals  are  to  he  protected  in  the  Bering  Sea,  what 
month  do  you  think  it  would  be  necessary  to  prohibit  any  being 
taken  ?  Would  you  ])rohibit  them  being  taken  at  any  time  or  all  times? — 
A.  I  think  if  they  are  prohibited  at  all  they  should  prohibit  them  for 
about  two  months.  priii('i|>ally  July  and  August. 

Q.  How  about  Se|»teml>er? — A.  They  are  through  breeding  then,  and 
the  ])ups  are  ashore.  There  are  only  two  months  that  they  can  inter- 
fere with  them  there  for  breeding  purposes  that  I  know  of.     The  sea 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  439 

sons  get  later  every  year.  There  arc  breeding-  dat.'s,  ete.  Ten  years 
ago  tliey  never  used  to  be  any  later  than  Angnst  breeding  there.  Xow 
they  are  getting  hiter  than  tliat,  and  are  getting  on  to  September, 
because  the  world  is  changing,  the  climate  is — the  seals  change  accord- 
ing to  the  climate. 

Q.  In  your  view  of  the  case  they  should  be  protected 
intheBering  Sea  all  the  season?— A.  Yes,  sir;  I  think  ,J;°^'''^^°"  °^*^"- 
it  would  be  advisable  to  jirotect  them  in  the  Eerings 
Sea  altogether. 

Q.  You  are  an  old  sealer;  perhaps  you  know  some  things  that  I  don't. 
If  there  is  anything  you  think  of  that  is  interesting  I  should  like  to 
know  it  ? — A.  No,  sir;  I  should  like  to  give  my  opinion  as  far  as  it  is 
right,  and  beyond  that  I  would  not  do  it.  I  am  interested  in  sealing, 
and  want  to  protect  the  seals.  1  wish  to  say  that  I  would  like  to  see 
the  seal  islands  protected  from  raids,  and  also  the  Bering  Sea. 


Deposition  of  Gusfare  Isaacson,  sealer  {master). 

Gust  AVE  Isaacson,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 
Mr.  Williams  : 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occuj)ation? — A.  My 
name  is  Gustave  Isaacson;  age,  46;  residence,  San  Francisco;  occupa- 
tion, hunting  seals. 

Q.  Are  you  an  American  citizen  ? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  catching  seals  in 
the  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  For  how  long  a  period? — A.  I  have  been  principally  occupied  in 
otter  hunting  at  the  beginning  of  the  seasons;  at  short  intervals  I  have 
been  sealing. 

Q.  For  how  many  years? — A.  Since  1872;  but  principally  from  the 
other  side,  the  Okhotsch  Sea  side;  since  18SI  on  this  side. 

Q.  Have  you  been  master  of  vessels  thus  engaged? — A.  Yes,  sir;  for 
eight  years  on  the  Japan  side  and  one  year  on  this  .side. 

Q.  Have  you  any  experience  as  to  the  habits  of  the  fur-seals? — A. 
Only  following  them  up  hunting.     I  have  been  listening  to  your  ques- 
tions to  Capt.  McLean,  and  I  have  the  same  idea,  ex- 
cept as  to  the  i^rotection.     I  think  thev  ought  to  be     Protection  neces- 
protected  every M^here  they  can,  both  outside  and  inside 
the  sea. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  do  you  generally  start  out  sealing  in  the 
Pacific  and  up  to  what  time  do  you  continue? — A.  In  the  middle  of 
January  or  February. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  are  the  seals  all  out  of  the  Pacific,  having 
gone  to  the  Bering  Sea? — A.  About  the  latter  part  of     ,.   ,      .   ,  „   ., 

y  .  Seals  out  of  Pacific 

June.  about   latter  part  of 

Q.  According  to  your  experience,  what  percentage  '^"■"'• 
of  animals  that  are  shot  at  are  actnallv  taken  by  the      one  secured  out  of 
boats?— A.  I  think  about  one-third  is  lost.  ^  *^'"''*'- 

Q.  Are  the  seals  shot  at  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake,  generally? — 
A.  Mostly  asleep.  Very  often  they  are  shot  at  while  traveling, 
breecliing. 


440  TESTIMONY 

Q.  Of  what  sex  are  tlie  seals  taken  by  you,  or  nsually  killed  by  the 
liuntiiig'  vessels  in  the  Is'orth  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea? — 

irostly  females  and      4       !<'",>,, ,.,1<>  • 
pregiiaiit.  '^^'    -Ltlll.lH.s. 

Q.  What  peicentage  of  them  are  females'? — A.  It  is 
very  seldom  that  yon  ever  get  hold  of  a  male. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  taken  are  with  jnip? — A.  In  the 
early  part  of  the  season,  up  to  June,  all  the  full-grown  cows  are  with 
pup. 

Q.  Did  you  ever  kill  any  cows  whose  young  were  born,  and  were 
giving  milk?— A.  That  I  don't  remember  taking  notice  of.  I  can  not 
answer  that  question. 

_^.  ^j  Q.  In  y(mr  opinion,  are  any  of  the  pups  born  in  the 

ope  agio  )ii  1.       -yvj^ti'r? — A,  I  don't  think  so. 
Boru  only  on  Piib-       Q-  Oraiivwliere  else  except  on  the  seal  islands? — 

ilof  Jslantls.  A.    1   (loiTt    tlliuk  SO. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  any  seal  jmps  in  the  Pacific  that  were 
younger  than  those  born  the  year  previous? — A.  Down  at  Guadaloup 
Island  about  three  months  ago,  I  killed  a  cow  there  that  had  a  pup 
that  was  too  young  to  come  from  the  Bering  Sea  and  evidently  had 
been  born  around  there.    That  is  about  the  only  case  I  have  seen. 

Q.  The  pups  that  you  see  in  the  Pacific  this  year  are  those  born  last 
year.     You  don't  see  those  born  this  year? — A.  'No  sir;  I  do  not. 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  decrease  in  the  quantity 
Decrease.  ^^^  scals  iu  the  last  few  years? — A.  Yes,  sir;  a  great 

decrease. 
Cause.  Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  cause? — A.  Killing 

oft' the  females;  whale-killers  and  sharks  kill  a  good  many. 

Q.  If  sealing  (Mmtinues  as  heietot'ore,  is  there  any  danger  of  extermi- 
nating them? — A.  Yes,  sir;  I  think  a  few  years  will  do  that. 

Q.  Do  you  consider  it  necessary  to  protect  the  seals 
^Protection  neces-   .^^  ^j^^  ^^^,^^^  Pacific?— A.  Ycs,  sir ;  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  protect  tliem  anywhere  where  it  can  be  done. 
Q.  Are  seals  generally  shot  with  a  rifle  or  shotgun? — A.  Both  rifle 
and  shotgun;  mostly  shotguns, 

^^^^  Q.  In  your  o])inion,  do  the  seals  on  the  Eussian  side 
kan'hlrdsdlTnotm'in-  intermingle  with  those  on  the  Pacific  side,  or  are  they 
s^^-  a  separate  herd? — A.  They  do  not  intermingle  at  all. 

Q.  If  the  cow  seals  are  to  be  protected  in  the  Bering  Sea,  what 
month  do  you  consider  it  would  be  necessary  to  prohibit  any  being 
tiken? — A.  I  should  consider  it  necessary  to  protect  them  all  the  time 
they  are  in  the  Bering  Sea. 


Deposition  of  Franlc  Johnson,  sealer  {hunter  and  mate). 

Frank  Johnson,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 
Mr.  Williams  : 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occuj^ation? — A.  IMy 
name  is  Frank  Johnson;  age,  33;  occupation,  master  mariner;  resi- 
dence, San  Francisco. 

Q.  Are  you  an  American  citizen? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  catching  seals  in 
the  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea? — A.  Yes,  sir. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  441 

Q.  For  liow  long  a  p<)riod'? — A.  About  ten  years,  off  and  on.  I  have 
been  otter  bunting  some  years;  about  balf. 

.Q.  Have  you  been  mister  of  vessels  thus  engaged? — A.  No,  sir;  this 
will  be  my  tirst  time  tliis  year. 

Q.  What  position  did  you  occupy? — A.  Hunter  and  mate  two  years. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  do  you  generally  start  out  sealing  in  the 
Pacific,  and  up  to  what  time  do  you  continue? — A.  From  the  latter  part 
of  January,  generally,  until  the  latter  part  of  September;  the  middle  of 
September. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  are  the  seals  practically  out  of  the  Pacific, 
having  gone  to  the  Bering  Sea? — A.  I  always  found  seais  out  of  Pacific 
them  very  scarce  in  the  latter  part  of  June.  coast  about  latter  part 

Q.  According  to  your  experience,  what  percentage 
of  animals  that  are  shot  at  are  actually  taken  by  the  boats? — A. 
About  a  third  to  a  quarter,  we  lose. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  shot  at  asleep  on  the  water  or  th^e^orfou?/"*  "^ 
awake,  usually? — A.  Principally  asleep. 

Q.  Of  what  sex  are  the  seals  taken  by  you  or  usually  killed  by  hunt- 
ing vessels  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  ^^.^tiy females. 
Females,  principally. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  them  ?  For  instance,  if  you  kill  100  seals,  how 
many  males  would  you  get? — A.  Perhaps  two.  You  strike  a  few  bulls 
when  you  get  further,  say,  towards  the  Aleutian  Islands. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  that  you  kill  are  with  pup  ? — A.  That 
is  pretty  hard  for  me  to  estimate.     Many  times  you 
strike  young  seals  without  pup.  f^f^;^fl  ^uifp'«if ''^* 

Q.     The  adult  females  are  all  with  pup? — A.  Yes, 
sir;  I  have  found  a  good  many  old  ones  that  are  too  old  to  have  pups, 
extra  big  size  seals. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  are  any  of  the  pups  born  in  the 
water,  or  anywhere  outside  of  the  seal  islands?— A.  I  i,^,;'/''  ^°™  °°^y  "" 
think  they  are  born  on  land. 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  animals  in  the 
last  few  years? — A.  I  have  found  a  decrease.    I  have     Decrease 
not  been  doing  much  sealing  in  the  last  three  or  four 
years.     I  have  been  otter  hunting,  principally. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  cause  of  this  de- 
crease?— A.  The  increase  of  the  fleet  and  killing  of  all      ^'"'^''* 
the  females. 

Q.  If  sealing  continues  as  heretofore,  is  there  any  danger  of  exter- 
minating the  herd? — A.  Yes,  sir;  I  think  so. 

Q.  Do  you  think  it  absolutely  necessary  to  protect 
the  cows  in  the  Bering  Sea  ?— A.  Yes,  sir.  sary!'''""*'""    "'"'"''' 

Q.  What  do  you  think  about  i^rotecting  them  in  the 
North  Pacific,  providing  you  wanted  to  increase  the  seals  and  save 
them  from  extermination? — A.  I  don't  know  Avhat  to  say  al)0ut  that. 
The  North  Pacific  is  pretty  big. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  generally  s'.iot  with  a  rifle  or  a  shotgun? — A.  I  gen- 
erally shoot  them  with  a  rifle  myself,  but  they  are  generally  shot  with 
a  shotgun,  from  what  I  hear. 

Q.  In  your  opinion  do  the  seals  on  the  Eussian  side 
intermingle  with  those  on  the  Pacific  side,  or  are  they  kan  UCTd"  separ^if^' 
a  separate  herd? — A.  I  think  they  are  a  separate  herd. 

Q.  If  the  cow  seals  are  to  be  protected  in  the  Bering  Sea  what  month 
do  you  consider  it  would  be  necessary  to  prohibit  any  being  taken? — 
A.  From  the  beginning  of  July  to  the  end  of  the  year. 


442  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  II.  Iho-mscn,  scaler  {master). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

H.  HAE.MSEN,  liaving  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 
Mr.  Williams  : 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence  and  occupation? — A.  My 
name  is  H.  Harmsen;  age,  38;  residence,  San  Francisco;  occnx)atiou, 
mariner. 

Q.  Are  you  an  American  citizen? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  catcliing  seals  in 
the  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea? — A.  Certainly. 

Q.  For  how  long  a  period? — A.  Since  1877. 

Q.  Have  you  been  nnister  of  vessels  tlius  engaged,  or  any  officer  in 
any  official  capacity ? — A.  Y^es,  sir;  since  1880  I  have  been  master, 

Q.  Have  you  any  experience  as  to  the  habits  of  the  fur-seal? — A.  I 
have  been  catching  a  good  many  of  them.  I  don't  know  much  about 
their  habits.     You  mean  im  the  coast? 

Q.  Yes;  their  general  habits  of  going  and  coming? — 
about*  chris*tmasaini  A.  Ycs,  thcv  geuerallv  c(mie  round  on  the  coast  about  a 
jeave  about  middio  of  ^^.g]-  bt'forc  Clirlstmas  and  up  until  about  the  middle 
of  June,  when  they  leave  the  coast  and  go  north. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  do  you  generally  start  out  sealing  in  the 
Pacific,  and  up  to  what  time  do  you  continue? — A.  We  start  out  about 
New  Year's. 

Q.  What  time  do  you  come  in  again? — A.  About  the  middle  of  Sej)- 
tember  or  October. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  are  the  seals  practically  out  of  the  Pacific, 
having  gone  to  the  Bering  Sea? — A.  About  the  middle  of  June. 

Q.  According  to  your  experience,  what  percentage  of  animals  that  are 

shot  at  are  actually  taken  by  the  boats? — A.  That  depends  a  good  deal 

,  ^        on  the  man  that  shoots  them.     Some  fellows  will  miss 

Some  secure  but  one     „  j_      />  i>  i  ii  •        ji  j       ,•  /^ 

out  four  or  five;  aver-  tour  out  01  tivc  and  another  may  miss  three  out  or  five 
age,  three  out  of  five.  r^J^^^  crlpplc  tlicm.  I  think  ou  a  general  average  we 
will  get  about  three  out  of  five. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  shot  at  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake,  usually? — A. 
Most  asleep. 

Q.  Of  what  sex  are  the  seals  taken  by  you  or  usually  killed  by  hunt- 
ing vessels  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  Cows  altogether; 
nothing  but  (;ows.     I  never  caught  a  bull  in  my  life,  and  I  have  got 
about  10,000  of  them. 
„.  , ,  ,  f      Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  taken  are  with 

Eighty  per  cent  of  n        »       -»>  n  ■,  i         i      n  ..m-,  ,^ 

those  ta'ken  pregnant  pups ? — A.  You  cau  saicly  Say  about  lour-fiiths  ot 
<="^^-  them.    You  get  about  800  out  of  1,001)  seals. 

Kg  pelagic  birth.  Q-  I"  your  ojiiuiou,  are  any  of  the  pups  born  in  the 

water  or  anywhere  else  outside  of  the  sea  islands? — A. 
No,  sir;  I  don't  think  it. 

Q.  Have  you  noti(;ed  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  animals  in  the 

last  few  years?    In  other  words,  do  you  find  them  as  plenty  now  in  the 

last  year  or  two  as  you  used  to? — A,  Of  course  not. 

They  are  not  so  i)lentifnl,  that  is  sure.     In  1880  we  got 

2,100  seals.     Now  you  couldn't  get  300  in  the  same  time. 

Q.  To  what  (lo  you  attribute  this  decrease? — A.  Too 
'"*"^*''  many  in  the  business,  I  suppose;  too  many  after  them. 

Q.  Would  you  attribute  it  to  the  killing  of  the  females  and  thereby 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  443 

there  are  not  nearly  as  many  born? — A.  Certainly;  it  lias  got  all  to  do 
witli  it. 

Q.  Then  really  the  killing  of  the  females  you  attribute  to  the  de- 
crease"?— A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  If  sealing  continues  as  heretofore  is  there  any  danger  of  extermi- 
nating the  herd? — A.  At  this  rate;  yes,  sir.  Just  keep  at  it  and  it 
will  be  only  a  few  years  before  it  will  do  away  with  the  whole  business. 

Q.  Do  you  tiiink  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in  the 
Bering  Sea? — A.  You  ought  to  protect  them,  certainly; 
in  order  to  keep  the  thing  going  they  ought  to  be  pro-   garv.'*^  "^'""     ^^*^^^ 
tected. 

Q.  Is  it  necessary  to  prote(;t  the  cows  in  the  Pacific? — A.  They  kill 
the  biggest  half  in  the  Pacific,  so  that  they  ought  to  be  protected  there. 

B.  Are  they  generally  shot  with  a  rifle  or  shotgun? — A.  A  shotgun 
exclusively,  you  might  say. 

Q.  In  your  opinion  do  the  seals  on  the  Russian  sideinteraiingle  with 
those  on  the  Pacific  side,  or  are  they  a  separate  herd? — A.  Xo,  sir; 
they  do  not  come  over  this  way.  They  are  not  a  dif-  ^^^^.^^  ^^^  ^^^^ 
ferent  breed,  but  they  keep  over  by  themselves.  At  kan  herds  do  uotmin- 
least  I  don't  think  so.  They  follow  their  own  stream  ^^''• 
along  there.  There  is  so  much  water  there  where  there  are  seals,  and 
so  much  where  there  are  not.     They  are  by  tliemselves. 

Q.  Kow,  then,  if  the  cow  seals  are  to  be  protected  in  the  Bering  Sea, 
what  month,  do  you  consider  it  would  be  necessary  to  prohibit  any  be- 
ing taken? — A.  Say  from  the  middle  of  June  until  the  end  of  the  year: 
something  like  that,  the  first  of  December. 


Deposition  of  Daniel  McLean,  sealer  (master.) 

Daniel  McLean,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 
Mr.  Williams:- 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occupation? — A.  My 
name  is  Daniel  McLean;  age,  43;  occupation,  master  mariner;  resi- 
dence, San  Francisco. 

Q.  Are  you  an  American  citizen? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Haye  you  ever  been  eug.iged  in  the  business  of  catching  seals  in 
the  Pacific  or  Bering  Sea? — A.  Yes,  sir.    • 

Q.  For  how  long  a  period? — A.  Eleven  years. 

Q.  Have  you  been  master  of  vessels  thus  engaged? — A.  Ehnen 
years. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  do  you  generally  start  out  sealing  in  the 
Pacific,  and  up  to  what  time  do  you  continue? — A.  I  start  out  about 
the  15th  of  December  and  stay  out  until  abuut  the  1st  of  October. 

Q.  What  time  of  the  year  are  the  seals  practically  all  out  of  the 
Pacific,  having  gone  to  the  Bering  Sea? — A.  About 
the  loth  of  June.     Not  all,  but  the'body  of  them.  Seais  out  of  Pacific 

^^  1 .  J  '  .  ,  about  latli  J  line. 

Q,.  AccDrding  to  your  experience,  wliat  percentage 
of  animals  that  are  shot  at  are  actnally  t.iken  by  tlie  boats? — A.  That 
is  a:'cording  to  the  a-monnt  of  ammunition  that  we  use. 
Abr>ut  one^third  are  tak.n..  ^.^rl,::::^^^:^- 

Q.  Are  the  seals  sliot  at  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake, 
usually? — A.  Most  asleep. 

Q.  Of  what  sex  are  the  seals  taken  by  you,  or  usually  klHed  by  hunt- 
ing vessels  in  the  N'orth  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A,  Females. 


444  TESTOIONY 

Q.  What  percentage  of  tliein  are  cows?  Suppose  you  catch  100  seals, 
Ninety  per  cent  fo.  l^^^  ^^^^W  iw^lcs  would    you  liave  amoTig  theui?— 

miles,    mostly    with    A.    About  10. 

^'^^^'  Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  taken   are  with 

pup? — A.  The  females  are  mostly  all  with  pup,  that  is,  up  until  the  1st 
of  July. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  are  any  of  the  pups  born  in  the 

isws.^'"""""^^'""  water  or'auywliere  else  out  of  the  seal  islands?— A.  I 

have  never  seen  any. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  fonud  any  seal  pups  in  the  Pacific  that  were 

younger  than  those  born  the  year  previous? — A.  Xo,  sir;  I  have  never 

seen  any. 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of 
animals  in  the  last  few  years? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  cause? — A.     Elill- 
ing  off  the  females. 
Q.  If  sealing  continues  as  heretofore,  is  there  any  danger  of  exter- 
minating them? — A.  Yes,  sir;  they  will  all  be  exterminated  in  three 
years,  and  there  will  be  no  more  sealing. 

Q.  Do  you  think  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  x)ro- 
^  Protection    neces-  ^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^  -j^  ^^^^  Bering  Sca?— A.  Ycs,  sir. 

Q.  It  is  also  necessary  to  protect  them  in  the  Pa- 
cific?— A.  The  Pacific  is  a  large  ocean,  and  they  do  not  go  in  large  bands. 
They  go  singly  and  in  pairs,  so  that  there  is  not  a  chance  to  kill  so 
many  of  them  in  the  ocean.  In  the  Bering  Sea  they  are  in  bands,  and 
they  go  onto  the  islands  and  are  concentrated  in  a  small  place. 

Q.  Are  seals  generally  shot  with  a  rifle  or  shotgun? — A.  With  a  shot- 
gun.    Some  with  a  rifle;  mostly  with  a  shotgun. 

.  d  A 1  ,  Q-  1^1  your  opinion  do  the  seals  on  the  Eussian  side 
kan'se^ais  do  not  min-  intermingle  witli  those  on  the  Pacific  side? — A.  No, 
s^^-  sir;  I  do  not  think  so.     They  are  different  seals  in  my 

opinion. 

Q.  If  the  cow  seals  are  to  be  protected  in  the  Bering  Sea  what  months 
do  you  consider  it  would  be  necessary  to  j)rohibit  any  being  taken? — 
A.  From  the  loth  of  June  until  the  season  finishes;  that  would  be  the 
first  snow.  The  pups  do  not  leave  the  islands  on  tlie  first  snow,  but 
when  the  second  snow  comes  they  leave  the  islands.  They  ought  to  be 
l)rotected  until  the  second  snow;  that  is,  in  November. 

Q.  Did  yon  ever  kill  any  cow  seals  that  were  in  milk,  that  had  given 

birth  to  young  and  were  in  milk?^A.  Yes,  sir;  I  have,  in  Bering  Sea. 

^  ^^        Q.  How  far  fVom  the  seal  islands  were  they? — A. 

from  20 'to  6o''miies  Sixty  mllcs;  all  the  way  from  20  to  GO  miles;  off  St. 

f.om islands.  Gcoigc  aiid  St.  Paul. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  anything  else  that  would  be  interesting  in  regard 
to  the  question? — A.  I  think  the  seals  ought  to  be  protected.  I  think 
the  custom-house  should  not  clear  any  ship-i  either  in  the  British  Colo- 
nies or  the  United  States  for  sealing  in  the  Bering  Sei;  that  is,  if 
they  want  to  protect  them.  I  would  like  to  see  the  islands  protected 
from  raids,  and  the  Bering  Sea  also. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 

I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  said  city  and  county 

do  hereby  certify  that  the  witnesses  in  the  foregoing  depositions  named, 

were  by  me  duly  sworn  to  testify  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing 

but  the  truth;  that  said  depositions  were  taken  on  the  1st  day  of  Feb- 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FEANCISCO.  445 

ruary,  1892,  at  my  office,  rooms  12  and  13,  234  California  street,  in  the 
city  and  county  of  Sun  Francisco,  in  tlie  State  of  California,  and  were 
reduced  to  writing  by  ine. 

In  witness  whereof,  1  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  afiixed 
my  seal  of  office  this  Oth  day  of  February,  A.  D.  181)2. 

[SEAL.]  Clement  BE^'NETT, 

Isotarx)  Fublic, 


Deposition  of  Martin  Hannon  {sealer). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Martin  Hannon,  being-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at 
Victoria,  British  Columbia.     1  am  by  occupation  a  seal 
hunter.     Have  been  engaged  in  sealing  the  last  three     Experience. 
years  on  the  British  schooners  Triumph,  Waiter  Bichy 
Borealis,  niid  ?7w&ri«rt,  and  the  German  schooner  Adele.   jJ?^'"lf'':    F^'*^'* 
First  find  and  take  seal  in  January  off  Columbia  River,   brink,  Adeil  ^*' 
They  are  then  advancing  up  the  coast.     We  follow 
them  until  they  enter  Bering  Sea  about  July  1st.    I  use     Migration. 
the  shotgun  exclusively  for  taking  seal.     About  65  per 
cent  of  the  seal  hit  are  lost.     A  large  majority  of  seals     Large  majority  preg- 
taken  are  females  with  young.     Only  two  old  bulls  """'  ^'"''''^''• 
were  taken  by  me  last  year  out  of  the  100  seals  taken.     But  very 
few    yearlings   are  taken.     Paid   no   attention  to  sex.     A  few  male 
seals  are  taken  between  two  and  four  years  old,  I  think. 
Majority  of  the  seals  taken  in  Bering  Sea  are  females  fe^Xs"^^    nursing 
with  milk  in  them.     Have  killed  them  full  of  milk  100 
miles  fi'om  the  seal  islands.     I  use  no  discrimination  in 
sealing,  but  shoot  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat      i>'»i'scriniinate. 
regardless  of  sex.     Have  never  known  of  any  pups  to  be  born  in  the 
water  or  on  the  land  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands. 
Have  never  known  any  fur  seal  to  haul  up  on  the  land     ^°  i'''^'"^"  ''•'*''• 
elsewhere  than  on  the   Pribilof  Islands.     I  think  a  ^^J^e""'}!!^'*"^"^/?,'*" 
closed  season  should  be  established  between  Blay  1st  Tiotr** 
and  September  loth  in  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering 
Sea,which  would  give  them  a  chance  to  increase.  Protection. 

Martin  Hannon. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2d  day  of  May,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  William  Hermann  (scaler). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
William  Hermann,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  by 
occupation  a  s(mi1  and  otter  hunter.     My  present  resi- 
dence is  in  San  Francisco.     I  liave  been  engaged  in      Experience. 
seal  and  otter  hunting  eleven  years  in  the  Okhotsk  Sea 


446  TESTIMONY 

ami  the  jSTortli  Piicilic.     I  use  a  sliotiiiiii  when  I  am  hunting  seal  and 
Usesflreanns  ^  ^^^^  ^''*^"  ^^^^^^'  Inintin.i;'.     1  liuut  with  a  JSTo.  8  bore  shot- 

gun, and  use  Xo.  1  sliot.     Many  seals  are  wounded  and 
lost,  depending-  largely  on  the  skill  of  the  hunter.     I 
think  I  get  pretty  uearly  all  tliat  I  kill,  but  other 
hunters  have  been  with  me  that  I  know  lost  a  greater  portion  of  those 
they  shot  at.     Probably  a  fair  average  would  be,  taking  all  the  hunters 
-,   ^,  .       together,  one  seal  secured  to  two  lost.     Nearlv  all  the 

aiiikiugcows.  seals  killed  in  the  water  before  the  middle  of  June  are 

cows  in  pu]),  and  after  that,  mothers  giving  milk.    After 
Female  feeding.        thc  youiig  is  a  few  duys  old  the  mother  travels  out  to 
the  fishing  banks  to  feed.     It  is  difficult  to  tell  the  sex 
Sex  nndistiiiguisii-  of  a  scal  wliich  vou  shoot  at  in  the  water,  but  you  can 

ible  111  water.  ,    ,,  •,■    •  i  i  i        o       i  j_ 

tell  a  young  seal  Irom  an  old  seal.     (Seals  are  not  as 
Deereuso  plentiful  HOW  as  they  were  a  few  years  ago.     I  think 

they  are  decreasing  on  account  of  their  being  hunted 
so  much. 

W.  Hermann. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  1st  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Dej^osition  of  Andrcic  J.  Hoffman  [sealer), 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Be  it  remembered,  that  on  the  24th  day  of  February,  1892,  at  my 
uftice,  434  California  street,  in  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco, 
State  of  California,  before  me,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and 
for  said  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of  California,  duly 
appointed  and  commissioned  to  administer  oaths,  etc.,  personally  ap- 
jieared  xVndrew  J.  Hoffman,  who  being  first  by  me  duly  sworn,  testified 
as  follows : 

Andrew  J.  Hoffman,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows : 

The  Notary: 
Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and   occupation? — A.  My 
name  is  Andrew  J.  Hoftinan;  age,  24;  residence,  San  Francisco;  occu- 
pation, seal  hunter. 

(^.  Are  you  a  citizen  of  the  United  States? — A.  I  am. 
Q.  What  State  are  you  a  resident  of? — A.  Tlie  State  of  California. 
Q.  Have  you  been  engaged  in  catching  seals  in  the  I^acitic  and  Bering 
Sea,  and  ft»r  howh)ng? — A.  I  have  been  engaged  in 

Experience.  J-         j.i  i-       ^.i  i      j.  j_ 

sealing  there  for  three  years  last  past. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  Avere  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  The  seals  that  1  have  taken  were 
princi]>ally  females. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A. 
About  9o  i)er  cent  of  tluMn  were  cows. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  (;ows  you  haAe  taken  were  with  pup? — 
it  ^'  -^l^o^t  the  same  amount  were  with  pup. 
of"  iitchJe^rryreg-       Q.  Whcii  docs  Sealing  commence  in  tlie  Pacific,  and 
naiitcows.  wheii  docsitcud? — A.  Sealing  commences  there  about 

the  1st  of  January  and  ends  about  the  1st  of  June. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  447 

Q.  Wliat  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  to  tliose  you  de- 
stroy in  doing  so;  in  other  words,  how  many  do  you 
actually  get  out  of  those  you  shoot '?-A.  We  get  about  ot^^Z^J^lt"""  ''"* 
75  per  cent  of  them. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  you  first  started  in  the  business    and 
was  inexperienced  in  hunting,  that  you,  like  all  other      ^,Y^^^^^(lif^ 
beginners,  destroyed  a  much  larger  proportion   than 
yon  now  do? — A.  Yes,  sir;  it  is. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  you  shoot  at  mostly  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake? 
Do  you  shoot  at  theni  while l)reeching  ? — A.  About  50  per  cent  of  them 
are  asleep,  that  is,  according  to  what  are  shot  at,  and  we  also  shoot  at 
them  while  breeching. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  any  seals  born  in  the  Mater,  and  is  it  your 
opinion  that  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be  born  in  the 
water?— A.  No,  sir;  I  have  never  seen  any  born  iu   j,o^!iw'e.''   '''''"'  "''' 
the  water,  and  I  think  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  be 
born  in  the  Avater. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  place  where  seals  land  out-      Hani  up  only  on 

.  1        J,    ,  /  1-1         IB*      -vr^    ,,,•«  Pnbilof  Islands. 

Side  of  the  seal  islands ? — A.  ^iSo,  sir. 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals,  as  com- 
pared to  previous  years? — A.  Well,  for  the  length  of     jj^^^^^^^ 
time  that  I  have  been  out  there  is  not  much  differ- 
ence. 

Q.  If  there  is  a  decrease,  to  what  do  you  attribute  it? — A.  To  the 
amount  of  seal  hunters  and  hunting  that  is  actually      ,.  ^__ 

villus©. 

going  on. 

.     Q.  Do  the  pups  perish  with  the  cows  that  you  kill? — A.  Yes,  sir; 

they  do. 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion  if  sealing  continues  unrestricted  that  they  will 
soon  be  exterminated? — A.  Yes,  sir;  it  is. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in 
Bering  Sea,  to  prevent  the  herd  from  being  extermi- 
nated?   If  so,  for  ^vhat  months  in  the  year?— A.  Yes,   sJy™**'"*'"^    "'^"'^"■ 
sir;  from  the  1st  of  June  until  the  1st  of  August,  in 
order  to  protect  the  herd. 

Q.  Do  you  generally  shoot  seals  with  a  rifle  or  shotgun;  and  if  the 
latter,  with  buckshot  or   fine  shot? — A.  Mostlv  with 
buckshot  and  a  shotgun.  si^tSy  u!;id?"''- 

Q.  Judging  by  the  direction  that  seals  were  travel- 
ing during  your  experience,  where  do  you  suppose  was  their  destina- 
tion?— A.  I  couldn't  say  as  to  that;  I  know  they  traveled  southward  to  a 
more  milder  climate. 

Q.  Do  you  think  of  anything  else  that  is  of  value  in  regard  to  this 
seal  question  that  I  liave  not  asked  j'^ou;  anything  you  would  like  to 
say,  you  can  give  your  opinion  about? — A.  Xo,  sir;  I  think  of  nothing 
else  in  regard  to  this  that  I  have  not  already  said. 

Andrew  Jackson  Hoff^ian. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  S<vn  Francisco,  ss: 
I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notaiy  public  in  and  for  said  city  and  county  of 
San  Francisco,  do  hereby  certify  tliat  the  witness  in  the  foregoing  (lep- 
osition  named  was  by  me  duly  sworn  to  testrfy  the  trnth,  the  whole 
truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth  ;  that  said  deposition  was  reduced  to 
writing,  and  when  comi)leted  was  carefully  read  over  to  said  witness, 
and  by  him  subscribed  in  my  presence. 


448  TESTIMONY 

lu  witness  wlioreof,  I  have  heroiuito  subscribed  my  name  and  afSxed 
my  seal  of  olliec  tliis  UOtli  day  of  February,  1892. 
[fcjEAL.j  Clement  Bennett, 

Xotari/  Public. 


Deposition  of  James  Kcan,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

James  Kean,  haviiio;  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  T  reside  in 

Victoria,  British  Cohimbia;  my  occupation  is  that  of  a 

Experience.  seamau  aud  seal  hunter.     I  lirst  went  seal  hunting  in 

1889  on  the  schooner  Oscar  and  Hattie.     She  had  six 

^Oscar   and  Hattie,    ^^^.^^^  .^^^^  ^  ^^^^^^  ^^.^j.^  ^^^^^^    ^^^^^   ^^    ^^^y^    ^^.j^_      gj^^ 

was  armed  with  shotguns  and  rifles.     I  shipped  as  a 
hunter.    We  left  Victoria  the  latter  i^art  of  February  and  went  off 
south  to  tlie  Columbia  Elver  and  commenced  sealing  off  there  and  fol- 
lowed the  herd  along  the  coast  up  to  the  Bering  Sea, 
en^e'rim^  ^'"'' *™^  "^  arriving  there  sometime  in  June.     We  caught  some- 
where about  r>00  seals  before  entering  the  sea,  of  all 
ni^e^^°"*^  *^^*'°  ^^    kinds.     There  were  a  good  many  females  among  them; 
there  was  a  good  many  more  of  them  than  males,  but 
the  exact  number  I  do  not  know.     The  old  females  had  young  pups, 
in  them.     I  saw  them  taken  out,  and  a  good  many  of  them  skinned. 
We  entered  the  sea  and  caught  about  1,000  in  there.     We  sealed  all 
over  on  this  side  of  the  Bering  Sea,  sometimes  being  over  150  miles  off 
the  seal  islands,  and  sometimes  we  were  closer.     I  did  not  pay  any  at- 
Nursino-     females  teutiou  to  the  proportion  of  fenialcs,  but  I  know  we 
tsken,  some  over  100  skiuucd  a  gi'cat  muuv  that  were  giving  milk,  because 
miles  tromi.iamis.       ^^^^  ^^^^jj.  ^^.^^^^^^^  ^.^^^^  ^^.^^  their  brcasts  outo  the  deck 

when  they  were  being  skinned.     We  killed  mother  seals  in  milk  over  100 
miles  from  the  seal  islands.     We  generally  shoot  them  when  they  are 
asleep  on  the  Avater. 
In  1890  I  went  out  in  the  Walter  Rich.     She  had  eight  boats,  three 
Walter  Bich  1890      ^^^'^  *^  ^  boat.     We  had  shotguns  and  rifles,  using  the 
former  almost  altogether.    We  left  Victoria  about;  the 
latter  part  of  ]\rarcli,  and  came  down  off  the  Columbia  Eiver  and  com- 
menced sealing  as  the  previous  year,  sealing  alcmg  the  coast  to  the 
.  Bering  Sea,  arriving  there,  1  think,  about  the  1st  of 

entcrinf.  ^^'  ""** "    July.    We  cauglit  bctwecu  oOO  and  400  seals  on  the 
coast,  aiul  (JOO  in  the  Bering  Sea.     We  sealed  on  the 
Sealed  from  10  to  150  American  side  of  the  Bering  Sea  around  the  Pribilof 
miles  from  istods.      i^j.^„^|^^  anvwhcrc  IVoui  10  to  150  miles  off     The  cap- 

mries"taken*°°°**^^"  *^^^"^  "^  ^'"^'^'^  ^^ '^'^  alxmt  the  sauic  in  proportion  to  sex 

as  the  vear  before.     We  sold  our  skins  in  Victoria.    In 

Wages.  1889  f  received  84  for  every  skin  I  got,  and  in  1890 

received  $3  for  every  skin  I  got.     I  think  I  got  half  of  what  I  killed 

Waste  of  life  ^"^^  wouiidcd.     I  do  iiot  tliiuk  that  the  green  hunters 

get  more  than  one  out  of  every  four  or  live  that  they 

Decrease.  ^^^'-    '^'^'^  scitls  wcrc  not  near  as  plentiful  along  the 

coast  and  Bering  Sea  in  1891  as  they  were  in  1890. 

They  wanted  me  to  sliij)  lliis  year  on  a  sixth  lay,  that  is,  every  sixth  skin 

was  to  be  mine,  but  I  tliought  the  seals  were  so  scarce  it  would  not  i)ay 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  449 

me  to  go.  It  is  the  common  conversation  among  us  hunters  that  the 
seals  are  getting  so  scarce  it  does  not  pay  for  us  to  go  and  hunt  them 
unless  they  will  give  us  a  better  price  per  skin,  and  a  great  many  of 
the  old  hunters  would  not  go  out  this  year  on  that  account. 

James  Kean. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  16th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

N^otary  Public. 


Deposition  of  James  Kennedy,  sealer  (boat-puller). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California. 

City  and  County  of  *SVn?  Francisco,  ss: 
James  Kennedy,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:     I  am 
now  residing  in  San  Francisco.    My  occui^ation  is  that     j,^  ^^.^ 
of  a  sailor.     I  went  to  the  Xorth  Pacitic  and  Bering        ^cpenence. 
Sea  on  the  schooner  Maggie  Ross,  of  which  Captain     Maggie  j?oi«,  i884. 
Olsen  was  master,  in  the  early  part  of  May,  1884.     I 
shii)ped  as  a  boat  puller.     We  sailed  from  Victoria,  British  Columbia, 
and  bore  due  north  to  the  Bering  Sea.     When  we  arrived  there  we  had 
some  seventy  five  to  eighty  seals,  the  greater  part  of  which  were  females, 
some  of  whicli  had  pups  in  tlicm.     We  entered  the  Bering  Sea  about 
the  latter  part  of  July  and  captured  200  seals  from      ^-ri  <r  s 
20  to  100  miles  off  the  seal  islands.     A  large  propor-   ing  o"°"    *''*' 
tion  of  them  were  females  nursing  their  young,  and     Females  in  miik  20 
their  teats  were  large  and  full  of  milk.     We  had  four  to  loo  miles  trom\is- 
boats  aboard,  each  boat  having  a  hunter,  steerer  and  ^'^"'^^" 
boat-puller,  and  used  rifles.     On  an  average  we  got  one  or  two  out  of 
every  six  or  seven  that  we  wounded  or  killed.     In      waste  of  me 
1888,  I  made  a  fishing  voyage  to  the  Bering  Sea,  and 
while  in  there  heard  the  captain  and  officers   discussing  about   the 
decrease  of  seals  on  the  islands  and  in  the  water.     I     ^^ 
heard  it  discussed  on  our  return  at  the  different  i^orts 
we  put  in  at,  and  also  in  Victoria  on  our  arrival,  and  all  said  the  seals 
were  decreasiug. 

James  Kennedy. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  loth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  James  Kiernan,  sealer  {master). 

arctic   and   ANTARCTIC   SEALING. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  8an  Francisco,  ss: 
James  Kiernan,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a 
master  mariner  by  profession,  and  a  resident  of  Cali-      j^xperience 
fornia.     I  have  been  engaged  in   seal  hunting  since 
2716— VOL  II 29 


450  TESTIMONY 

.  ,     ,.       ,.         1843.    INFy  first  vovace  was  from  Newport,  E.  I.,  to  the 

Antarctic  scalinsr.  .  r      <^.  oi       ^  ^       .  •  j_    -r     i  t   i        i        ii>  j_i 

east  coast  01  South  America,  at  Lobos  LslaiKi,  ott  the 
tenos"'isS.'^'r?,ta-  "loutliofthe  river  IMatte,  at  CastiUos  Ishiiid,  and  on 
goiiia,  anil  KMikiaiid  the  cast  coast  of  Pata^oiila.  Afterwards  I  went  to  the 
iHiandi"""'  """"""^   Falldand  Ishinds,  to  the  South  Shetland  Islands,  and 

to  the  west  coast  of  Patagonia.  In  those  days  we 
^^Destruction  of  rook-  ^[\]^,^[  t^e  scals  ou  hind  with  clubs,  but  all  those  rook- 
eries have  since  been  destroyed  through  the  constant 
hunting  of  the  seals.     Afterwards  I  came  to  California  and  made  my  first 

seal-hunting  voyage  in  the  North  Pacific  in  1SG8  and 
Arctic  sealing.  |^  morc  rcccnt  ycars  in  Bering  Sea.  I  have  given 
much  attention  to  the  study  of  seal  life  as  well  as  to  the  methods  of 
hunting  in  the  sea  and  the  consequent  effect  of  this  upon  the  possible 
extermination  of  the  seal.  I  usually  commence  the  voyage  near  the 
coast  of  California  in  the  early  part  of  January  and  continue  along  up 
the  coast,  following  the  herd  on  its  way  to  its  breeding  grounds  until 

the  latter  part  of  June,  hunting  all  the  way  and  enter- 
enter'ilf|an''d'ieivhig^  i^S"  Bering  Sca  about  the  1st  of  July,  and  remaining 

in  those  waters  until  about  the  10th  or  15th  of  Septem- 
ber.   My  experience  has  been  that  the  sex  of  the  seals  usually  killed 

by  hunters  employed  on  vessels  under  my  command, 
thOTe^lM  cows.*"  °^  ^oth  in  the  ocean  and  Bering  Sea,  were  cows.     I  should 

say  that  not  less  than  80  per  cent  of  tliose  caught  each 
year  were  of  that  sex.    I  have  observed  that   those  killetl  in  the 

North  Pacific  were  m  ostly  females  carry  in  g  th  eir  youn  g, 
femaks'^in  ifortirp^*  ^ud  wcrc  generally  caught  while  asleeep  on  the  water, 
cific  and  nursing  fe-   while  tliose  taken  in  the  Bering  Sea  were  nearly  all 

males  in  JLJering  boa.  ,i  ,       .  •iij.ij_iiiiia.ii'  i 

mother  seals  in  milk,  that  had  left  their  young  and 
were  in  search  of  food.     My  experience  convinces  me  that  a  large  per- 

centage  of  the  seals  now  killed  by  shooting  with  rifles 

and  shotguns  are  lost.  My  estimate  would  be  that  two 
out  of  every  three  killed  are  lost. 

Formerly  the  killing  was  done  by  spearing,  and  in  later  years  it  was 
learned  that  shooting  them  was  a  swifter  method  of  killing.  At  the 
start  the  hunters  were  inexperienced  and  a  large  proportion  were  lost. 
Many  are  shot  while  asleep ;  some  while  breeching,  but  such  are  more 

difficult  to  kill.  I  never  have  known  of  seals  being 
possible"  ^''*''   ^"  born  in  the  water.     In  tact  I  do  not  believe  they  are, 

except  by  accident,  in  which  cases  they  would  certainly 

die,  as  young  seals  have  to  be  taught  to  swim  by  their  mother,  just  as 

children  have  to  be  taught  to  walk.    My  knowledge  being  from  long  ex- 

Decrease  pericucc,   is  that  the  seals  are  becoming  gradually 

scarcer  in  the  northern  waters,  particularly  so  in  later 
years.  The  (^ause  of  this  decrease  I  believe  to  be  the  indiscriminate 
slaughter  of  the  mother  seals.  They  are  hunted  too  much,  and  hence 
mother  seals  are  becoming  scarcer,  which,  if  not  checked,  will  lead  to 
their  early  extermination.  Constant  shooting  has  frightened  them  and 
made  them  wild,  so  that  they  have  to  be  shot  at  great  distances  unless 
found  asleep.  Much  de})en(ls  for  successful  hunting,  upon  the  weather, 
as  it  is  difticult  to  get  accurate  aim  when  both  the  hunter's  boat  and  the 

seal  are  in  motion.  A  i)oor  hunter  does  not  secure 
hnmel-.''^^'^''""'*''^  "^^^"^  ^'l^'^"    *'"<'  out  of   evcrv  fivc  shot  or  aimed  at. 

Good  liunters  do  better.  I  think  many  of  the  mother 
seals  go  from  their  breeding  grounds  on  the  islands  many  miles  into 
the  Pacific  Ocean  in  search  of  food,  often  to  a  distance  of  150  to  180 
miles.     They  travel  very  fast,  and  it  is  on  these  excursions  that  many 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  451 

of  them  are  killed.  The  mother  does  not  leave  the  rookery  in  search 
of  food  until  she  has  dropped  her  young-  and  become  pregnant  again, 
hence  when  she  has  been  slain,  it  means  the  loss  of     _     ,    ,   ,• 

.,,  ..  ,,         T       1'  -c emales  leeuing. 

three,  as  the  young  pup  will   unquestionably   die  lor 
lack  of  sustenance.     There  is  no  way,  in  my  judgment,  of  preventing 
the  seals  from  being  totally  exterminated,  except  by  effectually  pro- 
hibiting the  hunting  of  them,  both  in  the  ocean  and 
Bering-  Sea  during  their  breeding  season,   say  from  season^'necessary?^"^^ 
February  until  October,  on  the  principle  of  the  gam- 
ing- laws  on  the  land.     Tlie  last  vessel  I  went  out  in  was  the  Sophie 
Sutherland,   duriiig  the  season  of    1891      I  went  as     ^^^^^  sutmnand. 
sailing  master.     The  vessel  was    warned  out  oi  the 
Bering  Sea  by  the  revenue  cutter  Bush.     She  met  us  near  Akatan 
Island,  eastAvard  of  Unalaska.     We  then  left  the  Bering  Sea  at  once 
and  returned  to  San  Francisco.     I  have  often  conversed  with  many 
other  persons,  who  like  myself  were  engaged  in  sealing,  and  they  agreed 
with  me  in  the  statements  herein  made  as  to  the  destruction  and  dis- 
appearance of  the  seals  in  the  northern  waters.    My  view  of  the  matter 
could,  1  have  no  doubt,  be  corroborated  by  hundreds  of  persons  experi- 
enced in  sealing,  if  they  be  found.     At  this  season  of  the  year,  however, 
they  are  absent  from  the  coast  hunting  and  fishing  on  the  ocean. 

Jas.  Kiernan. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  6th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 

CLE3IENT  Bennett, 

Notary  Fiiblic. 


Deposition  of  Jaraes  La  fin,  shipping  agent,  and  managing   oicner   of 

sealing  vessels. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
James  Laflin,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  (iO 
years  of  age.    I  have  resided  in  San  Francisco  the  last 
forty-two  years.     I  am  by  occuiDation  shipping  agent      '^penence. 
for  the  last  lifteen  years,  and  lit  out  all  the  whaling  fleet  that  leave 
this  port.     All  the  men  go  through  my  office.     Have  fitted  out  forty- 
seven  whalers  this  year  and  have  three  more  in  port  to  be  fitted 
out.     I  also  fit  out  sealing  schooners — about  twelve  to  fourteen  each 
year.     1  have  also  owned   one-third  interest  as  managing  owner  in 
two  sealing  vessels.     I  handle  and  pay  off  over  1,000  seamen  each  year 
in  the  whaling  fleet  alone.     I  also  handle  and  ship  a  great  many  men 
on  the  sealing-  vessels.     I  often  converse  with  the  masters  of  the  ves- 
sels relative  to  the  fur-seal,  and  thev  tell  me  that  they     ^^ 
are  scarcer  each  year,  and  that  it  is  much  harder  to  make 
a  voyage  than  it  used  to  be.     I  have  often  heard  them  say  that  they 
only  get  two  or  three  out  of  a  school,  and  when  they  kill  them,  if  they 
do  not  get  tlieiu  right  away,  they  will  sink  and  are  lost.     Further,  that 
they  lose  a  good  many  that  they  kill,  and  that  a  good      waste  of  uie 
many  have  ])ups  in  them,  and  that  when  the  boats 
come  aboard  loaded  with  seal  and  tliey  get  through  the  skinning  of 
them  tliey  would  have  a  big  pile  of  pujis  on  deck. 


452  TESTIMONY 

From  my  experience  in  dealiiij>-  with  tlie  i)e<)i)le  interested  in  sealing, 

and  from  my  own  per.sonal  observation,  I  know  the 

seals  are  decreasing  very  fast  in  Bering  Sea,  and  it  is 

a  common  remark  among  seamen  who  shij)  on  sealing  vessels  that  they 

do  not  care  abont  going,  for  there  is  nothing  in  it,  and 

seShi^'"^^'*^*^"'*'^^  "^  ^^^^y  those  will  ship  that   are  hard  up  and  can  get 

nothing  else  to  do.     It  is  very  important  that  the  seals 

Protection  iieces-  be  protected  in  the  waters  of  the  a^orth  Pacitic  and 

^'^'■^'  Bering  Sea  trom  being  killed  by  huriters,  or  they  will 

be  so  near  exterminated  in  a  short  ihiut  that  it  will.j)ay  no  one  to  hunt 

them. 

James  Laflin. 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  me  this  16th  day  of  April,  A.D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  Isaac  Liehes,  furrier. 

telagic  sealing  and  general  seal-skin  industry. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Isaac  Liebes,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  reside  in 

San  Francisco,  Cal,     I  am,  and  have  been  for  the  last 
Experience.  twcntythree  years,  by  occupation  a  fur  merchant,  dur- 

ing which  time  I  have  handled  moie  raw  fur-seal  skins  than  any  other 
individual  in  the  United  States  or  Canada,  and  more  than  any  firm  or 
corporation  except  the  lessees  of  the  sealeries  of  the  Pribilof  and  Com- 
mander islands.  I  claim  to  be  thoronghly  acquainted  with  all  kinds  ot 
seal  skins,  and  from  all  the  diflereut  localities,  and  can  readily  dis- 
tinguish one  from  the  other.  I  am  also  thoroughly  familiar  with  the 
mode  of  capturing  the  seals,  both  on  land  and  in  the  water,  and  in 
handling,  packing,  and  shipi)ing  the  skins.  IMy  business  as  a  manu- 
facturer of  furs  has  also  made  me  equally  familiar  with  the  dressed 
and  dyed  seal  skins.  The  greater  part  of  the  raw  seal  skins  which 
have  passed  through  my  hands  Avere  from  seals  captured  at  sea,  and  it 
is  with  this  feature  of  seal  hunting  that  I  am  more  especially  familiar. 
I  speak  from  personal  observation  and  exi)erience  in  describing  the 
marine  sealing  tleet,  and  the  business  of  marine  seal  hunting. 
The  sealing  fleet  is  comprised  almost  exclusively  of  small  schooners, 

carrying  from  five  to  thirty  men,  some  of  the  crew 
aud*^ouTtft  ot^^'  ^^^^  being  exclusively  white  men  and  some  of  them  mixed, 

white  men  and  Indians.  Tliey  are  fitted  with  the  nec- 
essary boats,  guns,  s])ears,  gafls,  water  butts,  and  other  implements 
required  lor  seal  killing  and  to  enable  the  hunters  to  remain  away  from 
the  vessel  in  their  boats  for  se\"eral  consecutive  hours.  The  vessels 
leave  port,  the  most  of  them  going  out  either  from  Victoria  or  San 
„   ,.  ,,      Francisco  in  the  earlv  spring,  and  commence  their  sea- 

Seahns  on  coast  be-  ,  i        «.  / ,  jm    i^  •        *        -i  j-i  i  j- 

ginsiu  April  or  early   sou's  w^ork  oft  Cape  i'  lattcrv  111  A])ril  or  the  early  part 
part  of  May.  of  May.    They  then  folIow  the  scals  upoii  their  north- 

Time  of  entering  ward  passage  towards  I>ering  Sea  and  finally,  in  June 
Bering  bea.  ^^  early  in  July,  into  those  waters,  killing  every  animal 

possible  as  they  go.     They  formerly  commenced   their  voyages   still 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  453 

furtlier  soutli  along  the  California  coast,  but  as  seals  liave  become 
scarcer,  they  do  not,  in  the  last  year  or  two,  get  many  south  of  the 
Oregon  coast.     Of  the  class  of  seals  taken  I  can  say,  from  personal 
observation  on  l)oar(l  sealing  vessels,  as  well  as  from  knowledge  gained 
in  buying  and  handling  the  skins  from  seals  killed  in  the  Pacific,  that 
in  the  spring  9.1  per  cent  of  them  are  cows  heavy  with     Perceiita"-eofcows 
pup;  4  per  cent  are  pups  less  than  1  year  old,  born  the  pups,  anf  maiTs 
previous  summer,  and  1  per  cent  males,  most  of  the  ^'*'^*^°' 
latter  not  exceeding  2  or  3  years  old.     The  number  of     waste  of  life. 
seals  actually  secured  to  the  number  killed  does  not 
exceed  about  one  in  four,  or  about  one  is  taken  for  every  three  de- 
stroyed, varying,   of  course,   with   the   skill  and  experience  of   the 
hunters. 

The  average  market  value  of  seal  skins  taken  in  the  water  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  animals  piroperly  selected  on  the 
seal  islands,  either  of  Alaska  or  Siberia,  is  about  one-  pe^oi^skinl^^'^^  **' 
third.  The  former  are  mostly  pregnant  cows,  the  fur 
of  which  is  thin  and  poor,  compared  Avith  the  males,  and  the  skins  are 
riddled  more  or  less  with  bullets  and  buckshot,  making  them  practically 
unfit  for  first-class  garments. 

Of  late  years  most  of  the  catches  of  northwest  skins  are  sold  at  a 
certain  price  per  skin,  without  particular  examination.  The  dealers, 
knowing  the  location  from  which  the  skins  are  obtained,  make  an  av- 
erage price,  and  owners  and  hunters  are,  therefore,  less  x^articular  than 
they  were  in  former  years  as  to  the  class  of  animals 
they  capture.  They  kiU  everything  they  see  without  .^^discriminate  kiu- 
regard  to  age  or  sex,  their  only  object  being  to  swell 
the  total  number  of  the  catch  to  the  highest  possible  figure. 

I  have  noticed  in  examining  the  skins  of  the  northwest  or  "  Victoria 
catch "  during  the  last  two  years  that  they  average 
much  smaller  in  size  than  they  formerly  did.  The  sthfs'i'^**"^*'^^  ^'^^  "^ 
large  bree<ling  cows,  of  which  this  catch  used  to  contain 
a  considerable  percentage,  Jire  now  almost  entirely  absent,  showing 
conclusively  that  the  old  stock  has  been  exterminated,  and  the  supply 
upon  which  they  are  now  drawing  is  comprised  of  younger  animals. 

The  in^actice  of  using  shotguns  charged  with  buckshot  is  working 
havoc  in  the  seal  herd.     The  shots  scatter,  and  manv     „         •.,   ,  + 

,  T     T  T  x  1      J.     _f.  1      T      "/?       Havoc  with  shotgun. 

animals  are  wounded  ami  escape  that  aiterwards  die  ot 
their  wounds.  This  is  conclusively  proved  by  the  fact  that  many  skins 
known  to  the  trade  as  "stinkers"  are  brought  in  and  oftered  for  sale; 
so  called  because  they  have  been  taken  by  i)assing  vessels  from  seals 
found  dead  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  It  is  well  known  that  seals 
which  are  killed  at  sea  and  sink  beyond  the  reach  of  the  hunter's  gaff 
rise  to  the  surface  after  decomposition  sets  in.  Naturally,  those  thus 
picked  up  are  but  a  small  part  of  the  number  that  actually  perish  in 
the  water,  in  consequence  of  their  wounds.     If  all  the     „       •    *     r 

,  '  ,  1  ,  1         4-1         T     T  •  Superiority  of  spear. 

seals  were  taken  as  they  were  by  the  Indians  in 
former  years,  by  spearing,  their  destruction  would  be  nothing  near  as 
great  as  it  is.  If  the  spear  dart  touches  the  animal  but  lightly  he 
goes  oft*  with  a  slight  wound  and  ([uickly  recovers,  while  if  it  fairly  pen- 
etrates his  body  his  capture  is  reasonably  certain,  for  the  s]>ear  is 
attached  by  a  line  to  tlie  canoe,  and  the  seal  can  not  escape.  Unfor- 
tunately, a  great  niiijority  of  the  seals  are  now  killed  with  guns  instead 
of  spears. 

The  idea  of  capturing  seals  in  the  water,  when  they  are  farther  off 


454  TESTIMONY 

sliorc  than  tlio  Iiuliaii  cauoos  can  safely  tV)l!()\v  thom,  oriuinated  in  San 
i^iancisco.     A  single  schooner  was  litted  out  and  met 
laSt^sc^afin- sri^ted '  ^'^*^'  succGss.     Slic  was  afterward  joined  by  others,  and 
n^  8  ar  e  .    ^jj.^||y  |jy  ^  Small  fleet,  nearly  ail  American  vessels. 
I  feel  ccmfident  that  this  entire  seal-hunting-  business  would  have  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  San   Franciscans,  and  been  controlled  from 
this  port  under  the  American  flag',  had  it  not  been  for  the  action  of 
our  (xovernment  in  discouraging  and  forbidding  the  participation  of 
American  vessels  in  the  takhig  of  seals.     AVheu  it  became  knoAvn  that 
British  vessels  then  engaged  in  the  trade  were  receiving  protection  and 
privileges  denied  to  American  sealers,  steps  were  at  once  taken  to 
Transfer  of  Au.eri-  pl^ce  many  of  the  American  fleet  under  the  British 
can  vessels   to  the  flag.     If  tlic  busiiicss  had  been  kept  in  San  Francisco 
British  flag.  J  ^^^  j^^^^  believe  it  would  have  reached  its  present 

j)roportions.  But  if  it  had  we  should  still  have  the  pleasure  of  deriving 
the  benefit  from  it  which  now  goes  to  the  Canadians. 

I  am  very  well   accpiainted  with  the  class  of  vessels  engaged  in 
sealing.    The  most  of  them  are  of  less  than  100  tons 
sef auV outfl?*"'' ^ '^^''    burdcu,  and   a  fair  estimate  of  their  average   value 
would  be,  1  sh(mld  say,  about  $4,500  per  vessel,  for 
both  the  American  and  British  fleet,  and  about  $2,000  would  cover  the 
average  cost  of  an  entire  outfit  for  a  season's  work.     Tlie  total  value 
of  the  Canadian  sealing  fleet  is  not,  after  all,  as  much  as  the  sealers 
would  lead  us  to  supi)ose  from  their  representations. 
The  (piantity  of  northwest  or  "Victoria"  seals  that  were  dressed  and 
dyed  in  the  United  States  for  home  consumption,  and 
ofSs  ^^"""'""1*^^"°  never  reached  the  London  market,  I  estimate  as  fol- 
lows: 1889,  0,000;  1890,4,500;  1891,2,100.     These  es- 
timates are  made  i\\)  from  memoranda.  I  have  been  accustomed  to  keep 
from  time  to  time  of  the  nund)er  of  skins  ofl'ered  for  sale,  and  Avhich  did 
not  go  forward  to  London  as  shown  by  the  trade  sale  catalogues. 
I  have  known  of  several  ex])editions  that  have  been  fitted  out  for  the 
■Fiiiurc  of  ox  u'di    P^^n^^i^e  of  following  and  captming  the  seals  after  they 
tion's  t^  hunt ''seals  leave  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  are  making  their  south- 
L^mhs '^*' '""  ^^^  *^    *^^'"  course.     All  these  expeditions  have  proved  utter 
fiiilures,  Avhich  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the 
female  seals  at  that  period  of  the  year  are  not  heavy  Avith  young  as 
they  are  in  the  spring,  nor  as  fat  as  at  a  later  period,  and  the  hunters 
can  not  easily  get  within  gunshot  distance  of  them.     They  are  much 
less  likely  to  be  found  asleep  at  this  season,  and  traveling  seals  are 
difficult  to  slioot  and  still  more  difficult  to  take  in  before  they  sink. 
The  hunters  have  an  idea  that  the  sleeping  seals  are  buoyed  up  by  an 
inflated  internal  air  bladder.     AVhether  tins  is  so  or  not  it  is  certain 
that  a  "sleeper"  is  more  likely  to  be  se(;ured  after  it  is  shot  than  ii 
"traveler." 

Males  and  cows  do  "^^^^^  ^^^^]^  ^^^^^  '^^  merchantable  size  do  not  interniin- 
not  mingle  in  herds  off  glc,  I  belicvc,  to  any  cxtcut  witli  the  COWS  caught  off 
*'°^^*'-  the  coast  of  North  America.     They  make  their  north- 

ern  passage  separate  from  the  others,  and  further  oft'  shore.  As  they 
are  more  constantly  on  the  alert  than  the  females,  the  sealers  have  met 
with  little  success  in  hunting  them.  It  is  only  the  cow,  heavy  with 
pup,  which,  in  consequence  of  her  condition,  is  Jess  active  and  alert, 
that  falls  an  easy  prey  to  the  hunters. 

1  have  never  known  of  any  pu])  seals  being  caught  in  the  water  (except 
those  in  embryo)  that  were  less  than  several  months  old,  nor  are  any 

^'ot  born  in  water     ^^^^  ^^^^  oftcred  to  the  trade,  showing  conclusively  to 
orn  in  wa.  er.    ^^  mind  that  they  are  not  born  at  sea.    The  Indians 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  455 

frequently  offer  ''l)l;icli:  i)TI[)s"  for  sale,  but  only  such  as  tlioy  have 
removed  iroiu  the  womb  of  the  mother  seal.  The  breeding-  seals,  as  far 
as  I  can  learu  from  extended  inquiry,  do  not  come  upon  laud,  except  at 
their  regular  rookeries,  and  there  are  none  of  those  out- 
side of  the  Bering  Sea  islaiidM  and  Kobben  Bank.  thSands'.  ""^^  '"' 
Young  seals  are  sometimes  driven  for  a  few  hours  by 
stress  of  weather  into  the  iidets  about  the  Straits  of  Fuca  and  vicinity. 

The  seals  to  which  I  have  thus  far  had  reference  are 
knowai  to  myself  and  to  the  trade  as  the  Northwest  ALwaL'^itienfical 
Coast  seals,  sometimes  also  called  "Victorias."  This  and  (Uiter  from  other 
herd  belongs  solely  to  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  is  ""^"*' 
easily  distinguishable  by  the  fur  from  the  fur-seals  of  the  other  north- 
ern rookeries,  and  still  easier  from  those  of  the  soutli.  All  expert  seal- 
skin assorters  are  able  to  tell  one  from  the  other  of  either  of  these  dif- 
ferent herds.     Each  has  its  own  characteristics  and  values. 

Owing  to  the  decrease  of  fur-seals  on  our  own  coast  marine  hunters 
have,  during  the  last  few  years,  turned  their  attention  nuntino  being 
to  the  Asiatic  waters,  and  are  now  hunting  them  tiansieired  to  Asiatic 
there.  These  Asiatic  seals  have  their  breeding  grounds  '"'^'*'''^- 
on  the  Commander  Islands  and  liobbeu  Banks.  Last  year  several  ad- 
ditions were  nmde  to  the  Asiatic  fleet  and  large  catches  were  secured 
in  those  Avaters,  including  the  fitting  out  of  still  further  expeditions  this 
season  for  the  same  business.  The  distance  is  so  great  from  this  coast, 
and  typhoons  are  so  lial)le  to  be  encountered,  that  much  larger  vessels 
are  fitted  olit  and  equipped  with  more  boats  to  each  vessel  than  on  the 
American  side  of  tlie  Pacific.  Unless  restricted,  they  will  in  a  very 
few  years,  by  the  destruction  of  the  breeding  seals,  dei)Iete  these  rook- 
eries, as  they  have  those  of  Alaska.  In  fact,  two  years  ago  last  year 
this  depletion  had  ali'cady  become  apparent,  and 
last  year  the  Bussian  officer  in  charge  ordered  the  rook^.^riea""  "'"^''^''^'^ 
catch  to  be  reduced.  I  feel  convinced,  and  it  is  the 
opinion  of  others  familiar  with  the  business,  that  it  will  be  impossible 
for  the  company  having  the  privilege  of  sealing  there  to  take  this  year 
even,  the  oO,(>0(>  to  whicit  the  (^uota  is  now  reduced. 

I  find  in  handling  the  skins  taken  in  Bering  Sea  that  the  teats  of 
those  from  the  cow  seals  are  much  larger  and  more      t^.«.         .        ,. 

1  1  1     j-i  4.-  -1-1  -1-1  -4-1  XT       ^-^  Difference  in  condi- 

develoi^ed  than   from    the  ones  taken  m  the  oSlorth  tion  of   Northwest 
Pacific  before  they  have  given  birth  to  their  ycmng;   and  Alaska  skins. 
and  the  fur  on  the  belly  of  the  former  is  thinner  and  poorer  than  on  the 
latter,  as  the  result,  I  suppose,  of  the  heat  and  distension  of  the  udder 
consequent  upon  giving  milk. 

There  can  be  no  question,  in  my  oiiiuion,  about  the  ultimate  result  to 
the  rookeries  of  marine  sealing.  If  it  is  continued  as 
it  has  been  for  the  last  two  or  three  years  the  seals  J,J"^'^'*'""  '"''"'^' 
will  be  so  nearly  wiped  out  of  existeiu;e  in  a  short  time 
as  to  leave  nothing  to  quarrel  about;  and  an  article  of  commerce  that 
has  afforded  a  vast  amount  of  comfort  ami  satisfaction  to  a  large  class 
of  wearers  and  a  large  income  to  both  American  and  British  nierchants 
will  be  a  thing  of  the  ])ast. 

Isaac  Lieijes. 

Subscribed  and  sworji  to  before  me  this  liJth  day  of  May,  A.  I).  189:3, 
[seal,]  Clem.l:jnt  Beinnett, 

Kotanj  rublic. 


456  TESTIMONY 

Deposition  of  Caleb  Linda/tl,  sealer  {master). 
arctic  and  antaiictic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

Citi/  and  CotDifj/  of  San  FraneiscOySs: 
Caleb  Liudalil,  luiving  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  4G 
years  of  age.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco.     My  occupa- 
Mattie  T.Dyer.        tioii  is  tluit  of  a  scalcr.     I  flrst  went  sealing  in  tlie 
Bering  Sea  in  181)0  on  tlie  Alattie  T.  Dyer.    I  Avas  em- 
ployed as  a  luinter.     Our  intention  was  to  catch  seals  before  we  entertd 
the  Bering  Sea.     We  left  San  Francisco  in  the  latter  part  of  April,  but 
caught  no  seals  between  licre  and  Sanak.    We  sealed  from  thereto  the 
Akatan  Pass  and  caught  75  seals,  mostly  females  with 
Mostly  pregnant  pup.     Souic  of  the  youug  they  luul  iusidc  were  quite 
*^°"'^'  grown,  but  of  course  you  could  not  tell  when  you  shot  a 

seal  lying  asleep  whether  it  was  a  male  or  fejuale.     We 
enterinf.^"''  ^™'  "^  entered  the  tiering  Sea  in  the  latter  part  of  May.     We 
caught  no  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea.     Had  no  boats  out. 
Seized.  The  Mattie  T.  Dyer  w^as  seized  soon  after  she  entered 

the  Bering  Sea.     We  shoot  at  all  the  seals  we  get  a 
chance,  but  it  is  only  the  ones  that  we  find  asleep  that  we  catch.     On 
Waste  of  life  '^^'  '^vcragc  a  huutcr  gcts  one  seal  out  of  four.     Some 

hunters  do  not  get  that  many,  because  the  seals  sink 
out  of  sight  after  they  are  killed  before  we  can  get  them.     I  have 
.  ^     ^.       ,.         known  of  poor  hunters  losing  nine  out  of  ten.    We  left 

Antarctic  sealing.  ,,         ,,  ^  ,     .        /-v    ,     ,  -,  ori-i     ^  ^• 

on  the  Hancoelc  m  October,  1891,  to  go  on  a  sealing 

Hancock,  1891.  expedition  in  the  south  seas.    We  started  in  sealing 

Pata^'ouia.  ^^  ^^^'^  coast  of  Patagonia  and  sealed  in  those  seas 

until  March.     The  seals  are  nearly  all  killed  oft"  down 

there,  so  that  we  got  only  about  20  skins.     It  is  no  use  for  vessels  to  go 

there  sealing  any  more.     I  was  there  twelve  years  ago  on  a  sealing 

expedition  and  the  rookeries  were  full  of  seals.    Now 

loSferiVs!"  ^'""    "^  they  have  most  all  gone.     They  never  gave  the  seals  a 

chance  to  breed  there.     They  shot  them  as  soon  as 

they  came  up  on  the  rocks. 

If  they  keep  on  hunting  them  in  the  Bering  Sea  and  the  North  Pa- 
cific in  the  same  way  they  liave  done  in  the  last  few 
8a?y°**^*^'*°    °°°^^    years,  they  will  exterminate  them  in  the  same  Avay,  be- 
causemcst  all  the  seals  killed  are  lemales.    The  young- 
ones  will  all  die,  and  every  female  seal  you  shoot  makes  the  killing  of 
two,  because  after  the  seal  lias  given  birth  to  her  young  the  i)up  will 
starve  to  death  on  the  land,  or  when  you  shoot  them  in  the  water  they 
may  have  a  pu})  inside.     If  the  seals  on  the  South 
lands*^  ^^^"''"'^  ^"  Shetland  Islands  had  been  protected,  I   think  they 
would  have  been  there  by  the  million,  because  iu  one 
year  they  took  300,0(»0  seals  from  the  Shetland  Ishmds.     1  have  very 
often  cut  a  seal  oi)en  and  I'oniid  a  live  young  one  inside.     I  was  codfish- 
ing  in  the  Bering  Sea  in  the  schooner  Hancocl-  in  1891. 
eeting.  Where  1  tished  there  were  no  seals  that  came  around 

that  part  of  the  sea.     From  what  1  learned  when  fish- 
ing in  the  Bering  Sea  there  are  not  nearly  as  many 
seals  there  as  there  were  ten  years  ago. 

Caleb  Lindahl. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  tliis  9th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Kotary  Fuhlic. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  457 

Deposition  of  E.  W.  Littlejohn,  sealer  {master). 
PELEGIC    SEALING. 

B.  W.  LiTTLE.TOHN,  being'  duly  sworn,  deposes  andsaitli:  I  reside 
at  San  Francisco,  Cal.     1  am  a  sea  otter  and  seal  hunter  by  occupation, 
and  am  now  master  of  the  schooner  Pearl,  which  is  engaged  in  sea- 
otter  hunting-.     I  have  had  eight  (8)  years  experience  in  this  pursuit 
in  the  waters  along  the  Alaskan  coast.     In  the  year     ^     j^^^^g 
1885,  six  hundred  (GOO)  fur-seals  were  caught  during  tlie 
month  of  March  oft' the  Farallon  Islands  (California),   i/rs^^l^^  "<*' ^''"'*"™" 
In  subsequent  years  we  luive  had  to  go  farther  north 
each  year  in  order  to  secure  a  good  spring  catch.     My  experience  has 
been'^that  fully  90  per  cent  of  all  sealstaken  were  fe-      g^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^^^ 
males,  and  of  these  two-thirds  (§)  were  mothers  in  milk,   females,   of  which 
It  is  impossible  to  distinguish  the  sex  of  far-seals  at  two-thnds nursu.g. 
sea  (excepting  large  bulls),  and  no  effort  is  made  to  do  so,  the  object 
being  to  secure  all  the  skins  possible;  hence  the  kill-     i.,rti«cri.ni„ate kiu- 
ing-  is  indiscriminate.     I  have  observed  a  very  great  ing. 
decrease  in  fur-seal  life  since  1885,  and  believe  it  is      Decrease. 
almost  entirely  due  to  the  large  number  of  vessels  en- 
gaged in  pelagic  hunting.     I  never  saw  pups  born  in      xot  bom  in  water. 
the  water,  nor  do  I  know  of  any  fur-seals  hauling  up      nauiuponiyon  is- 
on  the  land  anywhere  save  the  rookeries  on  the  various  laiuis. 
seal  islands  in  Bering  Sea.     I  believe  that  in  order  to 
preserve  fur-seal  life  it  is  necessary  to  absolutelj^  stop     Protection  neces- 
pelagic  hunting  and  maintain  a  close  season  against  ^"^' 
killing  for  skins  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

E.    W.    LiTTLE.TOHN. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  i^tates  Treasuri/  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Willi(()n  JT.  Long,  scaler  {mate  and  master). 

pelagic  saeling. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

William  H.  Long,  being  duly  sworn,  dei)Oses  and  says:  I  am  by 
occupation  a  seaman,  and  have  followed  the  sea  for  the 
last  tifty  years.     I  have  been  mate  and  master  of  ves-      Experience. 
sels.     For  the  last  four  years  I  have  not  been  to  sea. 
In  1885  I  was  hunter  on  board  the  schooner  Loolcout:      Lookout,  isss-iss?. 
in  1886  I  was  mate  of  her;  in  1887  I  was  master  of  her. 
I  was  engaged   during  these  years  in  seal  and  otter     ^Ajipearanceofseaia 
hunting  in  the  Bering  Sea.     The  seals  appear  off  the 
coast  outside  of  the  heads  in  the  early  part  of  January.     They  are  trav- 
eling all  the  time  north,  and  from  tliat  time  on  to  .lune  they  are  trav- 
eling towards  the  Bering  Sea.     1  used  both  shotguns  and   rities.     I 
know  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  sealstaken  were      ^^^^^^     proportion 
mothers  in  pnp,  or  mothers  giving  milk,  but  J  ]»ai(l  no   take'n  pregnant  or 
particular  attention  to  the  percentage.    In  killing  seals  "ursmg  cows. 


458  TESTIMONY 

ill  tlie  J>eiing-  Sea,  dining-  tiie  moiiilis  of  June,  July,  August,  and  Sep- 

^;ursin.>-cow8knua  teiiiber,  i  iiotieed  that  ti  large  uuiuber  of  tliein  were 

in  Berin.5  t^oa  10-200  feiuales  aud  luotliei's  giving  milk.    I  liave  killed  mothers 

miles  from  isiamis.      j,,  ^^^ j,,.  .^,j  ^j^^,  ^..^^,  ^. .^,,j^  ^^j  ^^^  200  niiles  otf  shore.    The 

average  hunter  will  lire  ten  times  to  get  one  seal.     1  think  oii  au  aver- 
,„   ,    ,,.,  age  he  gets  about  one  seal  out  of  every  three  killed. 

IVlother  seals  heavy  vvith  youug  are  much  easier  taken, 
lor  tliey  are  usually  asleej)  on  the  Avater.     Wheu  a  seal  is  shot  dead  it 
^  ,.     ,   .    ,  almost  instantlv  sinks,  aud  it  is  ouly  secured  by  stun- 

umg  it.     It  is  impossible  to- tell  the  sex  oi  a  seal  m  the 
^  water.     The  seals  were  much  less  plentiinl  the  last  year 

I  sealed  than  the  first.     I  attribute  this  decrease  to  tlie 
huntiug  of  them  in  tlu;  water,  and  the  increased  number  of  b^ats  aud 
men  engaged  in  the  business  in  the  last  few  years.     I 
^  Pionntiou  ncces-  tliiiik  if  soiuetliiug  is  not  done  to  protect  seals  in  the 
Korth  Pacific  and  liering  Sea  tliey  will  become  exter- 
minated in  a  very  few  years. 

William  H.  Long. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  1st  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL. J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  Charles  Lutjens,  sealer. 

PELACilC   sealing. 

Be  it  remembered  that  on  the  26th  day  of  February,  1S03,  at  my 
oflice,  431  California  street,  in  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco, 
State  of  California,  before  me,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  ])ublic  in  and 
for  said  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of  California,  duly 
ai)pointed  and  commissioned  to  administer  oaths,  etc.,  personally  a})- 
peared  Charles  Lutjens,  who,  being  lirst  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 

Chakles  Lutjens,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 

The  Notary  : 
Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occupation  ? — A.  My  name 
is  Charles  Lutjens;  I  am  50  years  of  age;  I  reside  in 
ErperfJucc.*'''^'""'  this  city,  and  am  by  occupation  a  seal  hunter. 

Q.  Are  you  a  citizen  of  the  United  States'? — A.  Yes, 
sir. 

Q.  What  State  are  you  a  resident  of? — A.  The  State  of  California. 
Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  vSeals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  leering  Sea? — A.  Principally  females. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  hav^e   taken  were  cowsf — A. 
,    About  IK)  ])er  cent. 

90  per  cent  01   se.als  ^-^      wri      ,  .  x-     j.i  ^  x    i 

taken  are  females,  70  Q.  vV  luit  percentage  of  the  COWS  you  have  talceu 
^"'^  nlu't^  °^  ''^"'^^'  were  with  pup? — A.  About  70  per  cent,  I  should  say. 
prcgnau  .  ^    Wlicii  docs  Sealing  (joinmence  in  tlie  Paclfc  and 

Commencement  and  wheu  docs  it  eiid?— A.  It  comuiences  about  the  1st  of 
end  of  seaiinjr  season.   Januai'y  aiid  ciuls  about  the  last  of  Juue. 

Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Bering  Sea  and  Avheu  does 
it  end? — A.  Sealing  commences  in  the  Bering  Sea  about  the  5th  of 
July  and  ends  about  the  middle  of  September. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  to 

Waste ot  life.  those  you  destroy  ill  doing  so;  in  other  words,  how 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  459 

mauy  do  you  actually  get  out  of  those  you  slioot? — A.  I  should  say  we 
get  about  80  per  cent  of  those  we  shoot. 

Q.  Is  it  uot  a  fact,  that  when  you  first  started  in  the  l)usiness,  and 
was  inexperienced  in  hunting,  tiiat  you,  like  ;ill  other  beginners,  de- 
stroyed a  much  larger  proportion  than  you  now  do? — A.  There  is  no 
doubt  about  that. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  you  shoot  at  mostly  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake  ? — 

A.  Asleej). 

Q.  Do  you  shoot  at  them  while  breeching! — A.  We  shoot  at  them 
anyway  we  find  them. 

Q.  Have  you  ev^er  seen  any  seals  born  in  the  water, 
and  is  it  your  opinion  tliat  it  is  impossible  for  theiu  to      Peiairi.-,   bh-iii    im- 
be  born  in  the  waer! — A.  Seals  can  iiot  be  boru  in  the  P"ssibio. 
water. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  place  where  seals  land  out- 
outside  of  the  seal  islands? — A.  IsTo,  sir;  I  know  of  no   .  ^^-j'j^  "p  ""'y  <>" 
place. 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals  as  com- 
pared -to  previous  years? — A.  There  has  been  a  de- 

^  i-  ''  Decrease. 

crease. 

Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  the  decrease?— A.  To  the  hunting  of 
the  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

Q.  Do  the  pups  perish  with  the  cows  that  you  kill? — A.  (Jertainl}-. 
Not  alone  that,  but  they  geiierally  leave,  while  they  go 
into  the  Bering  Sea,  a  pup  on  shore,  which  also  dies,        ''"*  ^"^^' 
from  not  being  able  to  get  any  sustenance.     The  seal  which  is  killed  in 
the  Bering  Sea  may  be  with  pup,  and  also  has  a  ijuj)  on  shore,  which 
make  the  killing  of  three  seals  to  one. 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion,  if  sealing  continues  uin-estricted,  that  they 
will  soon  be  exterminated? — A.  Yes,  sir;  they  will  get 
less  and  less,  and  will  soon  be  exterminated  if  all  seal-      Protectiou  neces- 
ing  is  not  stopped    in,  the    Bering  Sea  and  on  the  ^''^'■•^• 
islands. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  ]orotect  the  cows  in 
the  Bering  Sea,  to  prevent  the  herd  from  being  exterminated? — A.  It 
is  absolutely  necessary. 

Q.  What  months  in  the  year  do  you  think   they  should  be  pro- 
tected ? — A.  The  months  when  thev  are  in  the  Bering- 
Sea,  from  July  5th  to  November  1st.  ^^''"'  ""''""• 

Q.  Do  you  generally  shoot  seals  with  a  rifle  or  a  shotgun? — A.  A 

shotgun  principally.     "  Weapons 

Q.  What  kind  of  shot  do  you  use,  buckshot  or  fine 
shot?— A.  Buckshot. 

Q.  Judging  by  the  direction  that  seals  were  traveling  in  the  spring 
of  the  year,  during  your   experience,  where  do   you     ^jo-rati,,,, 
supijose  was  their  destination? — A.  The  Bering  Sea. 

Charles  Lutjens. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 
I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  said  city  and  county 
of  San  Francisco,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  witness  in  tlie  foregoing 
dej)osition  named,  was  by  me  duly  sworn  to  testify  the  truth,  the 
whole  truth,  and  nothing  but  the  truth;  and  that  said  deposition  was 
reduced  to  writing,  and  when  completed  was  carefully  read  over  to  Siiid 
witness,  and  by  him  subscribed  in  my  presence. 


460  TESTIMONY 

111  witness  wliereof  I  have  liereuiito  subscribed  my  name  and  affixed 
my  seal  of  oiilice,  this  26tli  day  of  February,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  Tliomas  Lyotis,  sealer  (boat-])uller). 

pelagic  sealing. 

vState  oe  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 
Thomas  Lyons,  havino-  been  duly  sworn, deposes  and  says:  I  reside 
in  San  Francisco.     My  occupation  is  that  of  a  seaman. 
Experience.  ^^^  ^^^^  ^,^^^  ^^  February,  1887,  I  left  the  port  of  Vic- 

toria, British  Columbia,  on  a  sealing-  voyage  to  the  North  Pacific  and 
Bering  Sea.     I  went  on  the  schooner  Triumph,  of  which 
nump  ,      .         Capt.  Cox  was  master.     I  was  engaged  as  a  boa^t-puller. 
We  went  first  south  as  far  as  Cape  Blanco,  sealing  around  there  for 
about  two  months,  when  we  started  north  to  the  Bering  Sea.     We  were 
sealing  all  the  way  up  and  succeeding  in  capturing  138  seals  before 
entering  the  Bering  Sea.     The  majority  of  those  were 
cows?°m(^tiy    preg^   COWS,  the  largest  portion  of  wliich  had  pups  in  them. 
^'^^^-  I  know  that  from  the  fact  of  seeing  them  taken  out  and 

Berins  Sea,  time  of  throwu  ovcrboard.     We  went  into  the  Bering  Sea  about 
entering.  ^^^  2Gth  Or  28th  of  Juue,  and  while  in  there  we  caught 

Nearly   all   taken  389  scals,  nearly  all  of  which  were  mother  seals  in  milk, 
nursing  seals.  which  fact  I  kuow  from  seeing  the  milk  flow  on  the 

deck  while  we  were  skinning  them.     We  took  them  a  good  ways  from 
the  islands,  but  do  not  know  how  many  miles.     We  had  six  boats,  and 
a  hunter,  boat-puller,  and  steerer  for  each  boat,  and  used  shotguns. 
^   ,     ^,...  The  hunters  would  get  on  an  avei'age  two  out  of  every 

\V flSVG  Ol  Jilt  c  c_T  «/ 

six  that  he  wounded  or  killed.  Seals  were  quite  plenti- 
ful at  that  time,  and  there  were  lots  of  them  destroyed  that  we  (Ud  not 
get. 

Thomas  Lyons. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  15th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 

[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Piihlic. 


Deposifion  of  William  McTsanc,  sealer  {hoat-steerer  and  indler). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss  : 

William  Mclsaac,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 

a  sailor,  and  reside  at  San  Francisco.    I  went  to  the 

Experience.  Bering  Sea  in  the  American  schooners  Alexander  and 

Alexander,  1889.        Otter  ill  the  ycars  ]889  and  1890.     We  commenced 

hunting  off  the  coast  here  .and  followed  the  seals 

toward  the  Bering  Sea.     I  was  employed  as  boat-  steerer  and  puller.    The 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  46] 

schooner  had  four  hunting-  boats,  and  each  boat  had  a  boat-steerer,  a 
puller,  and  a  hunter.     We  left  here  in  the  Alexander  in  the  latter  end 
of  April,  and   arrived  in  tlie   Bering  Sea  about  the 
mouth  of  July.     We  caught  about  400  or  500  seals  be-  ,uostiv  i,  nVaks'"'*'''"*' 
fore  we  got  to  the  Bering  Sea.     I  don't  know  the  pre- 
cise number.     They  were  bulls  and  females  mixed  in,  but  the  general 
run  of  them  were  females.     The  liunters  shot  with  rifles  and  used  car- 
tridges and  sliot  at  all  kinds  they  saw.     They  also 
had  double-barrel  shotguns  and  made  their  own  car- 
tridges.    The  hunters  lost  a  good  many  of  the  seals  that  they  shot,  be- 
cause they  could  not  get  up  quick  enough  to  get  them  before  they 
would  sink.     We  would  use  a  hook  to  spear  them,  but  sometimes  we 
could  not  often  get  hold  of  them  even  with  that.     The  bulls  generally 
sunk  quicker  than  female  seals. 

When  we  skinned  the  females  that  we  killed  in  Ber- 
ing Sea  we  would  find  they  were  mothers  in  milk,  as  taS^ninBerhi^sea* 
the  milk  was  running  out  of  their  teats.     Several  of 
the  females  that  we  caught  in  the  ocean  were  in  pup,  but  the  pup  taken 
out  of  the  belly  was  of  no  use  for  anything,  and  we  would  throw  it  over- 
board.    Taking  the  general  average,  we  would  not  get 
more  than  2  seal  out  of  every  10  that  the  hunters  sliot 
at.     Out  of  every  65  seal  that  was  brought  aboard  the  schooner  I  got 
1,  so  I  tried  to  spear  as  many  as  I  could  after  they  were  shot.     We 
caught  more  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea  than  we  did  going  along  the  coast, 
as  we  found  more  of  them.     We  did  not  come  across  any  revenue  cut- 
ters.   We  saw  with  the  aid  of  a  glass  a  reveiuie  cutter 
a  long  distance  oft'.     We  would  catch  them  all  the  way  im^esfr^olitheiJands'! 
from  100  to  300  miles  oft'  the  seal  islands.     When  we 
had  fine  weather  we  were  out  in  the  boats  killing  all  the  seals  we  could 
get.     We  could  not  hunt  in  rough  weather.     All  tlie  seals  that  we  shot 
at  in  rough  weather  were  lost.     In  fine  weather  they  sleei)  on  toj)  of 
the  water  and  we  do  not  lose  so  many  of  them.     We 
made  the  same  sort  of  voyage  in  the  Otter  in  1800.      ouer.mjo. 
There  were  not  as  many  seals  in  1890  as  tliere  were  in 
1889.     I  think  tliere  are  so  many  boats  and  hunters      decrease. 
out  after  them  that  they  are  being  killed  oft'.    They  are  hunted  too 
much. 

William  McIsaac. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  William  McLaugJilin,  sealer  {boat-puller). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

Gity  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 

William  McLaughlin,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I 
reside  in  San  Francisco;  my  occupation  is  that  of  a 
seaman.     I  shipped  as  a  boat-puller  in  1886,  on  the     Expfrituce. 
schooner    Triumph.      AVe  had  six  or  seven  boats  on      THumph  isso 
board,  thi'ee  men  to  a  boat,  and  we  used  shotguns  and 


462  TESTIMONY 

rifles.  We  left  Victoria  about  the  latter  part  of  February,  and  sailed 
around  Cape  Flattery,  sealini?  there  for  awhile.  Then  we  sailed  north 
Cit.li  in  Pacific  ^^  ^'"^  Berin.i;-  Sea,  sealing-  all  the  way  along  the  coast. 
mostly '  pr'e-na^nV  le*^  Wc  luul  300  or  400  scals  altogether  before  entering 
"'"^'^®-  the  Bering  Sea;  they  were  most  all  females,  which  had 

young  pups  in  them. 

We  entered  the  sea  about  the  middle  of  June  and  sealed  around  the 

Berin-soa  time  of  P^^-'ilof  Islauds,  sealing  from  5  to  10  miles  and  some- 

enterYnf/ ''■^'   ™'"'    times  40  uiilcs  olf  the  islands.     I  do  not  remember  the 

Mostly  nursing  nuiuber  of  seals  that  we  got  in  the  Bering  Sea,  but 

females"  taken   in  they  wcrc  mostly  mother  seals  with  their  breasts  full 

Bering  Soa.  ^^  milk.     We  got  about  one  out  of  every  five  that  we 

Waste  of  life.  killed  or  wounded.     There  was  any  amount  of  them 

that  we  shot  and  did  not  get  at  all.    It  seemed  as  if  a 

good  many  got  away. 

In  188 7  I  went  codfishing  in  the  barkentine  Premium  to  the  Bering 
and  Okhotsk  seas.     We  left  San  Francisco  in  April.     We  saw  seals 
that  vear,  but  the  captain  did  not  bother  with  them. 
Maggie  so,s.  j  ^^^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  Bering  Sea  on  the  3Iafj(iie  Boss  from  Vic- 

toria, of  which  Captain  Olsen  was  master.     I  shipped  as  a  boat-puller. 
She  had  six  boats,  three  men  to  a  boat,  and  we  used  Spencer  rifles.     We 
sailed  from  Victoria  in  June  and  went  due  north,  and  commenced  seal- 
ing ill  the  Bering  Sea,  catching  about  400  seals.     We  hunted  around 
the  islands  there,  from  50  to  60  miles  oftshore.     Most 
nurs*n-c''ows'!""'^"^  of  thosc  wcrc  fcmalcs  that  had  given  birth  to  their 
young  and  were  with  milk.     We  had  some  white  hunt- 
ers and  Indian  hunters.     I  do  not  think  that  we  lost  as  many  that  year 
in  proiK)rtion  to  those  that  we  killed  as  we  did  in  the 
Waste  of  life.  Triimpli.    We  got  about  one  out  of  every  three  killed 

and  wounded.     They  were  better  hunters.     I  was  also  codfishing  in 
1884.     There  were  a  great  many  more  seals  in  the  water 

Decrease.  ^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^^^^.^,  ^^.,^^  -^^    j3gj)_      j^    ^^^^^  ^^,^^^^  ^^^  ^^^.^ 

cod-fishing,  we  met  the  steam  whaler  Thrasher^  and  I  heard  the  captain 
remark  that  it  was  a  damned  shame  the  way  they  were  killing  the 
female  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

Wm.  McLaughlin. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  15th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  Thomas  Madden,  sealer  {boat-puller). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Califormia, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

ThomasMadden,  havingbeen  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  Ireside  in 
Victoria,  British  Columbia,     My  occupation  is  that  of 
Experience.  ^  scamau.     I  liave  becu  going  to  the  Bering  Sea  over 

twelve  years  on  whalers  and  sealers,     I  went  sealing  in 
Black    Diamond,   1888,  1889, 1890,  and  1891  on  the  Blaclc  Diamond.    We 
i888-ib9i.  |^,^!j.  Yj^i^oi-ia  alongin  January  of  each  year.   I  wasaboat- 

puller.     We  came  down  each  j'^ear  to  the  coast  of  Oregon,  then  went 
along  up  the  coast  to  the  Bering  Sea.     I  do  not  recollect  the  exact  num- 
ber of  seals  we  caught  in  1888,  1889,  and  1890,  but  last 
catck  m  1891.  ^^^^^j,  ^^.^  caught  about  150  along  the  coast,    I  did  not 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  463 

pay  ranch  atteiitiou  to  the  sex  of  the  seals,  but  I  seen  lots  of  little  pups 
taken  out  of  them.     Eaeli  year  we  would  enter  tlie 
Bering  Sea  about  June,  aud  we  sealed  from  50  to  150  ^„fj;7^".7  Sea.timeof 
miles  from  the  islands.     Tiie  first  year  we  caught  about 
700  seals  in  the  sea,  and  we   caught  very  big  catches  in  1888  aud 
1889,  but  last  year  we  only  caught  150.     Most  of  them 
were  cow  seals,  having  given  bii-th  to  their  young,  and  cows"t!iken    "''"'"" 
their  breasts  had  milk  in  them.    I  saw  the  milk  running 
out  of  their  breasts  on  the  deck  as  they  were  being  skinned.     The 
seals  were  not  nearly  as  plentiful  in  1891  as  they  were     j)^^^.^^^^ 
in  1888.    I  think  thf^y  are  decreasing  rapidly.    We  had 
Indian  hunters,  who  used  shotguns.     The  Indian  hunters  are  more  ex- 
pert than  the  wliite  hunters  and  they  do  not  lose  so     ^asteofiife 
many  seals  they  kill.     I  think  they  would  get  one  out 
every  two  or  three  killed  or  wounded.     We  were  or-   .  OtTiered  out  of  Bor- 
dered out  of  the  Bering  Sea  in  August  and  went  back  '"" 
to  Victoria. 

his 

Thomas  x  Madden. 

mark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  15th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  James  Malot/  [scaler). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco^  ss: 
James  Maloy,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  50 
years  of  age.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco.     My  occupa- 
tion is  that  of  a  seaman.     I  was  in  the  North  Pacific      Experience. 
and  Bering  Sea  in  1889.     I  went  out  in  the  Maggie 
Boss,  which  sailed  from  Victoria  in  the  month  of  Febru-     ^^^    .^  ^^^^ 
ary.     We  sailed  up  the  coast  and  caught  a  few  seals,      ^  "^^*''    '"'^' 
until  we  got  to  the  Bering  Sea.     We  caught  1,100  seals,      ^  ,  ,  .  „   .    „ 

^         1 1       x>        1  •    1  1  J-    •        j-1        i:>      •  c  Catch  in  Bering  Sea. 

nearly  all  of  which  were  caught  m  the  Bering  Sea. 

We  caught  them  around  St.  George  Island.     I  think 

out  of  the  1,100  we  cauaht  there  were  000  females.     Out     Fifty-four  per  cent 

of  that  000  there  were  over  400  that  had  pups  inside  n^^'^,^^Z^I^*'^'" 

of  them,  and  we  threw  them  all  overboard.     We  had 

eight  boats,  each  boat  having  a  boat-puller,  steerer,  and  hunter.     The 

hunter  used  rifles  and  shotguns,     I  do  not  think  our 

hunters  got  one-half  of  those  they  killed  or  wounded,      ^^"ste  of  life. 

They  would  sink  before  we  could  get  our  boat  up  to 

them.     I  have  given  \\\)  the  sealing  business  beca.use     i^ecrease. 

the  slaughtering  of  the  female  seals  is  making  tlu'in 

so  scarce  that  it  does  not  pay.     Someth.ing.  certainly,      Protection  neces- 

should  be  done  to  stop  the  killing,  or  tiiere  will  be  *"'■■ 

none  left  in  a  very  short  time. 

J  AS,  Maloy. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  l.'Jth  day  of  Ai)ril.  A.  D. 
1892, 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Pnhlic. 


464  TESTIMONY 

Dcpo.siiion  of  Patrick  Maroney,  Healer  {boat-jjuller), 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Califoknia, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Patrick  Maroney,  liaviiig-  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  1  re- 
side in  San  Francisco.     My  occupation  is  that  of  a  sea- 
Experience.  man;  I  made  two  voy apes  to  the  North  Pacific  and 

May  mien,  1S89.       Bering  Sca.     In  1889"  I  went  out  in  the  May  Ellen, 
of  whicli  Cai)t.  Alex.  McLean  was  master,  and  in  1890 

Lizzie  Ellen,  IS'JO.        ^  ^^.^.^^^  ^^^^^  j^^  ^j^^,  j,._^^.^  ^^^^^^^       j  ^^..^^    ^    boatpuller  OU 

both  voyages.     We  sailed  from  San  Francisco  about  Christmas,  in  1889, 
and  Imnted  ah)ug  tlic  coast  up  to  about  July.     We  took  130  seals  off 
the  coast  and  put  them  ashore  ^ith  Mr,  Morse,  and  then  went  on  seal- 
ing toward  the  Bering  Sea.     Along  about  the  1st  of 
Bering  Sea,  time  of  j^^jy  ^y^,  entered  the  Bering  Sea  and  caught  about  123 
seals  when  we  came  back  to  Victoria  and  I  left  the  ves- 
catch  mostly  preg-  sel  as  Capcaiu  McLcau  got  into  some  trouble.    The  big- 
mTies^'"^  niirsiug  le-  gest  part  of  our  year's  catch  off  the  coast  were  females 
with  pups  in  them,  and  those  we  catight  in  the  Bering 
Sea  Avere  mostly  all  females  with  milk  in  their  breasts. 
Weapons.  ^^  ^^^^^^  sliotguus  with  Xo.  12  shot.     When  we  had  to 

shoot  at  hing  range  we  used  rifles.     Mostly  all  the  seals  we  shot  at  were 
sleepers.     When  they  were  wounded  we  had  to  cliase  them,  and  then 
sometimes  would  not  get  them.     The  next  season,  1890, 
enSf.  ^'"*'  *""^°^  we  got  on  the  way  up  between  100  and  200  seals,  and 
then  we  entered  the  Bering  Sea  about  the  18th  or  19tli 
m2\e^^  °'°'^^^  ^^"  of  J^^ly^  ^'^^^   I   caught  90  seals,  mostly  all  females. 
There  were  six  boats  on  the  vessel.     Some  of  the  boats 
wonld  come  in  without  a  seal,  after  being  out  all  day  long  shooting,  but 
they  would  wound  a  great  many.     On  an  average,  taking  all  the  boats 
f  lif  together,  they  got  one  out  of  every  live  or  six  that  they 

killed  or  shot  at.     We  wounded  a  great  many  that  we 
Hunted  from  40  to  could  uot  gct.    Whcu  wc  Avcre  iu  Bering  Sea  we  hunted 

200  miles  irom  islands.    ^.^^  ^^  ^^  ^00  milcS  Off  the  SCal  ishiuds. 

his 

Patrick  x  Maroney. 

mark. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892- 

[SEAL.]  CLE3IENT   BeNNETT, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  Henry  Mason  {sealer). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Henry  Mason,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  43 

years  of  age  and  reside  in  San  Francisco.     My  occu- 

Exporience.  1891.     patiou  is  that  of  a  scal  hunter.     I  went  sealing  on  the 

Umbrina  in  1891.     We  sailed  trom  Victoria  o^x  the  8th 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  465 

of  April,  and  sealed  aloug  the  coast  up  to  Akutau  Pass.     We  caught 

about  300   seals  in  that  vicinity.     Mostly   all    were 

females  and  a  great  many  of  them  had  pups  in  them,   taki"!*^'^  females 

We  cut  the  seals  open  and  saw  the  young  inside.     We 

caught  a  few  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea  and  then  were  i^g  s'eT'^  *"'*  "^  ^^''" 

ordered  out  and  sent  back  to  Victoria.     Those  that 

were  caught  in  the  Bering   Sea  were  mostly  females   and  had  had 

pups  and  were  in  milk.     In  1890  I  went  sealing  in  the     ^^ 

schooner  Argonaut.     She  sailed  from  Victoria  about        ''so»0'"  < 

the  8th  of  April,  and  sealed  along  the  coast  up  to  the  pass  in  the  Bering 

Sea.     We  caught  about  350  seals  that  year. 

Most  all  the  seals  we  caught  in  the  North  Pacific 
were  females.     A  good  many  of  them  also  had  pups  tak^n"*^^  females 
inside.     Then  we  went  into  the  Bering  Sea  sometime     Beriug  sea,  time  of 
in  July  or  August.     We  caught  about  one-half  of  our   •''^^'^""s- 
catch  in  the  Bering  Sea.     I  did  not  pay  particular  attention  to  the  sex 
of  the  seals  we  caught  in  the  Bering  Sea.    We  hunted  with  shotguns 
and  shot  them  mostly  when  they  were  asleep  on  the  water,  or  any  chance 
we  could  get.     I  was  a  boat-iiuller  and  the  hunters  shot 
at  everything  in  sight.     I  do  not  think  they  would  get  .^indiscriminate  km- 
more  than  one  seal  out  of  every  six  or  seven  they  shot, 
and  sometimes  only  one  out  often.     When  the  seals  were  shot  they  would 
sink  to  the  bottom.     You  have  got  to  hirrry  up  anth     ^^^^^  sinkin.' 
pull  to  tliem  quickly  after  shooting,  or  they  will  sink. 
A  great  many  were  shot  that  we  could  not  get,  as  they  sunk  before  we 
got  to  them. 

H.  Mason. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Cle:vient  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  William  Mason,  sealer  (hoat-puller). 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

William  Mason,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  a 
seaman  by  occupation,  and  I  reside  in  Victoria,  British 
Columbia.     I   made  a   sealing   cruise   in   the  British      Experience. 
schooner  MayheUe,  Capt.  Hanson,  during  the  season  of      ^layheue  i89i 
1891,  leaving  Victoria  in  the  latter  part  of  January, 
I  was  a  boat-puller  and  got  130  a  month  and  25  cents  a  skin.     We  com- 
menced sealing  on  the  (;oast  of  Oregon,  and  followed  the  herd  along 
the  coast  up  to  the  Bering  Sea.     We  got  about  275 
seals  along  the  coast  and  then  went  into  the  Bering   ,.Jterin.?  ^^^'  *""''  °^ 
Sea  in  the  latter  part  of  May  or  fore  i)art  of  June,  and 
sailed  around  in  the  American  waters.     We  cruised  around  the  E*ribi- 
lof  Islands  from  5  to  100  niih's  oft".     We  caught  about  300  seals  in  the 
sea,  and  was  then  ordered  out  by  a  revenue  cutter     (^.^^^^^  j,,  ^ea. 
which  I  believe  was  the  Rush,  in   the  latter  part  of 
August,  but  we  did  not  go.     We  sealed  around  for  sev- 
eral days  and  caught  about  250  more,  and  arrived  at  Victoria  in  Octo- 
2710 — vol  II 30 


466  TESTIMONY 

ber,    I  noticed  in  the  seals  that  we  caught  along  the  coast  that  a  great 
Ma.ioriiv  cau-ht  fc-  n^iiuy  of  theiu  wcrc  fciuales  and  had  pups.     I  thiuk 
inaies,  and  in  Bering  most  of  them  wcve  femalcs.     I  kuow  that  in  my  boat 
Sea  musing.  ^^^  catcli  was  most  all  females  and  they  had  pups  in 

them.    They  Avere  usually  sliot  when  sleeping  on  the  Avater.     About 
two-thirds  of  those  caught  in  the  Bering  Sea  were  females  that  had  big 
teats  and  were  giving  milk.     We  could  tell  that  when  we  were  skin- 
"  ning  them,  because  the  milk  would  run  out  on  the 

decks.     Our  hunter  was  a  good  one.     His  name  was 
Joe  ^^'illiams.     I  think  he  got  one  out  of  every  three  on  an  average. 
He  used  a  rifle  a  good  deal  aud  was  a  fine  shot;  some  of  the  hunters 
in  the  other  boats  would  shoot  at  the  seal  and  not  get  any  at  all,  and 
come  in  at  night  Avithout  any,  or  maybe  one  or  two.    There  was  one 
hunter  from  Nova  Scotia  that  did  not  kill  any  scarcely.    The  hunter  in 
my  boat  last  year  got  $7  a  skin.     This  year  they  only 
Wages  of  sealers,     ^^^utcd  to  pay  uic  $18  a  mouth  and  25  cents  a  skin,  and 
only  wanted  to  give  the  hunters  one  skin  out  of  every  six.     The  hun- 
ters say  the  seals  are  getting  scarcer  all  the  time,  and 
Decrease.  ^j^^^  ^^  ^^^^^  uotpay  to  gouuless  they  get  more  for  a  skin. 

WiLLiAJi  Mason. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  IGth  day  of  April  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary. 


Deposition  of  G.  E.  Miner,  sealer  {hunter). 

PELAGIC  sealing. 

G.  E.  Miner,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  a  seal  hunter 

Ex  erience  ^^  occupatiou ;  havc  bccu  engaged  for  the  past  five 

xperience.  years  iu  Sealing,  always  as  hunter.     Shotgun  and  rifle 

have  been  used  by  me  for  taking  seal.    Am  at  iiresent  hunter  on  the 

schooner  Henry  Dennis.     First  hunted  seals  off  the  Faralone  Islands 

in  February,   and   followed   them  up  the  coast  into 

liering  Sea,  which  they  enter  about  the  10th  of  July. 

I  think  tbe  seals  are  constantly  on  the  move  U])  the  coast.     I  thiuk 

about  33  per  cent  of  the  seals  shot  with  a  shotgun  are  lost.     I  use 

^  ,.     .   •    .  ,  •„    no  discrimination  in  shooting  seals;  shoot  everything 

Indistnininato  kill-     ,  ,      ,  xi       i         x  i      11      xi  i  x  i      ai 

iDg.  that  comes  near  tlie  boat,  and  all  other  hunters  do  the 

same.    A  large  majority  of  the  seals  killed  in  the  North 

Large  majority  of  Paciflc  are  COWS  with  pup,  and  in  Bering  Sea,  cows 

and  nurshi.^"'""'""  ^^ith  milk.     Few  ycarliugs  are  killed  every  year  by  me. 

Of  the  male  seals  killed  a  majority  are  4-year-olds.     I 

have  killed  but  a  few  old  bulls.     If  a  seal  is  killed  instantly  when  he 

first  puts  his  head  above  water  he  will  sink  at  once.     I  think  seals  are 

Decrease  '"^^  ^^  plentiful  as  they  used  to  be,  caused,  I  think,  by 

the  indiscriminate  killing  of  females  with  pup.     Have 

No  pelagic  births,     ^'cver  kiiowu  of  pups  being  born  in  the  water,  or  any- 

wliere  else  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  outside  of  the  Pribi- 

Do  not  haul  up  on  lof  Ishuids.     Havc  ucver  known  seals  to  haul  up  on  the 

Alaskan  coast.  ^j^^g^  ^j^  Alaska  outsidc  of  the  PribQof  Islands.    Have 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  467 

killed  seals  250  miles  from  the  Pribilof  Island,  with  milk.     I  think  if  all 
sealing  was  prohibited  from  January  1,  to  August  15,      pj^t^^tion 
in  the  North  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea  it  would 
give  sufficient  protection  to  the  seal. 

G.  E.  Miner. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  21st  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


Deposition  of  Eddie  3Iorehead,  sealer  (boat-jj idler). 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Eddie  Morehead,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
21  years  of  age;  I  reside  in  San  Francisco;  my  occu- 
pation is  that  of  a  longslioreman.     I  have  been  em-      Expenence. 
ployed  on  a  sealing  vessel  as  a  cabin  boy  and  boat-      randerbut,  isss. 
puller;  I  made  one  voyage  on  the   Vanderbilt  in  the 
North  Pacific  in  1888;  we  did  not  go  in  the  Bering  Sea.    We  left  in  the 
early  part  of  March;   she  was  lost  on  that  voyage  in  a  storm,  going 
ashore  at  company's  harbor.     We  caught  between  500  and  000  seals. 
We  commenced  shooting  along  the  coast  of  California,  following  the 
seals  to  the  Aleutian  Islands.     We  had  six  small  boats  on  board,  each 
boat  having  three  men,  a  hunter  and  two  men  to  pull.     They  shot  both 
with  ritles  and  shotguns.     The  rifle  was  considered  the  best  to  use, 
as  the  shotgun  would  wound  more.     We  shot  at  every-      indiscriminate 
thing  in  sight.     We  killed  more  females  than  males, 
and  we  lost  a  good  many  that  we  killed.     I  never  saw  ^^f^  ^'^^"^  ^^■ 
nor  heard  of  any  young  pups  being  born  in  the  water. 
The  shooting  was  all  done  from  the  small  boats. 

Ed.  Morehead. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  4th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fiiblic. 


Deposition,  of  Franlc  Moreau,  sealer. 

PELAGIC  SEALING. 

Be  it  remembered,  that  on  the  26th  day  of  February,  1892,  at  mv 
office,  431  California  street,  in  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco, 
State  of  California,  before  me,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and 
for  said  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of  California,  duly 
appointed  and  commissioned  to  administer  oaths,  etc.,  personally  ap- 
peared Frank Moreau,  who,  being  first  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 

Frank  Moreau,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 

The  Notary: 
Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occupation? — A.  ^Myname 
is  Frank  3Ioreau;  age,  ;J2;  residence,  Saa  Francisco;  occupation,  seal 
hunter. 


468  TESTIMONY 

Q.  Are  you  a  citizen  of  the  United  States'? — A.  I  am.  . 
Q.  Wliat  State  are  you  a  resident  of"? — A.  Kentucky;  I  was  born 
there;  I  am  now  residing  in  tlie  State  of  Cahfornia. 

Q.  Have  you  been  engaged  in  catching  seals  in  the  Pacific  and  Bering 
Sea,  and  for  how  h>ngf — A.  For  hve  or  six  years  I  have 

Experience.  i  x   i  •  i     ^ 

been  catching  seals 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you 
femails.*'''^''"  """^"^  havc  takcu  in  the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea?— A.  Mostly 
females. 
Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A.  I 
should  judge  about  90  per  cent. 

,    ^  Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken 

Seventy -five    per  ^  ..,        '-        ^        aa-u       j.     nr  ±.  „         ■  ^.^ 

cent  of  which  preg-  wcrc  With   pup ? — A.  About   75  per  cent  were  with 

nant.  p^^p_ 

Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Pacific,  and  when  does  it 
^  ,    ,  end"? — A.  It  commences  about  the  1st  of  January  and 

Commencement  and  -,•-,.. ^■,J_n^ 

ending  of  sealing  sea-    ClldS  about  the  laSt  Ot  JUUC. 

^"°-  Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Bering  Sea, 

and  when  does  it  end? — A.  It  commences  about  the  1st  of  July  and 
ends  about  the  1st  of  ]S!'ovember. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken,  compared  to  those  you 
destroy  in  doing  so;  in  other  words,  how  many  do  you  actually  get  out 
Waste  of  life  ^^  thosc  you  shoot? — A.  About  75  per  cent.     We  lose 

about  25  per  cent. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when"  you  first  started  in  the  business,  and 
was  inexperienced  in  hunting,  that  you,  like  all  other  beginners, 
destroyed  a  much  larger  propiH'tion  than  you  do  now? — A.  Certainly; 
there  is  no  doubt  about  that. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  you  shoot  at  mostly  a-leej*  on  the  water  or  awake? — 
A.  They  are  mostly  asleep, 

Q.  If  awake,  do  yoii  shoot  at  them  while  breeching? — A.  Yes,  sir; 
we  shoot  at  them  anywhere,  either  while  they  are  breeching,  or  heads 
uj)  or  any  way. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  any  seals  born  in  the  water,  and  is  it  your  opin- 
ion that  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be  born  in  the  water? — A.  Tliey  are  not 
„^^      .  born  in  the  water.     A  seal  can  not  swim  when  it  is 

Not  born  in  water.       „       ,    , 

first  born. 
Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  place  where  seals  land  outside  of  the  seal 
islands? — A.  I  do  not;  no,  sir. 

Q.  Have  you  noticed  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  animals  in  the 

last  few  years? — A.  There  is  no  doubt  but  what  there 

Decrease.  .  , 

IS  a  decrease. 
Q.  To  what  do  you  attribute  that  decrease  ? — A.  From  the  killing  of 
vseals,  both  by  hunters  and  others. 

Q.  Do  the  j)ups  perish  with  the  cows  that  you  kill? — A.  Certainly. 
That  is,  if  the  cows  happen  to  be  with  pui3. 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion,  if  sealing  continues  unrestricted,  that  they  will 
soon  be  exterminated? — A.  There  certainly  will  not  be  as  many  in  a 
few  years  as  there  are  now. 

Q.  In  your  opinion  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in 

the  Bering  Sea  to  prevent  the  herd  from  being  extermi- 

Piotection    neces-  natcd? — A.  Certainly  it  is. 

^^^'^'  Q.  What  months  iu   the  year   do   you   think   they 

Close  season.  oiiglit  to  bc  ])rotected  ? — A.  Well,  from  about  the  middle 

of  June  to  the  1st  of  October. 


TAKEN   IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  469 

Q.  Do  you  generally  slioot  seals  with  a  rifle  or  a  sbotgun? — A.  A. 
sliotgun.    jS^inety  per  ceut  are  killed  with  a  shotgun. 
Q.  Do  you  use  buckshot  or  fine  shot? — A.   J3uck- 

-1        j_  VV  CSipOHS. 

Q.  Judging  by  the  direction  tliat  seals  were  traveling  in  the  spring  of 
the  year,  during  your  exi^erience,  where  do  you  sup- 
pose  was  their  destination? — A.  The  Bering  Sea.  ^^^  ^"°' 

Q.  Do  you  think  that  the  Bering  Sea  should  be  cioae  of  Bering  sea. 
entirely  closed? — A.  Certainly. 

Q.  Do  you  think  of  anything  else  that  is  of  value  in  regard  to  this 
seal  question  that  I  have  not  asked  you  about;  if  so,  you  can  state  any- 
thing you  please? — A,  I  have  nothing  further  to  say. 

r.  MOREAU. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  said  city  and  county 
of  San  Francisco,  do  hereby  certify  that  the  witness  in  the  foregoing 
deposition  named,  was  by  me  duly  sworn  to  testify  the  truth,  the  whole 
trutli,  and  nothing  but  the  truth;  that  said  deposition  was  reduced  to 
writing,  and  when  completed  was  carefully  read  over  to  said  witness, 
and  by  him  subscribed  in  my  presence. 

In  witness  wliereof  I  have  hereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  affixed 
my  seal  of  office,  this  liOth  day  of  February,  1892. 

[L.  s.J  ■  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition   of  Wiles  Nelson,  scaler,  and  part  owner  of  vessel  Annie, 

1885-^86. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Niles  I^elson,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  by  occupa- 
tion  a  seal  hunter,  and  part  owner  of  the  schooner 
Annie.     My  residence  is    in   San  Francisco.     I  was     ^^pe"<^"<^e- 
engaged  in  hunting  seals  during  the  years  1885  and     A7inie,  i885-'86. 
188G  in  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea.     We  go 
out  about  the  middle  of  April.     We  liunt  sometimes  with  a  shotgun, 
and  sometimes  with  a  rifle.     Breeching  seals  we  shoot  with  a  rifle,  and 
sleeping  seals  with  a  shotgun.     I  can  not  give  the  exact  estimate  of 
the  sex,  but  I  know  that  a  large  proportion  of  them 
are  females.     An  experienced  A  No.  1  seal  hunter  in  sbotlLaier^'""*'""' 
shooting  sleei)ing  seals  with  a  shotgun  will  get  a  large 
pro])ortion  of  what  he  kills,  and  will  get  one  out  of  four  breeching  seals 
that  he  kills,  but  an  ordinary,  comnu)n  hunter,  like  my-      ^ggteof  iir.> 
self,  will  sometimes  use  ten  cartri(lg<\s  and  not  get  one 
seal.     I  can  safely  say  that  a  connnon  hunter  will  only  get  one  seal  out 
of  three.     1  can  not  tell  the  age  or  sex  of  seals  in  the  water.    1  was 
sealing  in  the  Bering  Sea  during  July,  August,  and      ^^^  Perin.r  soa 
September,  1885  and  1886.     I  was  cruising  in  the  IJer-       "  '*'""^' 
ing  Sea  around  about  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  from  100  to  300  miles 


470  TESTiMOisnr 

off".  The  principal  portion  of  the  cruising  was  between  tlie  Aleutian 
Islands  and  the  Pribilof  Ishmds.  One  of  the  i^rincipal  sealing  grounds 
is  off  Bogoslof.  We  first  discover  seals  on  their  way  to  the  breeding 
grounds  in  ,] anuary  and  Fel)ruary  off  Cape  Eace.  Most 
coast. ^^^'^^^""^  **"  every  lenialc  tliat  has  arrived  at  the  age  of  maturity 
is  liregnant.  We  follow  them  on  from  there  into  the 
Bering  Sea,  and  most  all  of  the  females  taken  are  pregnant. 

We  find  pups  in  the  cow  seals  up  to  the  time  they  get  to  the  Pribi- 
lof Islands  in  fluiu^,  but  when  they  come  oft'  the  Pribilof  Islands  they 
have  bred,  and  are  in  milk  for  the  remainder  of  the  killing  season. 
They  sometimes  go  out  from  100  to  200  miles  oft' the  islands,  while  the 
young  ones  still  remain  on  the  islands.  After  they  have  been  on  the 
islands  they  contain  no  jnip,  so  the  hunter  can  see  if  the  seal  has  been 
KiUin"-  f  s-  "  *^^^  ^^**'  islands  or  not.  I  have  killed,  and  seen  killed, 
cows.   "  ^^^^^  mothers  in  milk  100  or  more  miles  from  the  islands. 

Seals  were  not  as  plentiful  in  1886  as  they  were  in 
Decrease.  1885.     I  tliiuk  the  jiriucipal  cause  of  that  decrease  is 

on  account  of  killing  the  females  in  the  water,  and  also 
through   their  getting  shy  by  being  chased   by  the  boats.     I  have 
Pelagic  birth  impos-   ^^^^^r  secu  a  pup  iu  the  watcr,  and  do  not  believe  they 
Bible.  can  be  born  in  the  water.    If  they  are  born  in  the  water 

they  would   drown.     I  know  of  no  places  that   the 
uawi     o         f     ^^^^^  han]  up  in  the  Bering  Sea  or  North  Pacific  for 
islands."^""  "^"^  "*''  breeding  puiposcs  except  St.  George,  St.  Paul,  Otter 
Island,   Bering  Island,   Eobben  Island,  and  Copper 
eJy"*^''*'''"  °^*'^^"  Island.     If  something  is  not  done  to  protect  seals  in 
the  Korth  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  they  will  become 
exterminated  in  a  very  few  years. 

Files  Nelson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  1st  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  S.J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  John  O^Brien,  sealer  (boat-puller.) 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  op  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
John  O'Brien,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  40 
T,  years  of  age;  I  reside  in  San  Francisco;  I  am  bv  occu- 

Expenence.  •        .  mi  t  i  t  "j.     j.i 

pation  a  longshoreman;  1  made  a  scaling  voyage  to  the 

Aiexand,'r,isao.        ^oitli  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  on  the  schooner  Alea>- 

ander,  wliich  sailed  from  Victoria  in  the  latter  part  of 

January,  1885.     I  was  a  boat-puller.     We  sailed  south  as  far  as  Blanco, 

sealing  around  there  for  two  or  three  months,  when  we  headed  north 

Sixty  per  cent  of  "^^ij  the  Bering  Sea,  having  caught  250  or  300  seals 

coast  catch  f.maies,   bcforc  entering  the  sea,  of  which  60  per  cent  of  them 

nios  \  pregnaii  .         -vyeie  fcmalcs,  uiostly  all  of  them  having  pups  in  them. 

Bering  Sea,  time  of  ^XQ  entered  the  liering  Sea  the  latter  e"nd  of  May,  and 

"'  caught  about  700  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea,  mostly  all 

of  them  being  females  in  milk.    I  saw  the  milk  flowing 

m^tiy\u?8in*g  cows'!  Oil  tlic  dcck  whcu  they  were  skinned.     We  had  6  boats, 

each  boat  having  3  men,  a  boat-i3uller,  steerer,  and 


TAKEN    IX    SAN    FRANCISCO.  471 

hunter.  We  used  shotguns,  using  a  rifle  to  shoot  at  long  range.  It 
depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  weather  as  to  the  aniount  of  seals  ob- 
tained by  the  hunters.  After  a  heavy  blow  you  see  the  seals  lyiug  on 
top  of  the  water  asleep,  and  you  can  get  very  close  to  them,  and  on  an 
average  you  would  get  2  o/3  out  of  every  5  or  6  you  ^^^^^^^^i^^ 
kill  or  wound,  while  in  rough  weather  you  would  not 
get  1  out  of  5  or  0  killed  or  Avounded.  I  could  not  tell  how  far  off  we 
caught  them  from  the  seal  islands,  as  I  did  not  know  the  distances. 
At  that  time  there  were  lots  of  seals  in  the  water. 

John  O'Brien. 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  me  this  13th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
fL.  s.l  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  John  OJsen,  sealer, 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

John  Olsen,  having  beeu  duly  sworu,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  in 
Seattle,  Washington.     My  occupation  is  ship  carpenter.      Experience 
I  helped  to  build  the  schooner  Labrador,  in  1890,  at 
Vancouver,  and  went  sealing  in  her  in  1891.     Captain      ^^(^brador,  i89i. 
Whiteleigh  was  commander.     We  left  Vancouver  for 
Victoria,  on  the  29th  of  March,  and  fitted  out  the  vessel,  leaving  Vic- 
toria on  the  8th  day  of  April.     She  carried  four  IG-foot  boats  and  one 
stern  boat  14  feet.     She  carried  two  men  to  the  boat,  one  to  pull  and 
one  to  hunt.     We  commenced  hunting  outside  of  Cape  Cook,  about  5 
miles  from  shore,  and  hunted  from  there  up  to  Unamak  Pass,  in  the 
Aleutian  Islands  and  entered  tlie  Bering  Sea  about 
the  5th  of   June,   and  was  ordered  out  of  the   sea     Bering  sea. 
the  19th  of  June.     In  going  up  the  coast  to  Unamak     Time  of  entering. 
Pass  we  caught  about  -100  seals,  mostly  females  with 
young,  and  put  their  skins  on  board  the  Danube,  an  pre|nMit'*cows."'"'''*^^ 
English  steamboat,  at  Alatack  Bay,  and  after  we  got 
into  the  Bering  Sea  we  caught    220.     We  had  200  at  the  time  the 
lieutenant  ordered  us  out  of  the  sea,  the  remainder  we  caught  after. 

After  entering  the  sea  we  got  one  female  with  a  very  large  pup, 
which  I  took  out  alive  and  kept  it  for  three  or  four 
days,  when  it  died,  as  it  would  not  eat  anything.    All  niStiy  n.lrsing*^cows* 
the  others  had  given  birth  to  their  young  and  their 
breasts  were  full  of  milk,     I  do  not  believe  mothers  give     ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^^ 
birth  to  their  young  in  the  water.     We  went  to  Four  water. 
Mountain  Pass,  when  we  went  out.     We  caught  these     Killed nnrsingoows 
mothers,  full  of  milk,  from  50  to  150  miles  off  tlie  seal  so  to  iso  miles"  from 
islands.    I  shot  twenty-eight  myself.     We  used  shot- 
guns, using  buckshot,  and  I  have  known  twenty  sliots      Wasteof  life. 
to  be  fired  at  a  seal  before  we  got  her.     When  we  shot 
at  "sleepers"  we  got  a  good  many  more  than  when  we  shot  at  "breech- 
ers"  or  "rollers,"  and  we  secured  on  an  average  about  one  out  of  every 


472  TESTIMONY 

three  killed  and  wounded.     The  percentage  of  loss  of  those  killed  and 
wounded  is  fully  as  great  as  I  have  stated.     I  know  of 

islands  ""^  °°^^  **"  no  place  where  they  haul  up  on  land  except  the  Pribilof 
Islands. 

John  Olsen. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2d  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892, 
[L.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  Charles   W.  Reeil,  sealer  [master). 

habits — seals  in  pacific. 

State  of  California, 

Cifij  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss  : 
Charles  W.  Reed,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  :  I  am 
53  years  old  and  am  an  American  citizen,  resident  of 
Experience.  g^^^  Fraucisco,  and  by  occupation  a  shipmaster  and 

pilot,  and  a  member  of  the  San  Francisco  Pilot  Association.     Between 
the  years  1872  and  1880  I  made  four  voyages,  as  master  of  a  schooner 
and  in  charge  of  expeditions  engaged  in    the   sealing 
ol^isiawir  ^*^''^"^'  industry,  to  the  Galapagos  Islands.     These  islands  are 
gos  saws.  situated  on  the  equator,  longitude  about 90°  west.     In 

the  first  voyage  I  remained  upon  tlie  islands  about  seven  months,  and 
at  subsequent  times  from  three  to  five  months  at  each  voyage,  covering 
differert  seasons  of  the  year.  I  have  thus  seen  and  carefully  observed 
the  seals  resorting  to  these  islands  at  all  times  of  the  year.  The  beaches 
occupied  by  them  are  overhung  by  high  cliffs  and  indented  with  caves 
•  and  crevices  into  which  the  seals  go,  when  not  in  the 
^'  water,  to  avoid  the  tropical  sun.     The  young  are  born 

in  these  caves  and  are  unable  to  swim  until  several  weeks  old.    They 
do  not  migrate,  but  may  be  found  on  and  about  the  islands  at  all  times 
of  year.     With  this  exception  their  habits  do  not  vary,  as  far  as  I  know, 
tiom  those  of  fur-seals  in  Alaskan  waters.    They  are 
Domestic  nature.      ^^^^  particularly  timid,  and  may  be  as  easily  managed 
as  sheep  or  cattle.     I  have  no  doubt  they  could  be  propagated  on  the 
rookeries  and  their  reproduction  reassured  under  x)roper  management. 
I  captured  on  the  first  voyage  about  3,000  skins  and  as 
_^in(iiscriminate  kQi-  j^^uy  uiorc  in  the  three  later  voyages,  slaughtering  old 
and  young  indiscriminately,  but  I  am  now  credibly  in- 
formed that  the  rookeries  are  again  building  up  and  increasing  in 
numbers.     The  skins  obtained  from  this  herd  are  quite  distinct  from 
those  from  the  Guadalupe,  Santa  liosa,  and  Santa  Cruz,  and  other 
islands  to  the  northward  of  the  Galapagos  group,  being  much  shorter 
and  lighter  furred  and  correspondingly  less  valuable,  as  might  be  ex- 
pected in  animals  bred  in  a  tropical  climate. 

Chaeles  W.  Eeed. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  28th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public, 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  473 

Deposition  of  Adolphus  Sayers,  sealer  {master). 
PELAaiC   SEALING. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
AdolpLus  Sayers,  having  been  dnly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
a  seaman.    I  reside  in  San  Francisco.    I  was  engaged 
in  sealing  in  the  Bering  Sea  and  :N^orth  Pacific,  in  the     Experience. 
City  of  San  Diego  and  "the  Adeline,  in  the  years  1887      cuy  of  san  mego, 
and  1888.    I  was  master  of  the  Adeline.    We  com-  Adeline,  \mA%6%. 
menced  to  seal  from  the  Cordell  Banks  off  the  coast  of     sealing  off  coast. 
California  right  up  to  the  Bering  Sea.     On  the  voyage 
of  the  City  of  San  Diego,  which  lasted  about  eight  months,  we  got 
about  1,900  seals.     The  hunters  had  rifles  and  shotguns,  but  as  we 
entered  the  Bering  Sea  the  revenue  cutter  Cor  win  took 
away  our  rifles  and  left  us  the  shotguns.    The  shotgun     Entered  Bering  sea. 
is  not  as  fatal  as  the  rifle,  but  it  ruins  the  skins  of  the  seals.     I  was  a 
boat-puller  when  I  was  on  the  City  of  San  Diego.     I  can  not  tell  from 
the  appearance  of  a  seal  in  the  water  whether  it  is  a  male  or  female, 
but  most  all  of  the  seals  we  killed  in  the  water  were 
females.     Sometimes  we  opened  them  and  found  young  nnieTftom  i^fiands.^*^'' 
pups  inside,  and  sometimes  they  were  mothers  that  had 
given  birth  to  their  young  and  their  breasts  were  full  of  milk,  and 
we  often  killed  them  100  miles  or  more  from  the  seal  islands.     A  seal 
never  bears  but  one  pup  at  a  time.     An  ordinary  hunter,  on  an  aver- 
age, will  not  kill  one  out  of  four  breaching  seals,  and  sometimes  he  will 
not  get  one.    The  sleeping  seal  is  the  most  easily  killed, 
and  we  got  about  one  out  of  three  killed  and  wounded.      ^^^^  of  life- 
I  know  that  the  seals  are  rapidly  decreasing,  and  I     Decrease. 
believe  it  is  caused  by  killing  females  in  the  water. 

Adolphus  Sayers. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  4th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  C.  M.  Scammon,  officer  Revenue  Marine. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
0.  M.  Scammon,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  61 
years  old  and  a  resident  of  Oakland,  Cal.     I  am  and 
have  been  an  officer  in  the  United  States  Eevenue 
Marine  Corps  since  18(i;3.      In   1865  and  1806  I  was  in  command  of 
the  Western  Union    Telegrai»h   Company's  fleet  of  vessels  when  it 
was  expected    to    establish  a  t<'legr;iph  line   to   Europe  via  Bering- 
Straits.     In  this  capacity  and  later  as  commander  of  vessels  under  the 
United  States  revenue-cutter  flag,  I  repeatedly  i>assed  through  Bering- 
Sea,  touching  at  the  seal  islands.     I  am  the  author  of  the  work  entitled 
"The  Marine  Mammals  of  the  Northwestern  Coast  of  Xorth  America," 
published  by  J.  H.  Carmany  cS;  Co.,  San  Francisco,  1874.     In  prepar- 
ing Chapter  iv  of  part  2  of  that  work,  relative  to  fur-seals,  I  consulted 


474  TESTIMONY 

every  accessible  autliority  \\\)(m  tliat  .subject  and  added  the  result  of 
my  own  observation  and  experience.  JSince  then  eighteen  years  have 
elapsed  and  many  new  facts  have  been  brought  to  light  concerning 
them,  confirming  for  tlie  most  part  what  was  then  written,  yet  modi- 
fying to  some  extent  the  conclusions  arrived  at. 

The  nomenclature  and  tecliuical  terms  of  seal-hunters  have  changed 
somewhat.     We    hear    of  "cows"   instead  of  "clap- 

Technitai temis.  niatchcs,"  " bulIs "  instead  of  "wigs,"  and  "bachel- 
ors" or  "holnschuckie"  instead  of  "yearlings."  At  the  time  my  book 
was  written  the  regular  migratoiy  habits  of  the  animals  were  not  as 
well  understood  in  i-espect  to  the  routes  of  migration  as  they  are  now, 
and  naturalists  always  commence  their  description  with  the  arrival  of 
the  different  classes  of  seals  at  the  northern  breeding  grounds,  begin- 
ning with  the  "bulls"  in  the  early  spring,  following  them  with  the 
"cows"  and  "bachelors"  at  a  later  date,  and  then  taking  up  the  birth 
and  development  of  the  young.  This,  I  think,  resulted  from  our  igno- 
rance of  where  they  silent  the  winter  months.     Now  it 

Migration.  ^^  ^^^jj  kuowu  that  tlic  PHbilof  seals  work  their  way 

down  to  the  coasts  of  California,  Oregon,  and  British  Columbia,  and 
go  north  again  in  the  spring;  and  that  the  Commander  Islands  herd 
migrates  down  the  Asiatic  coast,  the  two  herds  keeping  apart  from 
eacli  other.  I  held  this  opinion  many  years  ago,  as  is  shown  by  my 
letter  to  the  honorable  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  written  August  30, 
1869,  as  follows,  and  later  observ^ations  and  reading  have  confirmed 
my  conclusions : 

"San  Francisco,  Cal., 

^^ August  30,  1869. 

"Sir:  Willie  on  the  station  at  Puget  Sound  frequent  opportunities 
offered  to  observe  the  habits  of  the  fur  seals. 

"I  have  long  been  of  the  opinion  that  those  seen  off  the  mouth  of 
Juan  de  Fuca  Strait  were  a  portion  at  least  of  the  great  herds  that  make 
their  annual  visits  to  the  islands  of  St.  George  and  St.  Paul,  Bering 
Sea. 
"  Since  my  return  to  this  city  I  have  gathered  further  information 
which  convinces  me  that  beyond  question  the  seals  pass- 
igra  ion.  ^^^^  ^^^^  uiouth  of  the  Strait  during  the  months  of  March, 

April,  and  a  part  of  May  resort  to  the  above-named  islands  to  bring 
forth  their  young,  as  nearly  all  the  females  (and  no  others  are  caught) 
taken  by  the  Indians  at  tiiis  point  have  ItetuseS  in  them  that  to  all 
appearances  would  be  brought  forward  on  their  arrival  at  their  north- 
ern summer  haunt. 

"  From  personal  observation,  as  well  as  from  the  most  reliable  infor- 

mation,  it  is  quite  certain  that  there  has  been  taken  by 

un  mg.       ^^^  ludians  of  Vancouver  Islands  and  Washington  Ter- 

Mostiy pregnant fe-  ritoiv  duiiug  the  last  Spring  about   5,000  fur-seals, 

males  taken.  "-  ~  -ii  i-i  •   ■, 

and  almost  invariably  each  animal  was  with  young,  so 
that  in  taking  the  number  of  adults  above  mentioned  there  were  actually 
destroyed  near  10,000  seals. 

"Having  every  reason  to  believe  that  vessels  will  be  fitted  out  to  take 
seals  off  the  strait  the  coming  season,  I  have  thought  it  weU  to  make 
this  rejjort  to  the  Department. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"CM.  Scajvoion, 
"  Capt.,  U.  8.  B.  8. 
"Hon.  Geo.  S.  Botjtwell, 

^^  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Waslt'n\(jton,  D.  G. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  475 

Tlie  certainty  that  tlie  seals  canglit  iu  tlie  Xortli  Pacific  arc  in  facta 
portion  of  tlie  Pribilof  herd,  and  that  all  are  born  and 
reared  for  the  first  few  months  upon  the  islands  of  that  p^';';^^^  >"  xorthem 
group,  naturally  leads  the  observer  to  regard  them  as 
quite  domesticated  and  belonging  upon  their  island  home.  The  more 
orderly  way  to  describe  them,  tiierefore,  would  be  to  commence  with 
their  birth  upon  the  island  and  the  beginning  of  their  migrations  rather 
than  at  the  end  of  some  one  of  their  annual  rounds  away  from  home. 

I  gather,  too,  from  further  research  that  the  nature  of  their  food  and 
the  source  whence  it  is  obtained  are  better  understood  ^^^^^.^^ 
than  formerly.  It  is  well  known  that  the  bulls  eat 
nothing  during  the  rutting  season  and  while  taking  care  of  their  harems 
on  the  islands.  The  cows,  however,  go  and  come  at  will  after  the  pups 
are  dropped,  and  may  be  found  in  large  numbers  with  the  mammary 
glands  distended  with  milk  many  miles  from  the  breed-     ^     ^    ■      , 

p  n  mi  1       1  1      J.  -j-i     J.1      •  Females  in  water. 

mg  grounds.     The  pups  are  not  able  to  go  with  their 
mothers  and  drown  if  by  mischance  they  are  thrown  into  the  sea  be- 
fore they  are  three  or  four  weeks  old.     Tliey  stay  with  the  bulls  on  the 
breeding  grounds  until  about  six  or  seven  weeks  old 
before  learning  to  swim.     Tbe  fur-seals  of  the  north,   ,^^7^  learning  to 
unlike  the  hair  seals,  do  not  seem  to  like  the  severe 
cold  weather  and  ice  of  the  north,  for  they  migrate  to  the  southward 
upon  its  approach,  while  those  inhabiting  the  tropics,  as  at  the  Galla- 
pagos  Islands,  leave  the  islands  perhaps,  but  do  not  go,  so  far  as  is 
known,  to  any  great  distance.    I  have  no  doubt  the 
northern  seals  of  the  Pribilof  Islands  spread  over  a  5,^^^^^  plcfac^.  '° 
very  wide  extent  of  the  jSTorth  Pacific  in  winter.    They 
are  occasionally  seen  far  off'  from  land,  but  are  much  more  numerous 
within  soundings.     Their  food  is  mainly  fish,  and  they  are  naturally 
found  where  that  is  most  abundant.     Seal-hunters  say  and  statistics 
show  that  where  fish  are  most  plentiful,  as  in  latitude  55°  to  50°  north, 
in  Bering  Sea,  on  the  Shumagin  Banks  oft"  the  Alaskan  Peninsula,  and 
off  the  entrance  to  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  there  the  best  catches  of  seals 
are  made. 

Up  to  nearly  the  time  my  work  was  published,  little  was  known 
about  marine  seal  fishing.  It  was  mostly  confined  to  the  Indians.  A 
few  vessels  were  engaged  in  the  trade  from  Victoria,  but  cut  no  figure 
in  commerce.  The  price  of  skins  was  comparatively  low,  and  no  great 
inducements  were  offered  to  go  into  the  business.  It  was  when  ])rices 
advanced,  and  white  hunters  acquired  the  skill  of  following  the  move- 
ments of  the  seals  and  in  shooting  from  a  boat,  that  the  real  danger  of 
the  extermination  of  the  species  became  apparent.  The  records  of  the 
Pribilof  Islands  show  that  not  many  seals  were  left  on  tlie  rookeries 
about  1840  to  1S45,  and  very  few  then  apjicared  iu  the  vicinity  of 
the  British  Columbia  coast.  As  those  rookeries  increased  so  the  "  Vic- 
toria catch"  increased,  and  amounted  to  about  5,000  skins  in  18G0. 
(Marine  Mammals,  p.  154.) 

The  annihilation  of  many  rookeries  formerly  existing  in  different  parts 
of  the  world    has  heretofore   been    accomplished   by 
wasteful,  and   sometimes  wanton,  destruction  on  the  other  rookeries"''  "' 
land.     Now,  the  only  known  rookeries  of  any  size  are 
guarded,  and  the  vandals  can  not  reach  them;  but  they  seem  to  have 
found  methods  of  destruction  almost  as  effectual  as  a     protection  neces- 
seal  club,  and  they  kill  as  cruelly  and  wastefully  as  sary. 
they  formerly  did  on  land.    Other  animals  of  less  use     pre-mant  females 
to  mankind  than  the  seals  are  protected  by  a  close       regnan 


476  TESTIMONY 

season,  or  some  otlier  restriction,  to  save  tlieni  from  slau^^liter  when 
breeding-,  but  nearly  all  the  seals  killed  in  tlie  water  are  mothers  Avith 
young". 

Bering  Sea  seems  to  be  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  fur- 
seals.  Its  climate  is  moist,  the  sun  rarely  shines  in  summer,  and  the 
'  water  abounds  in  fish.  Here  also  pelagic  seal  hunters  find  their  best 
opportunity.  They  can  stay  about  where  they  please  under  cover  of 
the  fog  and  defy  any  gnard-ship  to  detect  them.  The  range  of  the 
seals  is  very  broad,  and  it  is  impossible  to  watch  every  square  mile. 
The  only  way  to  stop  the  destruction  of  the  roolceries  is  to  stop  pelagic 
sealing.  If  it  is  cruel  and  wasteful  to  destroy  a  whole  species  of  useful 
breeding  animals,  it  is  Just  as  cruel  and  wasteful,  in  proportion,  to  kill 
a  few  of  them.     Why  should  any  be  killed  ? 

I  do  not  believe  any  partial  measure  of  protection  will  stop  the  deple- 
tion of  the  rookeries.     If  vessels  may  be  fitted  out  with 
necSjy*^  measures  ^]^g  paraphernalia  for  seal  hunting,  and  skins  brought 
into  port  and  sold  with  impunity,  the  hunters  will  man- 
age by  hook  or  crook  to  evade  any  restriction. 

C.  M.   SCAMMON. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  10th  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  S.J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  Peter  iShnea,  sealer  (steicard). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  Sa)i  Francisco,  ss: 
Peter  Simes,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  in 
San  Francisco.     My  occupation  is  that  of  steward.     I  made  one  seal- 
Ex  erience  ^"8  voyage  iu  1890  on  the  British  schooner  Umhrina, 
umbrina,  1890.         of  which   Capt.   Campbell   was   master.     We   sailed 
Sealing  off  coast.      ^^^^   Victoda,  British    Columbia,  April  8,  and  went 
right  up  the  coast  until  we  got  to  Sand  Point,  sealing  all  the  way  up. 
We  caught  280  seals  going  up.     When  we  got  there  we  met  one  of  the 
cutters,  and  it  gave  us  orders  not  to  go  in  the  Bering* 
Warned  off.  Sea.     Wc  laid  there  a  week  and  returned,  sealing  all 
femaies^aken.^''^"    the  Way  dowii.     We  had  315  skins  when  we  arrived  here. 
Mostly  all  of  them  were  l^raales  heavy  with  pup  asleep 
on  the  water,  and  we  killed  them  with  shotguns.     We  got  back  in  the 
second  week  of  July.     The  captain,  mate,  and  myself  went  out  several 
times  with  the  stern  boat,  and  we  killed  15  the  first  time  we  went  out. 
I  think  we  went  out  that  way  three  or  four  times,  and  we  usually  got 
about  one  out  of  four  killed.     I  recollect  one  day  when 
Waste  of  h  e.  ^^^^  Averc  huutin;?;  bad  weather  set  up,  and  we  did  not 
get  any  seals.    In  good  weather  we  got  more  seals  than  we  did  in  bad 
weather. 

Peter  Simes. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  6th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Kotary  Public. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FKANCISCO.  477 

Deposition  of  James  Sloan,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

State  of  CALrpoENiA, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 

James  Sloan,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  reside  in 
San  Francisco.    I  am  by  occupation  a  seaman.     I  made 
three  voyages  to  Bering  Sea.     My  first  voyage  was  on     ff^^^'^^^i  i87i 
the  Flying  Mist,  of  which  Oapt.  Saddler  was  master; 
the  next  was  on  the  Fenelope,  of  which  Capt.  Littlejohn  was  master, 
and  my  next  was  in  the   schooner  Arctic,  of  which   Capt.  Brassey 
was  master.    We  sailed  from  here  on  the  Flying  Mist  on  the  ITth 
day  of  April,   1871,   and  canght   altogether  on   that   voyage  about 
875  seals,  of  which  a  large  majority  were  either  females 
with  pups  or  with  their  breasts  filll  of  milk.     I  saw  it  ^E taken"'^^"*  ^'" 
flowing  on  the  deck  when  we  were  skinning  them.     We 
had  six  boats,  four  men  to  a  boat;  two  boat  pullers,  steerer,  and  hunter. 
We  used  rifles  for  shooting.     On  my  next  trip,  in  1881,  I  sailed  from 
Yokohama,  Ja]>an,  on  the  Penelope,  leaving  there  about     pg^^i^^^  jgg^ 
March,  under  the  British  flag,  going  to  the  Okhotsk      ^"^''^'''• 
Sea,  seaUng  there  about  a  month;  but  we  only  caught     ^"^eredBenngSea. 
two  seals,  and  then  went  to  Bering  Sea,  entering  it  about  the  22d  of 
May.    We  caught  767  seals  in  Bering  Sea  that  year,  from  30  to  150 
miles  off  the  seal  islands.     The  most  of  them  were  fe- 
males, for  the  reason  that  they  are  not  as  cute  and  en^"*'^^  itmaies  tak- 
wild  as  the  males. 

A  great  many  of  the  female  seals  had  their  breasts  full  of  milk,  which 
would  run  out  on  the  deck  when  we  skinned  them.     My  orders  were  to 
kill  them   indiscriminately,  everything  I  ran  across. 
It  is  impossible  to  tell  a  female  from  a  male  in  the  water,      indiscriminate  kiu- 
uuless  it  is  an  old  bull.     We  had  six  boats  on  board,   '"g/^  mdi.stiu<^uish- 
eacli  boat  having  a  boat  puller,  a  hunter,  and  a  steerer.  able  in  water. 
We  used  shotguns  mostly,  except  for  long  range  we     I'rctfc.'issg^^'^' 
used  rifles.     My  third  voyage  was  in  1889.     I  sailed 
from  Yokohama  on  the  Arctic  about  the  latter  ])art  of  January.     We 
cleared  under  the  American  flag,  and  went  to  the  Okhotsk  Sea  and  sealed 
there  about  two  months.    We  got  there  some  500  seals,  of  which  more 
than  one-half  were  females,  and  the  most  of  them  had 
pups  in  them.     We  entered  Bering  Sea  about  the  17th     IntovdBerinisea. 
of  May,  and  caught  about  000  seals,  the  most  of  them      Majority  pregnant 
around  the  fishing  banks,  just  north  of  the  Aleutian 
Islands.     The  majority  of  them  were  mother  seals.    We  had  nine  boats, 
four  on  one  side  and  five  on  the  other.    Each  boat  had  three  men.     We 
used  shotguns  on  that  trii)  also,  once  in  a  while  using  a  rifle  for  long 
range.     I  think  the  average  hunter  gets  about  one  or 
two  out  of  every  five  or  six  that  he  kills  or  wounds.      y"r*iaQi^®- 
I  made  a  whaling  voyage  to   Bering  Sea  last  year, 
where  I  remained  for  five  months.    I  was  fourth  mate  of  the  bark  Lydia. 

I  took  very  great  interest  in  the  seals,  because  1  used  to  hunt  them 
myself,  and  I  noticed  a  great  decrease  in  the  number  ^j^.^^rcase 
of  seals  from  what  there  was  formerl}^,  when  I  was  on 
sealing  voyages.  It  was,  in  fact,  so  marked  that  I  called  the  captain's 
attention  to  it,  saying  that  we  had  seen  very  few  seals.  They  have 
been  getting  scarcer  every  year  since  I  have  been  going  to  IJeriiig 
Sea,  and  if  something  is  not  done  right  away  to  i^rotect  them  their  will 


4V8  TESTIMONY 

be  no  more  seals  in  tliese  waters.    I  kuow  as  a  fact  that  they  are  kill- 
ing' tliein  indiscriminately,  and  all  tlie  hunters  care 

^Indiscriminate  kOl-     .^|^^^^^j.   ■(.  |^  ^^    g.^j.  ^  gj.^,^^       j  ^^^^^^    SOmCthiug  aboilt  it, 

as  I  have  been  sailing  from  this  coast  up  along  those 
waters  for  nineteen  years,  and,  as  I  said  before,  I  paid  particular  atten- 
tion to  them,  and  1  firmly  believe  if  they  allow  the 
ti(^.*^^^  extermma-  jjjijijjg  j^  the  sca  to  go  on  as  they  are  now  doing  it 
will  only  be  a  question  of  a  few  years  before  there  will 
not  be  enough  to  pay  anyone  to  hunt  them.     I  do  not  know  of  any 
other  place  on  our  coast  where  the  seals  haul  up  except 
laau?"'^  ""'^  ""  ^'*'  at  the  seal  islands.     I  do  not  believe  a  seal  can  be  born 
in  the  water  and  live. 

James  Sloan. 
Subscribed  and  sworn  to  betore  me  this  15th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1S92. 
[seal].  Clement  Bennett, 

Xotary  Puhlic. 


Deposition  of  William  H.  Smith,  sealer  {master). 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

William  H.  Smith,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  by 

occupation  a  seaman  and  seal  hunter.     Have  been  en- 

xpuieuce.  gaged  in  catching  seals  in  the  N^orth  Pacific  Ocean  for 

fourteen  years  and  one  season  in  Bering  Sea.     Have  been  mate  and 

cai)tain  while  sealing.     First  seal  seen  and  taken  by  me  were  off  the 

Columbia  Elver  in  January  and  February.    The  seal 

igration.  ^^  that  time  were  traveling  north.     Spear  is  mostly 

used  by  the  Makah  Indians.      Farther  north  the  shotgun  is   used. 

Very  few  are  lost  when  struck  with  a  spear.     About  GO  j)er  cent  are 

lost  when  shotgun  is  used.  Most  of  the  seals  taken 
females  takln'""''*^     ^^'^  femalcs  with  youug.     Very  few  males  are  taken  on 

the  coast.  I  have  taken  600  seals  in  one  season 
and  only  3  male  seals  were  among  them.  A  few  yearlings  are 
taken,  mostly  females.     Sex  of  seal  can  not  be  distinguished  in  the 

water.  We  usenodiscriminationin  hunting; shootevery 
_ jndisciiniiuate  kill-   yg.,|  ^l^.^^^  comes  near  the  boat.     Seal  are  most  always 

shot  in  the  head  if  it  is  possible;  if  not,  they  are  shot  in 
the  body  where  exposed.     The  indiscriminate  killing-  of  female  seals 

in  Bering  Sea  will  very  soon  destroy  the  herd.     Have 

Xo  pelagic  birth.      jj(>y(.i.  Ji^no^vn  of  pu])  scals  bciiig  born  in  the  water,  nor 

anywhere  else  on  tlie  coast  outside  of  the  Pribilof  Islands.     Have 

never    heard   of   fur-seals  hauling   up  on  the  coast 

wi^eTctiumouM^^^^^^    elscwliere  than  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.     Have  taken 

isi|>"rts.  female  seals  in  Bering  Sea  about  145  miles  from  the 

lo  ee  ion.  Pribilof  Island.s.     I  think  that  pelagic  seal  hunting 

in  Bering  Sea  should  be  stopped. 

WM.   H.   SlVHTH. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  6th  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent. 


TAKEN   m    SAN   FRANCISCO.  479 

Dejposition  of  E.  W.  ^oron,  sealer  [matyZer). 

PELAaiC   SEALING. 
STAT±;   uj?    OAEUfORNlA, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
E.  W.  Soroii,  liaving  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  by 
occupation  a  seaman.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco.     I 
was  in  the  North  Pacific  in  1888,  on  board  the  City  of     ^f^y'^lf^'^Z  mego, 
San  Diego,  as  mate.     We  left  San  Francisco  in  Feb-  isss. 
ruary  and  fished  all  the  w^ay  up  to  Kodiak  Island.      (.^^^^^  of  seals. 
We  caught  about  475  seals  and  about  40  otters.     To  j^^^g^g^^J^yg^^^suantfe- 
the  bestof  my  judgment  the  greatest  portion  of  these 
were  cows  heavy  with  young.     We  could  see  the  milk  running  out  of 
their  teats  when  they  were  skinned.     I  saw  pups  inside  of  the  seals 
that  we  cut,  and  we  saved  some  of  them  and  fed  them.    We  hunted 
with  shotguns  and  rifles,  and  killed  most  of  the  seals 
when  tbev  were  asleep  on  the  water,  and  we  only  got     waste  of  life. 
about  one^out  of  five  killed.     I  can  not  tell  the  sex  of  ^^Z."""^  ^''^^  "^'^  ^ 
the  seal  in  the  water  unless  he  is  an  old  bull.      A 
hunter  will  blaze  away  at  anytliing  he  sees  in  the  water.     The  seals 
are  gradually  being  killed  off  by  the  hunters,  and     -p  .   .. 
something  should  be  done  to  protect  them   and  stop  sary?  ""^ '"''  ""^^es- 
the  killing  of  female  seals  or  they  will  soon  be  all  gone. 

E.  W.  SORON. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  6th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1893. 
[SEAL.J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Puhlic. 


Deposition  of  Cyrus  Stephens,  sealer  (boat-puller). 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss. 
Cyrus  Stephens,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:   I  am 
working  at  calking  vessels  at  the  present  time.    I  was 
employed  on  sealing  vessels  in  the  North  Pacific  in     Exp-rriem-e. 
1888  as  cabin  boy  and  boat-pnller.     I  made  two  voy-   i8S8;'o.G.)F/"iie,i89o; 
ages   to   the  North  Pacific;   first  in  the  City  of  San 
Diego  and  the  next  in  the  C.  C  White,  in  IStX).     We  left  here  with  the 
City  of  San  Diego  in  February  of  1S88  and  arrived  in  the  Bering  Sea 
in  June,  18S8.     As  soon  as  we  got  into  the  ocean  we 
commenced  shooting  seals  and  continued  shooting  all     fhootTno^seari? ^*'*' 
the  way  up  to  the  Aleutian  Islands.    The  seals  became 
more  plentiful  as  v/e  were  going  north.     We  caught  about  050  seals 
during  that  voyage.     We  killed  a  portion  ot  them  in  the  Bering  Sea. 
We  killed  one  large  bull  that  I  recollect,  and  the  rest 
were  nearly  all  females  with  i)up  or  mothers  giving  ^i^ca^ taker^^"^* ^* 
milk.     An  ordinary  hunter  will  not  get  more  tlian  one      Waisto  of  iife. 
seal  out  of  four  that  he  shoots  at,  and  not  more  than   ,,1^".-.'"'*  ^""^^   ^ 
one  out  of  two  tliat  he  kills,  and  sonu-times  not  that. 
I  have  never  seen  any  young  pups  in  the  water.     I  do  not  think  they 


480  TESTIMONY 

breed  in  tlie  water.    I  never  saw  any  seals  on  the  land  as  we  went 

along  the  coast.     I  think  on  the  first  voyage  when  I  was  in  the  San 

Diego  we  were  in  the  Bering  Sea  abont  a  month  and  a  lialf,  but  when 

I  was  on  board  the  C.  G.  White  we  did  not  go  in  the  Bering  Sea  at  all. 

I  do  not  know  what  distance  we  were  from  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and 

St.  George,     I  do  not  know  much  about  the  particular 

Decreaso^'  liabits  of  the  sculs  cxccpt  that  they  go  north  in  summer 

and  south  in  winter.     1  think  the  seals  are  decreasing 

in  number  all  tlie  time,  because  there  are  more  vessels  out  hunting  after 

them  and  are  killing  off  the  female  seals. 

Cyrus  Stephens. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  4th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Kotary  Public. 


De;positions  of  G.  Sundvall,  George  Ball.,  and  Williajn  Senson,  sealers. 

PELAGIC   SEALING. 

Be  it  remembered  that  on  the  2-lth  day  of  February,  1892,  at  my 
office,  434  California  street,  in  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco, 
State  of  California,  before  me,  Clement  Bennett  a  notary  i)ublic  in  and 
for  said  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of  California,  duly 
appointed  aiid  commissioned  to  administer  oaths,  personally  appeared 
G.  Sundvall,  George  Ball,  and  William  Henson,  who,  being  first  by  me 
duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows : 

Capt.  G.  Sundvall  having  been  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 

The  IsToTARY" : 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,   residence,    and  0(;cupation? — A.  My 
name  is  Gustave  Sundvall;  I  am  37  years  of  age;  oc- 
Experience.  cupatiou,  sca  cuptaiu,  and  am  residing  at  i^resent  at 

Oakland,  Cal. 

Q.  Are  you  a  citizen  of  the  United  States'? — A.  I  am. 
Q.  What  State  are  you  a  resident  of? — A.  I  am  a  resident  of  the 
State  of  California. 
Q.  Have  you  been  engaged  in  catching  seals  in  the  Pacific  and  Ber- 
ing Sea,  and  for  how  long? — A.  I  have  been  engaged 
""'^    ■  '     "■        in  catching  seals  in  the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  for  a 
number  of  years. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 

the  Bering  Sea? — A.  Females. 
^,.    ^  ^ ,.         Q.  Whatpercentiigeof  the  skins  vou  have  taken  were 

Ninety  per  cent  le-  ^    ,        »        *  ,         .   ,wP  j. 

males.  COWS? — A.  About  90  per  cent  or  more. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken 
nanr°"*^'"^'^"°'  wcrc  with  pup  ?— A.  Well,  I  should  judgc  about  two- 
thirds,  anyhow. 

Q.  When  docs  sealing  commence  in  the  Pacific,  and 
Scaling  season.        wlicu  docs  it  did '?— A.  It  bcgius  the  1st  of  January, 

up  to  about  tlie  1st  of  July. 
Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Bering  Sea,  and  what  date 
does  it  end  ? — A.  From  the  15th  of  July  until  the  1st  of  November. 
Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  to  those  you  destroy 
w  ste  of  ife  "^  doing  so;  in  other  words,  how  many  do  you  actually 

iH't  out  of  those  you  shoot? — A.  I  guess  we  get  hardly 
two-thirds  of  what  we  shoot. 


TAKKN    IN    SAN    FKANCISCO.  481 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  tliaf  wlieiJ  you  first  started  in  tlie  business,  and 
was  inexperienced  in  huiitiajjc,  tliat  you,  like  all  other  l)ei4iiuiers,  de- 
stroyed a  much  larjicr  proi»ortiou  than  you  do  now? — A.  It  is. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  you  shoot  at  mostly  iisleej*  outhe  Avator  or  awake,  and 
if  awake,  do  you  shoot  at  them  while  breeching! — A.  Yes,  sir;  if  they 
are  breaching- 1  generally  shoot  at  them,  but  if  they  are  sleeping  I  gener- 
ally take  them  at  first  while  asleep,  of  course. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  seals  born  in  the  water,  and  is  it  your  opinion 
that  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be  born  in  the  water"? —     N„t  bo™  in  water 
A.  It  is  impossible  for  seals  to  l)e  born  in  the  water. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  pl:u-e  where  seals  land  out- 
side of  the  seal  islands f— A.  I  do  not  know  of  any  i,,!;,;;,"]''   ""^^    «° 
place;  no,  sir. 

Q,  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  qiuintity  of  seals  as  com- 
pared to   Tu^evious   years? — A.  There  has  been  a  d(v       ,, 

\  1  ■  r     .        ,      1  T  T  j_i  I  Decrease. 

crease;  from  the  tune  I  started  sealing  I  guess  there  has 
been  a  decrease  of -55  per  cent. 

Q.  If  there  is  a  decrease,  to  what  do  you  attril)ute  it? — A.  On  account 
of  so  nuich  extermination  and  hunting  bythe  scal-huuters. 

Q.  Do  the  pups  perish  with  the  cows  that  you  kill? —      ^.^^  .^  ^^^^^ 
A.  The   pups    always   perish  with  the  cows  that  are 
killed;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion  if  sealing  continues  unrestricted  that  they  will 
be  soon  exterminated? — A.  It  is  my  opinion  that  if 
seahng  coutinues  as  usual  they  will  be  soon  extermi-   J'^ent™'''''"''''  ""' 
nated,  and  not  before  a  great  wliih^,  either. 

Q.  in  your  opinion  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in  the 
Bering  Sea  to  ])revent  the  herd  from  being  e.^terminated?     If  so,  for 
what  months  in  the  year?— A.  it  is  absolutely  neces-      p,,,tecti.m  neces- 
sary to  i)rotect  the  cows,  in  order  to  prevent  seals  being   sary. 
exterminated,  from  the  1st  of  July  up  to  the  1st  of     ^„ 

-.-r  1  '  .^         L  (Uo.se  season. 

iSoveniber. 

Q.  Do  you  generally  shoot  seals  with  a  rilie  or  a  shotgun,  and  if  the 
latter,  Avith  buckshot  or  fine  shot? — A.  I  generally  shoot  them  with  a 
shotgun  loaded  with  buckshot  if  asleep;  if  awake  we  generally  shoot 
them  with  a  rifle. 

Q.  Judging  by  the  direction  that  seals  were  traveling  duriug-  j'our 
experience,  Avhere  do  you  supi)0se  Avas  their  destination? — A.  I  can  not 
tell  their  destination,  but  I  should  judge  they  Avent     jii,,,..^ti„a 
south  in  the  fall  from  15  to  500  utiles  offshore,  and  in        '»''^""- 
the  si)ring  they  travel  to  the  northward  from  5  to  100  miles  olfshore. 

Q.  In  order  to  preserve  the  seals,  do  you  think  it  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  stop  all  killing  in  the  Avater  of  the  Bering  Sea? — A.  Yea.  sir;  I 
think  it  absolutely  ncicessary,  in  order  to  protect  the 
seals,  to  stop  all  killing  of  cows  in  the  Bering  Sea?  ti.m  nelcv^^^^^^^^^ 

Q.  Do  you  think  of  anything  «^lse  that  is  of  value  in 
regard  to  this  seal  cpu'stion,  tiiat  I  have  not  asked  you;  anything  you 
would  like  to  say;  you  can  give  your  opinion  about  it. — A.   I  have  no 
more  to  say  than  what  I  have  already  said. 

Capt.  Gust  AVE  Sundvall. 


Capt.  George  Ball,  having  l)eeu  duly  sworn,  testified  as  follows: 

The  IToTARY : 
Q.  What  is  your  name,  ag-e,  residence,  and  occupa-  ^,^Georgenaii,seacap. 
tion? — A.  My  name  is  George  Ball;  age, 42;  residence 
271G— VOL  II 31 


482  TESTIMONY 

at  present,  San  Francisco,  Cal. ;  occupation,  master  and  hunter  of 
seals. 

Q.  Are  you  a  citizen  of  the  [JiiiJed  States'? — A.  I  am. 

Q.  What  State  are  you  a  resident  of? — A.  I  am  a.  native  of  Connec- 
ticut and  a  resident  of  the  State  of  California  for  the  last  twenty-seven 
years. 

Q.  Have  you  been  engaged  in  catching'  seals  in  the  Pacific  and  Ber- 

Peiagic  seaiin-         "^^  ^^'*^'  '^'^*^  ^*'^"  ^^'*^^'  1<>",U"^— -^-  ^  li^vc  bccu  engaged 
in  sealing-  in  the  Pacific  and  Bering-  Sea  off  and  on  for 
a  number  of  years  past;  constantly  during  the  sealing  season  for  the 
last  few  years. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the  seals  were  that  you  have  taken  in 
the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea? — A.  Yes;  I  have  taken  both  male  and  fe- 
male seals,  but  I  suppose  the  greater  per  cent  that  I 

^Nmety  per  cent  fe-    ^^^^  ^^^.^^^   ^^^^^j^^    ^^    .^^^^^    yQ    p^^.    ^^^^   females,    Or 

even  more, 
Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A. 
About  00  per  cent,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  bulla  are  not  migra- 
tive. 
Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  were  with  pup? — 
„    ,    „  .    A.  About  99  per  cent  of  the  cows  taken  were   with 

Nearly  allpregnant.  .,  ^     .  .  ,  .,        ■,,-,,•        .,,  ... 

l)up;  there  may  be  one  in  a  hundred  that  is  either  with- 
out pup  or  has  had  one. 

Q.  When  does  sealing  commeiu-e  in  the  Pacific,  and  when  does  it 
end? — A.  Sealing  practically  commences  there  in  Jan- 

eaing  season.  uary,  and  it  practically  ends  between  the  25th  of  June 
and  the  5th  of  Jul}^  The  latest  I  ever  hunted  was  about  the  5th  of 
July,  and  with  very  indifferent  success. 

Q.  When  does  sealing  couiinence  in  the  Bering  Sea,  and  what  date 
does  it  end? — A.  Sealing  commences  in  the  Bering  Sea  about  the  5th 
of  July  and  ends  in  November,  with  heavy  weather;  that  is,  it  is  ended 
about  October  or  the  last  of  November  by  reason  of  the  bad  weather 
not  permitting  any  hunting  of  seals. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  to  those  you  destroy 

in  doing  so;  in  other  words,  how  many  do  you  actually  get  out  of  those 

you  shoot? — A.  If  we  get  three  seals  out  of  every  five 

Waste  of  life.  •  i  -4     i     •  i  i  i  ti      t 

we  consider  it  ilonig  very  good  work,  and  so  1  believe 
do  all  hunters,  even  the  best  of  the  hunters. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  you  first  started  in  the  business  and 
was  inexperienced  in  hunting-  that  you,  like  all  other  beginners,  de- 
stroyed a  mu(!h  larger  proportion  than  you  do  now? — A.  Undoubtedly 
we  did  destroy  a  much  larger  proportion  than  we  do  now. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  yon  slioot  at  mostly  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake; 
and,  if  awake,  do  you  shoot  at  them  while  breciching? — A.  Mostly  they 
are  asleep,  especially  while  they  have  their  pups;  but  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  shooting  done  wliile  they  are  awake  and  breeching,  but  with 
less  chance  of  getting  them,  to  be  sure. 

Q.  llave  you  ever  seen  any  seals  born  in  the  water,  and  is  it  your 

opinion  that  it  is  possible  for  thein  to  be  born  in  the 

Not  born  in  water.   ^.^t,er  ?_A.  No,  sir;  they  are  not  like  sea-otter,  they 

being  born  in  the  water.    A  seal  is  just  as  helpless  in  the  water,  until 

they  are  about  six  weeks  or  two  months  old,  as  a  child. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  any  place  where  seals  land  outside  of  the  seal 

islands? — A,  The  seals  are  found  only  on  certain  is- 

ijiand°.     "°  ^   ""   hiiuls,  wlicrc  they  migrate  from  year  to  year  for  the 

liurpose  of  breeding,  throwing  their  pups. 


TAKEN    IN    S/N    FRANCISCO.  483 

Q.  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals  as  compared 
to  preAious  years? — A.  There  has  been  a  decided  de-     ^^^^^ 
crease.     Vessels  that  used  to  get  with  experienced        ^crease, 
hunters  3,000  or  4,000  in  a  season,  now  get  with  experienced  hunters 
less  than  half  of  that  nundjer. 

Q.  To  wliat  do  you  attribute  that  decrease? — A.  I 
attribute  the  decrease  to  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  kiiilnsf"* '"'"''** 
of  the  seals. 

Q.  Do   the  pups  perish   with  the  cows  that  you 
kill?— A.  Certainly,  they  do.  "'' '"'*• 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion,  if  sealing  continues  unrestricted,  that  they 
will  soon  be  exterminated  ? — A.  They  will,  in  my  opinion,  not  be  entirely 
exterminated  should  sealing  continue  there  as  usual,  but  it  will  make 
the  business  of  seal  catching  so  unprofitable  that  no  one  will  desire  to 
engage  in  it,  1  think. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in 
in  the  Bering  Sea,  to  prevent  the  herd  from  being  ex- 
terminated?   If  so,  tV)r  what  months  in  the  year?— A.   .,J™*'^''"*'°  ''^<=^^- 
It  is  my  opinion  that  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to  pro- 
tect the  cows  in  the  Bering  Sea  during  the  entire  year  for  a  period  of 
years. 

Q.  Do  you  generally  shoot  seals  with  a  rifle  or  shotgun,  and  if  the 
latter,  with  buckshot  or  tine  shot! — A.  We  use  both,  but  principally 
with  a  shotgun  loaded  witii  Xo.  2  shot,  heavy  buckshot. 

Q.  Judging  by  the  direction  that  seals  were  traveling  during  your 
experience,  Avhere  do  you  s'ui)i)ose  was  their  dcstina-      jri„j.ation 
tion? — A.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  they  leave  their  rook- 
eries and  travel  to  a  warmer  climate,  traveling  from  5  miles  to  100  miles 
offshore. 

Q.  Do  you  think  of  anything  else  that  is  of  value  in  regard  to  this 
seal  question  that  I  have  not  asked  you,  and  if  any- 
thing you  would  like  to  say,  you  can  give  your  opinion    tiJ^^cSary.^™*^*^ 
about  it? — A.  Well,  I  think  it  is  proper  for  the  interests 
of  sealing  in  those  waters  that  the  Government  should  take  immediate 
action  in  the  protection  of  seals  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

Geo.  Ball. 


William  Henson,  having  been  duly  sworn,  testi-     ^.^^.^^  ucnson 

fied  as  follows  :  sealer. 

The  Notary  : 

Q.  What  is  your  name,  age,  residence,  and  occupation? — A.  My 
name  is  William  Henson;  lam  30  years  old;  I  reside  in  this  city;  I 
have  been  occupied  in  seal  hunting  for  about  eight  years. 

Q.  Are  you  a  citizen  of  the  United  States? — A,  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  What  State  are  you  a  resident  of? — A.  The  State  of  California. 

Q.  Do  you  know  of  what  sex  the    seals  were  that     Mostly  pregnant  fe- 
you  have  taken  in  the  raciiic  and  Bering  Seaj — A.   maiea  taken. 
Two-thirds  of  them  are  females. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  skins  you  have  taken  were  cows? — A. 
Two  thirds,  I  should  say. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  the  cows  you  have  taken  were  with  pup? — 
A.  At  least  60  per  cent  were  with  pui^. 

Q.  When  does  sealing  commence  in  the  Pai^i fie  and     sealing  season. 
when  does  it  end? — A.  Sealing  commences  in  the  Ba- 


484  TESTIMONY 

cific  about  the  1st  of  January  and  ends  about  tlie  last  of  June. 

Q.  When  does  sealiiij;'  coinnience  in  tlie  Deling'  Sea  and  wheu  does 
it  endf — A.  It  comnu'iices  in  the  J]eiiiii;'  Sea  about  the  1st  of  July  and 
ends  about  the  1st  of  Xovendjer. 

Q.  What  percentage  of  seals  are  taken  compared  with  those  you  de- 
stroy in  doing-  so;  in  otiier  words,  how  many  do  you 
actually  get  out  of  those  you  shoot? — A.  We  get  about 
two-thirds  of  those  we  shoot. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  when  you  first  started  in  the  business  and 
was  inexperienced  in  hunting,  that  you,  like  all  other  begiuners,  de- 
stroyed a  much  larger  proportion  than  you  now  do? — A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.  Are  the  seals  you  shoot  at  mostly  asleep  on  the  water  or  awake; 
and  if  awake,  do  you  shoot  at  them  while  breeching? — A.  We  take 
the  sleepers  first,  and  wa  also  shoot  at  them  while  breeching. 

Q.  Have  you  ever  seen  any  seals  born  in  the  water,  and  is  it  your 

opinion  that  it  is  possible  for  them  to  be  born  in  the 

wSf  ""^  *"''"  "'      water?— A.  I  think  it  impossible  for  seals  to  be  born 

in  the  Avater. 

^     ,     ,       .  ,    ,       Q.  Do  vou  know  of  any  ijlace  where  seals  land,  out- 

Lanu  only  on  ixlands.    .  i         ,.    ,^'^  i-i         -iin«ri  ;  ■ 

Side  or  the  seal  islands? — A.  I  do  not;  no  sir. 
Q.  Has  there  been  any  decrease  in  the  quantity  of  seals  as  comi»ared 
to  previous   years? — A.  1   think    there    has    been   a 
Decrease.  dccrcasc  of  scals  as  compared  to  previous  years  of 

about  25  per  cent  or  more. 
Q.  If  there  is  a  decrease,  to  what  do  you  attribute  it? — A.  I  attribute 
it  to  the  extermination  by  inexperienced  hunters. 

Q.  Do  the  pups  perish  with  the  cows  that  yon  kill  ? — 
ups,  OS .  j^    Yi'fi,  sir;  they  do. 

Q.  Is  it  your  opinion  if  sealing  continues  unrestricted  that  they  will 
be  soon  exterminated. — A.  I  am  of  that  opinion;  yes,  sir. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  is  it  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  the  cows  in 

the  Bering  8ea  to  prevent  the  herd  from  being  exter- 

^jrotectioii   neces-   miuated;  'if  so,  for  what  months  in  the  year"?— A.  I 

think  it  necessary  to  ])rotect  the  cows  in  the  Bering  Sea 

from  the  first  of  July  to  the  last  of  November,  in  order  to  protect 

them  from  being  exterminated. 

Q.  Do  you  generally  shoot  seals  with  a  rifie  or  shotgun,  and  if  the  lat- 
ter, with  buckshot  or  fine  shot? — A.  We  generally  shoot  the  seals  with 
buckshot  if  we  are  ch)se  enough;  if  not,  we  shoot  them  with  a  rifle. 
Q.  Judging  by  the  direction  that  seals  were  traveling  in  the  spring 
.^^^  of  the  year  during  your  experience,  where  do  you  sup- 

'^"^  '""■  pose  was  their  destination? — A.  They  go  north  during 

the  spring  of  the  year. 

William  Henson. 


State  of  California, 

City  and  Coioifij  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  said  city  and  county, 
do  lierebj  certify  that  the  witnesses  in  the  foregoing  depositions  named 
were  by  me  duly  sworn  to  testify  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  noth- 
ing but  the  truth;  that  said  depositions  were  reduced  to  writing,  and 
when  completed  were  carefully  read  to  said  witnesses  and  subscribed 
in  my  presence. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  485 

In  witness  whereof  I  luive  liereunto  subscribed  my  name  and  af- 
fixed my  seal  of  office,  this  25tli  day  of  February,  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public . 


Deposition  of  Z.  L.  Tanner,  Commander,  U.  *S'.  Navy. 

HABITS. 

Z.  L.  Tanner,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saitli :  I  ain  a  Lieutenant- 
Commander  in  tlie  United  States  Xavy,  commanding-  j,^.  ,gj,jpjjg 
the  Fish  Commission  lSteanier.l/7>^f/>'o.s'.s.  1  liave  made 
five  cruises  in  Alaskan  waters,  embracing  tlie  entire  region  from  Fort 
Tongass  to  the  Jvuskokwim  liiver,  inchiding  the  eastern  portion  of 
Bering  Sea.  I  have  never  seen  and  have  no  knowledge  ^,^  i,„owiedge  of 
of  any  fur-seal  rookeries  in  tlie  region  otlier  tlian  those  rookeries  elsewhere 
on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  and  have  never  seen  fur-seals  ||;;;;,'^;'"  ^'"^'i"*'  ^'^- 
in  any  great  abundance  save  on  and  near  said  islands. 

Z.  L.  Tanner, 
Lieutenant-Commander,  U.  S.  Navy. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  tliis  20th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Joseph  Murray, 
United  States  Treasury  Ayent. 


Deposition  of  W.  Thomas,  master  mariner. 
pelagic  sealing. 

W.  Thomas,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  seaman  by 
occui^ation  and  at  ])resent  captain  of  the  steamer  Elsie.     Previous  to 
taking  command  of  the  Elsie  1  was  in  command  of  the  steamer  Karluk 
doing  business  in  Alaska  most  of  that  time.     The  hun- 
ters   follow   tlie   seal  from    south   of  San  Francisco,      Experience. 
where  they  begin  to  take  them  in  l^'ebruary  until  they 
enter  Bering  Sea.     Tbe  seal  are  constantly  on  the  ad-     Mioration. 
vance  up  the  coast  from  the  time  they  lirst  appear. 
Tlie  white  hunters  use  shotguns  altogether  for  taking  seal.     I  have 
always  understood  that  o.'i  per  cent  of  seals  shot  with  shotguns  are 
lost.    Hunters  use  no  discrimination  in  killing  seal,  but      ,  , 

1    •!,  ii    •  ii       J.  J.^         ^  j_     ^  11  IlKliscriiuiiiak' kill- 

kill  everything  that  comes  near  the  boat,  regardless   inj.. 

of  sex.     1  have  lu^ud  that  seal  have  been  decreasing  the      Docreas 

last  few  years,  caused,  1   think,   by  pelagic   sealing. 

Have  never  known  any  pups  being  boru  in  the  water     No  pelagic  birth. 

or  on  the  land  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  outside  of  the 

Pribilof  Islands.     1  have  never  known  myself  of  fur-      ^   ,,      ,.     , 

seal  hauling  u])  on  the  coast  of  Alaska  outside  ot  the  on  coast. 

Pribilof  Islands,  but  have  heard  there  were  a  few  one 

season  hauled  on  Oiininak  Island.  1  think  that  all  i>elagic      Protectioj. 

hunting  should  be  stoi>])ed  for  a  few  years  to  give  the 

seal  a  chance  to  increase. 

W.  Thomas. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  .">Oth  day  of  April,  1892. 

A.  W.  Lavender, 
United  States  Treasury  Agent, 


486  TESTIMONY 

Affidavit  of  Adolpli  W.  Thompson,  sealer  (mate), 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

CUij  and  Couniy  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Adolpli  W.  Thompson,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  saj^s:  1 

reside  in  S;in  Francisco.     My  occupation  is  that  of  a 

Experience.  master  mariner.    1  went  sealing  in  18!)0,  when  1  was 

Aiiie  Ahjer,  1890.       j,,.,^.^.  ,,|-  ^\^^,  AlUe  Alfjcr.    We  sailed  from  Seattle  in  the 

Sealing  oft- <oast.      latter  part  of  January,  and  sealed  oft' the  coast  until 

July,  and  then  entered  the  Bering  Sea.     The  catch  that  season  along 

^^     ,  n   ■    ..       thecoast  was  1)0  per  cent  females,  and  the  greater  pro- 
Entered  Bering  Sea.  .  ,     ,  ^  ,.  ,        .       '  ^^j      ^  T     .1 

portion  ot  thcin  wore  temales  m  pup.    We  entered  the 

Bering  Sea  about  the  middle  of  July,  and  we  got  about  1,600  seals 

there.     That  was  the  best  catch  of  the  whole  fleet  for  that  season,  the 

total  catch,  1  think,  being  about  2,000.    Those  we  killed  in  the  Bering 

Sea  were  mostly  females  in  milk.      We  never  went 

m^e°8  taken''"""''"'' '^^'  nearer  to  the  islands  tlian  between  25  and  30  miles. 

We  killed  most  of  them  while  they  were  going  to  or 

returning  from  the  fishing  banks.     We  used  mostly 

8iogun8.        shotguns  in  killing  seals.     We  carried  rifles,  but  did 

not  use  them  much.    The  most  of  the  seals  that  we  killed  were  asleep  on 

the  water.    The  female  seal  has  more  curiosity  than  the  male  seal.     We 

catch  more  seals  after  two  or  three  days  of  rough  weather,  because 

they  are  tired,  and  when  it  is  calm  the  next  day  they  are  tired  and  lie 

asleep  on  the  water.     We  had  se\'en  boats  on  the  Allie  Alger,  each  boat 

having  three  men,  a  boat-puller,  a  steerer,  and  hunter. 

In  1891  I  went  out  in  the  schooner  C.  H.  White.  We  left  here  about 
the  5th  of  Februarv,  and  sealed  along  the  coast  and 
seaun^otf  coasJ^®^'  ^"^^^  "^t  enter  the  Bering  Sea  that  season.  We  caught 
about  438  seals,  and  a  large  proportion  of  them  were 
females  with  young  onesinthem.  They  were  not  nearly 
as  i)lentifnl  that  season  as  they  were  in  1890.  The  best 
hunter  will  fiie  about  twenty  cartridges,  and  they  get 
ecreaso.  ^^^^^  ^^.  ^^y,j]y^>  sciils,  wliilc  a  liuiiter  of  Icss  experience 

will  fire  one  hundred  rounds  and  get  nothing,  but  will  wound  and  dis- 
able them.     If  a  seal  is  shot  dead  he  will  sink  at  once. 

Sink  wlien  killed.        a-  i  j.    ^  i.    j.      j.i  j.  i  -n 

1  on  have  got  to  get  to  them  at  once,  or  else  you  will 

lose  them.     The  object  is  to  wound  them  so  that  they  will  flop  around 

on  the  water.     On  my  first  vovage  I  think  we  got  two 

Waste  of  i.fe.  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^,^^,^,  ^^^^  ^j^.^^  ^.^  killed.    That  does  not  take 

into  consideration  the  unborn  pup,  or  the  pu])  of  the  mother  that  dies 
on  the  rookery.  1  have  taken  unborn  pups  from  their  mothers  and  fed 
them  on  comlensed  milk,  and  ke])t  them  for  (piite  a  time.  I  refer  to 
cases  where  the  mother  is  about  ready  to  deliver  her  pup.  I  am  satis- 
fied from  mv  experieiure  that  they  must  protect  the 
s^y"*^*""""  °'"^^'  «^5ils  ii'  Bt'i'iiig  Sea.  If  not  they  will  soon  be  killed 
oft'.  It  may  also  be  necessary  to  protect  th(Mn  in  the 
North  Pacific,  for  the  catch  in  those  waters  are  nearly  all  females 
carrying  their  young. 

A.  W.  Thompson. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  487 

Deposition  of  Francis  Tuttle,  liattenant,  United  States  Revenue  Marine. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Francis  Tuttle,  having-  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  a 
first  lieutenant  in  the  United   States   Revenue  Cutter  Service,  and 
have    been    an    officer  in  that    service   for  the  last 
thirteen  years.    Am  at  present  in  command  of  the  rev-      i^xpeiicnce. 
enue  cutter  Hartley  at  San  Francisco.     1  made  cruises 
to  the  Bering-  Sea  in  the  United  States  Revenne  steamer  J? jisA  during 
the  years  1888-89  and  1890.   During  the  sealing  season      ^^    .  .      .    „   . 

,.  ,,%,><.  ii        -r>       7  •        1    •      T>       •        \.t  1  1       A'  Cruising  m  Berin<' 

of  1888  the  Rus/i  cruised  m  Bering  Sea  and  made  tre-   sea. 
qnent  stoppages  at  the  seal  islaiuls. 

I  had  an  excellent  opportunity  to  observe  some  of  the  seal  rookeries 
during  my  first  visit  to  tbe  islands,  and  spent  much  time  in  studying 
the  habits  of  the  seals,  both  on  the  rookeries  and  in  the  adjacent 
waters.  1  was  particularly  impressed  with  the  great  numbers  to  be 
seen  both  on  laiul  and  in  the  water.  During  the  summer  of  1889  the 
Ensh  was  so  actively  engaged  cruising  in  jyursuit  of  vessels  engaged 
in  illegal  sealing  that  our  anchorages  off  the  seal  rookeries  that  season 
were  short  and  infre(pient;  hence  1  did  not  have  the  opportunity  to 
observe  them  as  closely  on  land  as  the  preceding  year. 

During  1890  the  Kush  was  not  engaged  in  preventing  sealing  outside 
the  shore  limit,  and  we  spent  much  time  in  full  view  of  the  seal  rook- 
eries and  cruising  about  the  seal  islands,  and  I  also  made  frequent 
visits  to  the  breeding  grounds. 

The  deserted  appearance  of  the  rookeries  and  the  absence  of  seals  in 
the  water  was  very  noticeable  and  was  a  matter  of  gen- 
eral remark  among  the  officers  of  the  vessel,  who  had        «'-r»-ase. 
been  on  tlie  former  cruises.    Very  lai-ge  tracts  of  the  rookeries  which  I 
had  formerly  seen  occupied  by  the  seals  were  entirely  deserted,  and  the 
herds  were  nuich  smaller  than  those  of  1888.     My  attention  was  also 
called,  by  those  conversant  with  the  facts,  to  the  grass  growing  on  the 
inshore  side  of  some  of  the  rookeries,  and  to  the  three  different  shades 
of  grass  to  be  seen,  indicating  the  spaces  that  had  not 
been  occu]jied  by  tlie  seals  for  seveial  years,  owing  to  j JserteT*^^ '^^'^*""*"° 
their  diminished   number,  the  darker  shade  showed 
where  the  grow  th  first  commenced,  and  a  lighter  shade  for  each  succeed- 
ing year.     Tliere  were  three  or  four  differently  shaded  growths,  reach- 
ing down  to  the  sand  of  the  rookeries,  and  on  that  portion  of  the  rook- 
eries occupied  by  seals  they  were  not  lying  near  as  comi)act  as  in  1888. 

In  our  frequent  passages  during  1890,  between  the  Aleutian  group 
and  the  seal  islands,  we  sometinn^s  made  an  entire  passages  without 
seeing  a  seal.  This  was  entirely  different  from  the  experience  of  the 
preceding  years,  imlicating  a  great  falling  off  of  seal  life. 

I  have  observed  and  learned  that  crews  of  vessels  engaged  in  seal- 
ing kill  all  kinds  without  regard  to  age,  sex,  or  condi- 
tion. I  have  seen  among  tlie  skins  taken  from  vessels  .^T-xi'-'C'-iminatokiii- 
we  have  seized,  bull  skins  which  1  was  told  by  experts 
were  comparatively  worthless,  others  so  small  as  to  be  classed  as  pap 
skins.  Among  the  Indian  crews  of  the  Vancouver  Island  sealing- 
ves.sels,  I  have  seen  the  skins  of  unborn  puj)  seal;  being  of  no  com- 
mercial value,  the  crews  wer«;  allowed  to  keej)  them.  These  unborn 
pups  had  been  taken  fn»m  female  seals  killed  while  coining  up  the  west 
coast  of  North  America. 


488  TESTIMONY 

In  my  conversation  witli  men  engaged  in  seal-liunting  in  the  open 
water  of  tlie  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  1  have  not  been  able  to 
get  snfficient  information  to  iorm  a.  reliable  estimate  of  the  average 
nnmber  saved  ont  of  the  total  number  shot,  nor  of  the  percentage  of 
females  killed. 

As  a  rnle,  hunters  are  extremely  reticent  about  giving  information 

on  the  subject  to  olTiccrs  of  the  <iovernnicnt,  but  from  the  well-known 

fact  that  the  female  seal  is  much  more  easily  approached  than  the  male 

,,   „  ,     ,    ,,     and  sleeps  more  iVcMinently  on  the  water  and  is  less 

active  wlien  carrying  her  young,  1  liave  no  doubt  that 

the  female  is  the  one  that  is  being  killed  by  tbe  hunter. 

Francis  Tuttle. 

Subscribed  and   SAvorn   to  before  me  this  15th  day  of  April,  A.  D. 
1802. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  M.  L.  Waslilmrn,  furrier. 
PELAGIC    sealing. 

State  of  Calieornta, 

(Jlhj  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ,s,s  : 
M.  L.  Washburn,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  Ire- 
side  at  West  liandolph,  Vt.,  but  si)end  most  of  my  time 
Experience.  ou  the  soutli  shorcs  of  Alaska.    My  occupation  is  that 

of  a  fur-dealer.     I  have  been  in  Alaska  for  thirteen 
years;  and  for  the  last  five  years  have  been  traveling  in  the  early  sum- 
mer months  of  each  year,  buying  furs  from  Kodiak  Island  east  to  Prince 
Williams  Sound  west;  occasionally  I  made  trips  as  far  east  as  Yakutat 
Bay  and  as  far  west  as  Chignic  Bay.    The  seals  appear 
igi.i  ion.  .^^  tliese  waters  late  in  April  and  increase  in  numbers 

until  ihe  latter  part  of  May,  anil  then  gradually  decrease  in  numbers 
until  about  the  15th  of  July,  when  they  all  disappear.  I  annually  visit 
nearly  all  the  settlements  in  this  region,  and  many  of  the  uninhabited 
islands,  and  have  never  seen,  and  in  conversation  with  the  various 
tribes  of  natives  have  never  heard  of  fur-seals  hauling 

coasl""^' ^'''"''  "^  ""  ^^"  ^^^^^^^'  *»t'  ^^^*'  niiii "lands  or  the  islands  in  this  dis- 
trict, either  for  briM'ding  or  temporary  resting  idace, 
since  my  residence  in  Alaska,  and  in  only  one  case  have  1  heard  of  a 
young  ])up  fur  seal  being  fonnd  in  the  waters  of  this  district.    A  single 
])U|)  seal  was  found  last  year  near  Marnot  Island  by  a  hunter  who  had 
been  for  years  engaged  in  hunting,  ami  this  was  tlie  only  case  that  had 
ever  come  to  his  knowledge.     And  1  would  say  in  this  connection  that 
all  t\\(i  small  islands  are  visited  during  the  summer  by  native  hunting 
]iarties;  and  tlury  informed  me  that  they  never  had  found  any  fur-seals 
on  shore.     Five  years  ago  it  Avas  a  common  occurrence  to  sail  i)ast  large 
nnmbers  of  fur-seals;  many  times  we  fonnd  them  asleep  on  the  water, 
and  they  were  not  easily  frightened  at  the  presence  of 
a  vessel,  but  for  the  last  two  years  the  seals  have  been 
more  scattering,  fewer  in  nnmbers  and  mucli  more  shy. 

The  sealing  schooners  a])pear  soon  after  the  first  appearance  of  the 
seal,  and  a  ])orti(m   of  them  remain  in  these  waters 
o  agio  sea  ing.        ^^ufj]  early  ill  July,  when  they  sail  to  the  westward 
toward  Bering  Sea. 


TAK7<:N    in    SAN    FRANCISCO.  489 

From  conversation  with  tlio  liniiters  I  learu  tliat  tlioy  follow  tlie  seals 
to  within  a  few  miles  of  shore,  and  hunt  them  at  times  in  the  mouth  of 
the  large  bays.  Some  of  the  principal  sealing  grounds  in  this  region 
are  but  a  few  miles  off  the  islands,  inlets,  and  harbors  on  this  coast.  In 
1891  a  large  number  of  the  sealers  transferred  their  catch  „„„„.  ^aoi 
to  the  English  vessel  Danube  m  Alitak  Bay,  Kodiak 
Island,  to'be  transported  to  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  before  going 
west  to  the  Bering  Sea. 

In  purchasing  fnr-seals  from  hunters  I  have  noticed  that  not  less 
than  75  percent  of  the  eatch  taken  previous  to  May 
25  are  female  seals;  and  fiom  the  development  of  the   ..Sakeu':""''"* ^''' 
teat  on  the  skin   were  evidently  females   with    ])up. 
After  that  the  catch  is  mostly  young  seals;  and  I  paid      pu,,st.iken. 
most  attention  to  the  sex.     I  had  in   my  employ  men 
who  are  old   seal-hunters,  and  who  were  formerly  en- 
gaged in  that  business,  and  they  have  often  told  me     Waste  of  life. 
that  they  lost  at  least  two  out  of  every  three  they 
killed,  and  that  the  seals  are  not  nearly  so  plentiful  as     j)^,^^.^^^^ 
they  were  five  or  six  years  ago. 

In  my  journeys  in  these  waters  I  have  noticed  that  seals  are  much 
less  plentiful  than  when  I  first  went  there  live  years  ago,  and  that  the 
decrease  has  been  very  marked  in  the  last  two  years; 
and  I  liave  no  doubt 'that  it  is  caused  by  the  killing  lagraeaHng'^"" ^  ^" 
of  female  seals  in  the  water,  and,  if  continued,  will  cer- 
tainly end  in  their  extermination. 

M.  L.  Washburn. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  Cth  day  of  April,  1802. 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  Mlcltacl  White,  sealer  {mastc}'). 

habits. — relagic  sealing 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 
Michael  White,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  50  years 
of  age.     I  reside  in  East  Oakland.     My  occupation  is 
master  mariner,  and  I  have  been  so  engaged  for  twenty-      E.xpcrience. 
seven  years,  off  and  on.     I  have  been  engaged  in  seal- 
hunting  during  the  years  1885,  1880,  188"'7,  1888,  and  1889,  in  the  North 
I*acilic  and  Beiing  Sea.     I  tirst  went  out  in  1885  in  the  schooner  City 
of  Satt,  Dieqo,  chartered  by  myself  and  others,  and  my 
catch  for  that  year  was  between  2,300  and  2,400  seals.   ^^''^  "-^  •^■""  ^'^''' 
Of  that  num1)er  about  1,900  were  caught  in  the  Bering 
Sea.     There  were  but  very  few  vessels  sealing  at  that   g^'""""'  *°  ^^"°^ 
time.     In  188G  I  was  nnister  of  the  schooner  Terese, 
sailing  from  San  Francisco  on  the  2d  day  of  I\'bruary,        '^"^**' 
and  comnienced   ca])tuiing  seals  on  the  coast  of  California,  and  fol- 
lowed them  from  that  <late  north  into  the  Bering  Sea.     We  caught 
them  from  5  to  00  miles  olf  the  coast.     I  entered  the     t,   ,.      «•       » 

-i->      •  c-i  7  1       /.   1      1  /.  T  -.  ,1  >/i  T  •  Sealing  off  coast. 

Bering  Sea  on  the  Oth  day  or  June,  18b0,  and  ]>revious  . 

to  that  time  had   caught  about  800  seals.    Then  I      ""*'^''     '^•''"s- 


4130  TESTIMONY 

scaled  in  tlie  Bering  Sea  fi'om  tliat  time  to  the  2St1i  of  August,  caught 

about  2,1200  more,  the  whole  catch  being  3,000  for  the  year.     In  1887  I 

r  -.•  r.  •  .:7,,oo^   was  nuister  of  the  scliooner  Lottie  Fairfield,  sailing 

Lottie  Fair ficltl,U87.    n  o.  t-<  •  i         j-  ^i       -i -r^i      -i  !.nr         i 

iroin  San  Inancisco  on  or  about  the  17th  day  of  March, 

and  worked  nortliward  to  tlie  Bering  Sea,  and  captured 

Entered  Benng  Sea.  ggg  ^^^^^^     j  ^^^^^  entered  tlic  Bering  Sea  about  tlie  6th 

of  July,  cruising  there  until  the  2!>tli  day  of  August,  and  took  2,517 
seals  more,  the  whole  <'at('h  being  .'5,4(10  for  the  year. 

In  1888  1  took  the  schooner  Uiidaitiifed  on  a  fishing  and  sealing  voy- 
age, leaving  here  on  or  about  the  20th  of  ]M arch,  and   cruised  in  the 

North  Pacilicup  lothe  islandofKodiak,  capturing  100 
18^'!'''"'""''''  ^^^^'   ideals  up  to  the  7tli  day  of  June.    I  did  not  enter  the 

Bering  Sea  that  year.     I  did  the  same  in  1889,  my  trip 

being  the  same  as  in  1888,  and  my  capture  of  seals  was  about  the  same. 

I  then  quit  sealing,  and  1  am  now  engaged  in  trading  with  tlie  Gilbert 

and  Marshall  islands  in  the  South  racitic  Ocean.     While  master  I  was 

,„    ,.         ,  also  engaged  in  shooting  seals.     I  used  both  a  rifle  and 

Snooting  seals.  ,       i  i    ' i  i     i     i      j  ^  i         •  ,i      r-         t         i  •         , ,  ,  , 

double  barreled  shotgun;  theritie  tor  shooting  "travel- 
ers" and   the   shotgun  for  shooting  sleeping  vseals.     The    City  of  San 
i><er/o  had  four  boats.     Each  boat  had  a  hunter  and   two  men  to  pull. 
The  Terese  had    five   boats    similarly  e(|uii)])ed.      The  Lottie    Fair- 
field   han   six    boats   similarily   equipped.      The    Un- 
mSe"?*^  ^'"'''"^  '^'"    daunted  had  four  l)oats.     In  my  captures  off  the  coast 
between  here  and  Sitka  9(>  per  cent  of  my  catch  were  fe- 
males, but  off  the  coast  of  Unamack  Pass  there  was  a  somewhat  smaller 
percentage  of  females,  and  nearly  all  the  females  were  cows  heavy  with 
^    pup,  and,  in   some  instances,  the  period  of  gestation 

Fomales  pregnant.    -^     ^  '  '  t  xi     j.    t    i  ,•  i-,      P  -,  . , 

was  so  near  at  hand  that  I  have  frequently  taken  the 

live  pup  from  the  mother's  womb.     I  have  never  known  of  any  seals  to 

haul  up  and  breed  between  here  and  Unamack  Pass.     I  have  often  fol- 

Do  not  haul  up  on    lowcd  thcui  vcry  closc  ill  to  the  mainland,  and  have 

land.  killed  them  sleeping  on  the  water. 

From  my  experience  and  observation  relative  to  the  fur-seal,  I  am 
firmly  of  the  oiunion  that  it  is  a  physical  impossibility 
wfter^  ""*  ^"'"  '"  ^^^^'  *''^'  mother  seal  to  give  birth  to  her  young  in  the 
wattn-  and  preserve  itj  but  that  it  is  necessary  for  her 
to  haul  up  on  the  laiul  to  give,  l)irtli  and  rear  her  young.     I  have  never 
known  or  heard  of  their  giving  birth  to  their  young  other  than  on  their 
Land  only  on   is    rcgular  hauliiig  grounds;    and  know  of  no  instances 
lands.  where  mah^  seals  have  hauled  out  on  land  on  the  west- 

ern coast  except  at  the  Pribilof  Islands.     I  never  i)aid  any  particulai 
atteution  as  to  the  exact  number  of  or  proportion  of  each  sex  killed  in 
the  Bering  Sea,  but  I  do  know  that  the  larger  por- 
taken^'^"*    f'lui'i's   tjcm  of  thcMi  wcrc  fciiiales,  and  were  mothers  giving 
milk.     I   have   never   hnuted   within   15  miles  of  the 
remaies '200 m i  1  e 8  I'libilof  Islands ;  but  1  have  otlen  killed  seals  in  milk 

from  islands.  .^j.  ^Ij^j^.,,,^,^.^  ^^j-  ,„^^  j,,^^  ^^^.^^  j^j^j  ^,,  o,„)  jj^jl^^  f^.^^^  (^Ijgg^ 

islands.     From  my  knowledge  and  ex])erience  in  the  business  it  is  my 

conviction   that  within    the  last    yew  years,  since  the  sealers  have 

fiife  be(!ome  so  numerous  in   the  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea, 

that  not  more  than  one  out  of  three  is  secured.     Our 

purpose  and  practice  was  to  take  all  the  seals  we  could  get,  regardless 

of  their  age  or  sex,  without  any  discrimination  whatever.     ]\Iy  expe- 

...     .   .    ^  ,  .„    rience  is  that  the  seals  have  been  decreasing  in  num- 

Indiscnimnate  kill-    ,  i-         i^t         t       l       •  i        ■■!   •        ^i 

iug.  bers  for  the  last  six  or  seven   years,  and  within  the 

Decrease  past  two  or  tlircc  years  very  rapidly,  owing  to  the  in- 

discriminate killing-  of  them  by  x)elagic  hunters  and 


TAKEN    m    RAN    FRANCISCO.  491 

vessels  engaged  in  that  business  in  the  waters  of  the  !N"orth  Pacific  and 
Bering  Sea. 

If  it  be  the  desire  of  the  Government  to  perpetuate  them,  it  is  very- 
important  that  they  be  protected  in  t-e  Nortli  Pacific, 
as  well  as  in  the  Bering  Sea,  since  it  h-s  been  my  ob-  ^a^"*"'"""    '"''"'" 
servation  tliat  the  seals  are  easily  alarmed,  and  the 
killing  of  them  with  firearms  has  a  tendency  to  frighten  the  herd;  nor 
do  I  think  it  possible  to  preserve  the  herd  if  the  great  slaughter  of 
female  seals  is  to  be  c(mtinued.     I  also  believe  that  if 
sealing  is  stojiped  in  the  Bering  Sea  only,  such  tact  p.^.'-t'"^  ""  ^'"'*** 
Avould  tend  to  increase  the  price  of  sealskins,  and  there 
would  be  a  miu'h  larger  tivot  fitted  out  for  sealing  in  the  Pacific  than 
now,  which  would  destroy  the  herd  and  prevent  it  from  going  into  the 
Bering  Sea.     This  oi)inion   is  based  on  the  well  known   fact  that  the 
value  of  sealskins  is  in<'reascd  by  the  decrease  in  the  number  taken; 
and  the  higher  the  ])rice  of  skins  the  gt  eater  the  inducement  to  fish- 
ermen to  hunt  them  in  the  North  Pacific,  which  would  soon  destroy  the 
seal- fishing  industry  everywhere. 

Michael  White. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  1st  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

JS^otary. 


Deposition  of  Theodore  T.  Williams,  journalist,  sent  out  by  lessees  to  inves- 

tigate pelagic  sealing. 

PELAGIC   SEALINGr. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Theodore  T.  Williams,  being  duly  sw^orn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  by 
profession  a  journalist,  being  at  the  present  time  em- 
XJloyed  as  city  editor  of  the  San  Francisco  Examiner,      Ksperieuce. 
and  have  been  employed  in  that  and  similar  capacities 
in  the  city  of  San  Francisco  for  the  past  thirteen  years.     During  that 
time,  and  in  the  purvsuitof  my  profession  as  a  journalist,  I  have  had 
occasion  to  make  extended  inquiries  into  the  fur-sealing  industry  of  the 
Aleutian  Islands  and  the  North  Pacific. 

In  ad<lition  to  the  infi»rmation  which  I  obtained  for  jonriuilistic  ])ur- 
posts,  [  was  requested  by  the  Alaska  Commercial  C<>in|)iiny  in  1881)  to 
proceed  to  the  north  and  make  a  com])lete  and  exhansti\e  examination 
into  the  open-sea  sealing,  its  extent,  its  probable  injury  to  the  lessees 
of  the  sealing  privileges  oii  the  Pril)ilof  Islands,  its  etfectr  on  the  seal 
herd,  the  profit  to  those  engaged  in  it,  and  all  other  matters  concern- 
ing it. 

The  object  of  the  impiiry  on  the  part  of  the  Alaska  (Commercial  Com- 
pany, wliich  company  was  at  that  time  enjoying  the  obje.t  of  the  inquiry, 
lease  of  the  Pribilof  lslan<ls  from  the  United  States 
Government,  was  to  secure  the  data  of  illicit  sealing,  which  they  needed 
to  base  their  estiiuates  on  in  bidding  for  the  lease,  at  the  time  of  the  ex- 
piration of  the  privilege  they  then  held.  In  order  to  make  a  safe  bid, 
to  be  in  a  position  to  offer  tlie  largest  annmnt  overlapi)ing  othei-  com- 
petitors for  the  privilege,  and  at  the  same  time  not  to  pay  more  for  the 


492  TESTIMONY 

privilege  tliaii  it  was  wortli,  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for  tlicm  to 
have  the  most  acciu'ate  iiifoiinatioii  relating  to  the  probable  destruction 
of  the  seal  herd,  and  also  rt^lating  to  the  probable  size  of  the  illicit  catch 
in  years  to  come. 

The  necessity  for  knowing-  thoroughly  what  the  seal  catch  was  likely 
to  be  arose  from  tlie  fact  that  illicit  skins  come  into 
].pte' Viti/"Ai:i.ska  Competition  witli  Pribilof  Islaud  skins  in  the  London 
"'^'"^-  market,  ijnd  alfcct  llieir  value  very  greatly.     While 

the  island  skins  arc  snjtcrior  in  (jiiality  and  aieof  better  average  size  and 
value,  the  etfcct  of  dumping  r)(),0()0  or  (>(),()()()  or  more  illicit  skins  on  the 
market  materially  leduccs  TIm'  value  of  the  Pribilof  Island  skin.  It 
being  the  purpose  of  the  Alaska  ('ommercial  Company  to  base  their 
bid  ui)on  the  information  which  I  obtained  for  them,  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  nm  to  get  accurate  information.  To  the  Alaska  Commer- 
cial Company  it  made  but  little  difference  whether  the  expense  of  the 
investigation  was  small  or  gieat,  but  in  a  matter  of  such  magnitude  as 
a  long  lease  of  the  Government  sealing  privileges  in  Alaska,  an  erro- 
lu'ous  estimate  about  the  effect  of  pelagic  competition,  or  the  diminu- 
tion of  the  seal  herd  by  i)elagic  sealing,  would  have  the  most  serious 
consequences. 

Fully  understanding  the  res])onsil)ility  which  I  accepted  in  under- 
taking the  impiiry,  the  investigation  1  made  was  most 
tiol^Sntd'"^"""'"'  tliorough  and  careful.  In  no  case  did  I  accept  second- 
ary testimony  where  primary  testimony  was  available; 
as,  for  instance,  in  hnding  the  nund^er  of  skins  captured  by  vessels  in 
former  years,  I  did  not  rest  at  an  investigation  of  the  custom-house  re- 
ports of  Victoria,  but  in  nearly  every  case  secured  access  to  the  books 
and  accounts  of  the  managing  owners  of  the  vessels,  and  in  every  in- 
stance -went  to  the  books  and  accounts  of  the  purchasers  of  the  skins, 
and  again  compared  their  reports  when  possible  with  the  reports  of 
the  auction  sales  in  London,  and  where  private  sales  were  made  with 
them. 

In  estimating  the  value  of  the  vessels  engaged  in  the  sealing  indus- 
try I  pursued  this  i^lan.  No  one  in  British  Columbia  had  any  idea  of 
what  my  real  business  there  was,  as  I  was  careful  to  conceal  that  fact. 
I  went  to  the  builders  of  boats,  to  the  owners  of  vessels,  to  the  charter- 
ers of  vessels,  representing  that  I  might  be  in  need  of  such  schooners 
as  were  engaged  in  the  sealing  tiade,  and  received  ]uoffers  of  vessels 
at  the  selling  values.  I  secured  reports  which  INIr.  Miln,  the  collector 
of  the  port  of  Victoria,  had  made  to  the  Dominion  Government,  with 
the  view  for  presentation  with  the  British  side  of  this  question,  and 
comi)ared  his  reports  with  the  cash  value  estimates  of  the  owners  of 
vessels  and  the  offers  of  builders  and  others  to  furnish  vessels. 

In  trying  to  arrive  at  the  cost  of  outfit  and  the  profits  of  sealing 
voyages  I  looked  through  the  accounts  of  nearly  one  hundred  voyages 
of  sealing  schooners. 

In  attem])ting  to  determine  Uie  sex  of  seals  killed  in  the  Bering  Sea 
and  the  North  Pacific,  and  of  the  nnniber  of  seals  killed  in  excess  of 
those  actually  secured  by  the  hunters,  I  had  interviews  with  upwards 
of  50  seal  hunters,  aside  from  interviews  subsequently  had  with  In- 
dian hunters.  I  found  this  ])orti()n  of  my  work  by  far  the  most  diflti- 
cult.  Much  discussion  had  already  been  had  about  the  damaging  effect 
of  pelagic  sealing,  and  the  hunters  were  loath  to  tell  how  many  seals 
were  killed  and  not  reiiovered,  and  were  otfen  averse  to  making  truth- 
ful reports  about  the  sex  of  the  animals  killed;  but  by  frequenting 
their  haunts  and  cultivating  their  comj)any  for  long  periods  I  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  accurate  statements  from  a  number  of  them. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  493 

I  found  that  at  first  the  hunters  were  disposed  to  brag  of  tlieir  skill 
aud  to  overstiniate  their  success  in  securing  skins  of  seals  shot  at.  The 
reason  for  that  was  that  an  impression  prevailed  among  many  of 
tbem  that  I  was  about  to  engage  in  sealing  enter])rises,  and  that  I  was 
making  inquiries  for  the  purpDse  of  ascertaining  tlieir  skill  as  hunters, 
with  the  view  to  engaging  them. 

The  practice  in  British  Ooluiiibia  is  to  pay  the  best  hunters  the  high- 
est rate  per  skin.     ]\rcnwh(M;onld  shoot  fairly  well,  but  .     ,  x.    , 

.  \  -      ,  111  1     J-  T  P"}  "t  s"'i'  hunters. 

who  used  a  shotgun,  cou]<l  be  secured  lor  a  sealing 
voyage  from  $1  to  •i'l.r>()  i>er  skin,  while  hunters  who  shot  with  the  rifle 
and  were  of  recognized  skill  in  some  instances  were  paid  as  high  as 
$li.50  per  skin,  and  generally  speaking  as  high  as  $15  per  skin.  The 
reason  for  this  is  obvious  to  those  who  have  interested  themselves  in 
the  sealing  business.  A  seal  kdled  with  buckshot  is  so  nuicli  punc- 
tured frequently  that  the  pelt  is  of  lesser  value.  It  is  not  profitable^ 
for  schooners  to  engage  as  hunters  men  who  miss  their  chances  of 
killing  the  seals  and  blaze  away  iudiscrinunately  Avith  snudl  results. 
Even  "though  the  hunter  is  only  paid  for  the  skin  he  recovers,  the  loss 
to  the  vessel  by  his  failure  to  kill  when  an  opportunity  ofters  is  equiva- 
lent to  the  profit  it  would  have  made  on  the  skin  if  secured.  For 
these  reasons  aud  on  account  of  the  general  proneness  of  men,  Avho 
consider  themselves  experts  in  the  use  of  any  weapon, 
to  brag,  the  seal  hunters  of  British  Cohunbia,  as  a  tbl^rskur''"*''^"'''^" 
class,  grossly  exaggerate  the  percentage  of  skins  they 
recover,  to  the  number  of  seals  aimed  at,  wounded,  or  killed. 

I  have  heard  nmn  say  that  they  killed  and  recovered  90  per  cent  of 
all  the  seals  they  fired  at,  but  on  examination  of  the  accounts  of  the 
schooners  on  which  they  had  been  employed  previous  voyages,  I  dis- 
covered that  more  then  ten  rounds  of  ammunition  had  been  used  for 
every  skin  that  the  vessel  brought  home. 

As  a  result  of  that  investigation  in  the  Bering  Sea  and  North  Pacific 
and  the  investigations  made  subse(piently,  1  discovered : 

First.  That  95  per  cent  of  all  the  seals  killed  in  the         waate  of  ufe 
Bering  Sea  are  females. 

Second.  That  for  every  three  sleeping  seals  killed  or  wounded  in  the 
water  only  one  is  recovered. 

Third.  For  every  six  traveling  seals  kdled  or  wounded  in  the  water 
only  one  is  recovered. 

Fourth,  That  95  ])er  cent  at  least  of  all  the  female  seals  killed  are 
either  in  pup  m-  have  left  their  newly-born  pup  on  the  islands,  while 
they  have  gone  out  into  the  sea  in  search  of  food. 

The  result  is  the  same  in  either  case.     If  the  mother  is  killed  tiie  pup 
on  shore  will  linger  for  a  few  days;  some  say  as  long  as  two  or  three 
weeks,  but  will  inevitably  die  before  winter.     All  of 
the  schooners  i)refer  to  hunt  around  the  banks  where  i,,l,I^t^thuiciuaio!^ 
the  female  seals  are  feeding  to  attempting  to  intercept 
the  male  seals  on  their  way  to  and  from  the  hauling  grouiuls. 

Aside  from  the  greater  difficulty  of  killing  and  securing  the  skin  of 
a  traveling  seal,  and  the  larger  proportion  of  h)ss  to  the  schooner,  dur- 
ing the  greater  part  of  the  sealing  season,  and  more  particularly  in  the 
Bering  Sea,  there  are  few  males  to  be  found  in  the  water. 

No  other  evidence  of  this  is  needed  than  the  observation  of  the  gen- 
tlemen who  spend  the  season  on  the  Pribih)f  Islands  and  who  all 
agree  in  reporting  that  the  male  seals  remain  there,  Mai.  .s  remain  on  is- 
while  the  females,  as  soon  as  they  are  delivered  of  their  lands  during  the  sea- 
young,  go  forth  in  search  of  food.     The  male  seal  sel-  '*"^' 


494  TESTIMONY 

dora  sleeps  in  tlie  water  during  tlie  sealing  season.  When  the  north- 
ward migration  begins  in  March,  tlie  male  seals  pursue  their  way  with 
all  diligence  to  the  lookerios,  and  arrive  there  about  thirty  days  ahead 
of  the  coming  of  the  female  seals.  It  mast  be  plain  from  this,  that  the 
Why  fewer  luaii.s  Opportunities  for  slaying  male  seals  that  are  traveling 
arekiiuci.  rapidly  through  the  water,  must  be  far  less  than  for 

killing  female  seals,  who,  making  their  way  leisurely,  feeding  as  they 
go,  and  resting  fre([uently  becanse  they  are  heavy  with  pup,  otter  a  far 
more  extensive  target  to  the  ritie  of  the  hunter. 

The  Indians  with  whom  I  conversed  in  British  Columbia,  and  who 
had  had  a  varied  and  extensive  ex])erience  of  sealing,  not  only  as  seal 
hnnters  for  schooners,  but  when  out  in  search  of  food,  all  declared,  that 
the  male  seal  seldom  eat  and  never  slept  while  on  his  way  to  the  rook- 
eries. They  declared  that  as  with  the  salmon  when  on  its  way  to  the 
spawning  grounds,  they  had  never  found  food  in  the  stomach  of  the  few 
male  seals  they  had  managed  to  capture. 

So  far  as  I  was  able  to  learn,  the  terms  "sleeper"  and  "traveler"  as 
applied  to  seals,  had  their  origin  among  the  Indians.  They  declared, 
and  in  that  they  are  borne  out  by  all  of  the  white  hunters,  that  the  seal, 
when  it  is  desirous  of  resting  in  the  water,  inflates  a  bladder  in  its 
body,  which  keeps  it  afloat.  Whether  this  be  so  or  not,  makes  no 
Only  sleeping  seals  diflercuce,  l)ut  tlic  lact  is,  that  almost  the  only  way  the 
killed  by  Indians.  Indians  have  of  killing  seals  is  by  paddling  noiselessly 
up  to  the  sleeping  animal  as  it  floats  on  the  water,  and  spearing  it. 

Many  of  the  schooners  employ  Indian  hunters,  who  work  much 
cheaper  than  the  whites,  who  only  use  the  spear,  and  never  attemj)t  to 
kill  a  traveling  seal. 

The  reports  of  their  catches  show  that  all  of  their  captures  are 
females.  It  could  not  well  be  otherwise,  for  the  nuile 
biPii^i^an™^'^^  ^^^^^^  seals,  ill  making  their  way  to  the  rookeries,  take  a  more 
northerly  course,  and  go  with  all  speed,  while  the 
females  move  towards  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  and  other  large 
fishing  baidvS,  following  the  runs  of  fish,  or  idly  waiting  until  nature 
tells  them  that  the  period  of  gestati<in  is  about  ended,  and  they  then 
make  their  way  to  the  rookeries  to  be  delivered  of  their  pups. 

At  the  times  when  the  male  seals  are  on  the  rookeries,  the  large 
catches  are  made.  A  traveling  seal  is  alert,  cautious, 
ficuifto^afch!^^*  '^'^'  qiiit^t  of  hearin  g,  and  easily  disturbed.  A  sleeping  seal 
is  at  the  mercy  of  anyone.  The  large  proportion  of 
traveling  seals  shot  at  and  lost  is  due  to  the  timidity  of  the  animal; 
in  fact,  all  the  hunters  admit  that  when  there  is  much  shooting  going 
on,  the  seals  are  very  difliculttoget.  The  loss  of  sleeping  seals,  which 
I  estimate  as  two  lost  for  one  saved,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  unless  the 
bullet  or  shot  kills  the  animal  instantly,  it  will  immediately  dive, 
and  it  is  not  easy  to  kill  a  seal  instantly.  The  head  of  tlie  seal  affords 
but  a  small  mark.  Even  in  the  case  of  a  sleeper,  the  motion  of  the 
water  keeps  it  moving.  The  boat  from  which  the  hunter  shoots  is  also 
moving,  and  while  there  are  men,  who,  at  a  distance  of  50  or  00  yards, 
can  shoot  a  small  object  under  such  circumstances,  they  are  extremely 
rare.  They  are  famous  as  experts,  and  they  are  highly  rewarded  for 
their  skill.  Certainly  not  one  in  ten  of  all  the  seal  luinters  can  truth- 
fully assert,  nor  do  they  attempt  to  do  so  when  in  a 
kinXns*Sy.'^^^'  contidential  humor,  that  they  kill  50  per  cent  of  their 
seals  dead. 

I  was  in  the  company  of  a  number  of  them  in  Victoria  in  18S9,  and  heard 
them  talking  among  themselves  of  their  prowess.     Some  put  forward 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  495 

claims,  which  the  others  derided.  Any  estimate  in  excess  of  ^he  one 
I  have  ah'eady  given  called  forth  uncomplimentary  remarks  and  charges 
of  boastfnliiess.  The  disinclination  of  these  men  to  state  the  absolute 
facts,  and  they  alone  know  what  the  facts  are,  in  relation  to  the  num- 
ber of  seals  shot  and  lost,  has  been  intensified  lately  by  the  feeling  that 
it  is  necessary  for  them  to  make  a  good  showing  to  back  up  the  claim 
that  pelagic  sealing  is  not  absolutely  destructive  of  the  seal  herd. 

In  considering  tlie  number  of  skins  taken  during  the  past  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  schooners  have  frequently  been  seriously  inter- 
fered with  in  their  work  by  the  cruisers  of  the  IJnited  States  Goveru- 
meut. 

Mr.  Miln,  surveyor  of  the  port  of  Victoria,  in  his  report  to  the  Domin- 
ion Government,  of  which  1  was  so  fortunate  as  to  se- 
cure a  copy,  stated  that  if  not  i  nterfered  with  by  cruisers  o/atarU"srhoon'er,'^^ 
a  large-sized  schooner  would  surely  capture  3,000  skins  "'>t  iuierierKd  with 
during  the  season  in  the  Bering.     Mr.  Milu's  estimate    y  *''^""'«=^''- 
in  that  respect,  as  in  many  other  matters,  I  found  to  be  fair  and  honest. 

The  destruction  of  seals  in  the  N'orth  Pacific  Ocean,  as  well  as  in  the 
Bering  Sea,  is  largely  confined  to  females.  This  fact  Destn,ction  inBer- 
can  not  be  disputed  successtullv.  1  made  an  examina-  ing  sea  largely  con- 
nation  of  the  reports  of  the  gentlemen  who  handled  a "e'l  to  females. 
the  N^orth  Pacific  collection,  up  to  and  including  the  year  1889,  and  all 
agreed  that  the  skins  were  nearly  all  from  females. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  explain  that  the  smaller  value  of  the 
female  seal,  especially  after  the  birth  of  her  pup,  is  in  a  measure  due 
to  the  wearing  of  the  I'ur  around  the  teats.  The  amount  of  merchant- 
able fur  being  redui^ed  to  that  extent,  makes  it  necessary  for  the  han- 
dlers of  skins  to  observe  carefully  whether  pelts  are  male  or  female,  as 
well  as  their  general  condition.  They  make  a  complete  classification, 
and  being  experts  in  their  business,  are  not  likely  to  make  mistakes. 
The  large  proportion  of  females  killed  in  the  North  Pacific  is  due  to  the 
fact,  as  I  explained  before,  that  the  males  pursue  their  way  to  the 
hauling  grounds  with  dispatch,  while  the  females  are  more  leisurely  in 
their  movements  and  take  frequent  rests. 

I  append,  as  a  part  of  this  aifidavit,  a  copy  of  the  rejiort  I  made  to 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  on  this  subject  in 
1881),  and  which  they  used  for  the  purpose  hereinbefore  le^scerin^isr'^  *" 
set  forth,  and  I  desire  to  add  that  subsequent  inquiry 
has  proved  tliat  the  statements  and  conclusions  in  the  report  1  then 
made,  were  correct.  It  must  be  taken  into  consideration  thot  the  esti- 
mates of  the  profits  of  scaling  voyages,  and  other  matters  contiiiiu^d  in 
that  report,  v/ere  based  upon  the  value  of  skins  in  that  and  f<»rmer 
years.  Subsequently  skins  have  increased  in  value,  and  profits  of 
large  catches  would  therefore  be  proportionately  greater,  but  the  con- 
ditions of  sealing  have  not  changed  since  then,  nor  can  they  change, 
with  the  exception  that  the  fleet  of  sailing  vessels  has  largely  increased, 
consequently  the  destruction  of  seals  has  been  much  greater  in  the  last 
two  years. 

There  can  be  no  question,  that  if  the  seals  are  not  protected,  and  this 
tremendous  slaughter  that  is  now  going  on  in  the  sea  is 
not  immediately  stopped,  there  will  be  a  total  destruc-  8.J;°*^'*'°°  "''''^" 
tion  of  the  herd  in  a  very  short  while. 

Theodore  T.  Williams. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  ■1th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1893. 
[seal]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


496  TESTIMONY 

To  the  President  of  the  Alaska  Goniniereial  Cotnpany: 
I  have  made  a  thorougli  ami  aceuiatc  examination  of  tlie  soaMiiint- 
inftimlustiy  of  l>ritisli  Columbia  whicli  is  carried  ou  in 
Affiam's  report  to  Beriu"-  8ea,  in  accoidance  with  the  followinff  instruc- 

tions  received  from  your  eompauy: 
"  Exact  account  of  JJiitish  (Johimbia  fur-seal  industry,  to  go  back  as 
early  as  ])ossib]c  and  show  the  area  over  which  the 
Scope  of  the  report.  ^^^^^  ^^^^^.^^  iniuted  before  the  existence  of  the  Alaska 

Commercial  Company  (1870)  and  during-  the  early  years  of  the  lease. 

"  It  should  show  the  devcloi)ment  and  exi>ansion  of  the  business,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  enlmnced  value  of  skins,  caused  by  the  oi)eration  of 
the  company. 

''As  exactly  as  possible  it  should  give — 

"Statistics  of  yearly  catch  and  prices  obtained  fiu'  same  at  British 
Columbia,  number  of  vessels  employed,  their  value  and  cost  of  outfit, 
and  any  other  details  of  the  business  possible. 

"  To  be  of  value  it  shcmld  be  accurate,  and  not  merely  api)roximate,  as 
we  desire  to  use  the  figures  to  base  our  estimate  for  bidding  for  re- 
newal of  the  scaling  lease,  an  important  factor,  in  which  must  neces- 
sarily be  the  probability  of  the  continuance  of  illicit  sealing  and  its  con- 
sequent depletion  of  the  seal  herd.  The  profits  to  illicit  sealers  being 
greater  or  less,  will,  of  course,  increase  or  decrease  their  number. 

"  There  should  also  be  a  careful  statement  made  and  sworn  to  by  com- 
petent men  of  the  value  of  the  vessels  that  have  been  seized  and 
stranded  at  Unalaska  or  condemned  elsewhere.  All  this  should  be 
prepared  as  honestly  and  correctly  as  possible,  with  no  effort  to  mini- 
mize values,  but  only  to  state  honestly,  as  near  as  may  be,  real  values." 

STATISTICS   OF  YEARLY   CATOn. 

1S81. 

The  first  sealskins  ever  handled  in  British  Columbia  caught  in  the 

.  Bering  Sea  were  taken  in  1S81.     Prior  to  that  year  no 

lag Sea'betore"i88r     vcsscls  scalcd  iu  tlic  Bering.     In  1881  the  American 

schooner  &(n  Diego  caught  193  seals  in  the  Bering  and 

c     r.-      laci        sold  the  skins  to  T.  liubbe  of  Victoria,  British  Colum- 

San  Diego,  1881.  ,   .         ,      .  ,^  ^_  ,   .  „,,  ,   .  '        .  ,    ,      t 

bia  at  |l).-.>  per  sum.  These  skins  were  shipped  to  Lon- 
don, as  are  nearly  all  of  the  skins  bought  in  Victoria,  British  Columbia, 
and  the  trade,  therefore,  brouglit  no  ]»r(ttit  to  Canaila,  T.  Liibbe  being 
an  American.  I  have,  howcN cr,  included  the  record  of  this  and  all 
otlier  collections  made  by  American  ships  in  the  Bering  Sea  when  sold 
in  British  Cohimbia,  because  they  all  figure  in  the  rei)orts  of  the  Vi(-- 
toria  custom  house.  In  keeping  tlu^  collection  of  the  American  and 
Canadian  vessels  from  the  Bering  district,  you  can  see  at  a  glance  the 
relative  value  of  the  Bering  Sea  collection  to  American  and  Canadian 
sealers. 

188,-2. 

American  schooner  San  Diego-,  Bering  Sea  collection,  327  seals,  sold 
to  T.  Lubbe  at   Victoria,  British  Columbia,  at  $8  per 

San  me<jo,\i%2.  ,  •  '  '  - 

SKin. 

1883. 

American  schooner  San  Diego;  Bering  Sea  collection,  908  skins;  sold 
to  T.   Lubbe,  Victoria,  British  Columbia,  at  $10  per 

San  Diego,  l9a,Z.  ,   •  '  '  '  ^ 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  4'J7 


Bering  Sea  collection,  sold  in  Victoria,  Britisli  Columbia;  American 
schooner    San    lliego,    980    skins,    at    $S;  American      ^^^^ 
schooners  Otter  und  Alexander  landed  in  Victoria  Brit-   AiJxamier.'^^'imi  ihui 
ish  Columbia,  1,700  skins  to  be  reshipped  to  H.  Liebes  -^««"'i^s^- 
&  Co.,  of  San  Francisco,  owners  of  the  two  vessels;  British  schooner 
Mary  UUcn,  1,409  seals,  sold  at  §7.50  per  skin. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  British  Cohimbia  seal  industry  in  the 
Bering-  began  in  1884.  The  Mary  Ullen  was  owned  by  1).  McLean,  was 
of  03  tons,  had  a  crew  of  twenty-one  whites  and  was  worth  80,000,  in- 
cluding her  outtit. 


1885. 

Bering  Sea  collection:  American  schooner  City  of  San  Diego,  ],9o3 
skins,  at  $7.00;  American  schooner   Vanderhilt,  1,244 
skins,  at  17.00;  American  schooner  Sart  JJief/o,  1,720,  at  y^ttS^S" 
at  $7  39;  American  schooner  Lookout,  1,100,  at  $7.50;   Lookout.  FavontcMiix 
British   schooner    Facorite,    1,383,    at  $7.00;    British  ^"'"^ ^«"M«^^- 
schooner  Mary  Ullciiy  1,773,  at  $7.00. 


188G. 

Bering  Sea  collection:  American  schooner  .4 /?»^  182,  at  $5.50;  Amer- 
ican schooner  Therese  (since  sailed  under  British  liag), 
2,000,  at  $0.50 ;  American  schooner  Sylina  Handy,  1,700,  ,ra''H%idi''''%ufff 
at  $6.i50;  American  schooner  City  of  San  Dieijo,  1,000,  S't/i,  uiejo,  n'rien 
at  $0.50;  American  schooner  Helen  Blnm,  no  lecovd.  S.^Aom^S  i^^ii^ 
The  British  schooners,  On^^rov/,  6Vfro/i«e,  and  TAo/-wto;<, 
were  seized  in  the  Bering  Avith  about  2,000  skins  on  board. 

The  Caroline,  though  under  the  British  flag,  was  owiied  one-half  by 
an  American  named  Beclitel,  who  furnished  also  the  money  for  the  out- 
fit. Bechtel  is  interested  also  in  the  British  schooners  Mary  Taylor, 
Pathfinder,  and  Viva. 

The  ships  were  put  under  the  British  tiag  in  defiance  of  the  British 
merchant  shipping  act,  which  forbids  anypartnershi[) 
or  beneficial  interest  in  any  British  ship  by  a  foreigner,  to^^ri't'^il^'il'  'fl.,""",!,','!!'* 
To  secure  himself  in  case  of  trouble  Bechtel  has  mort-  trarvtopiovi'sr<.iis  ..f 
gages  on  the  schooners.  The  Thornton  was  owned  half  ^Mpping ."01;"' ''''''*' 
by  J.  Boscowitz,  an  American,  who  owned  and  no  w  owns 
all  or  part  of  every  schooner  registered  under  the  British  flag  in  the 
name  of  Cai)tain  Warren.  This  fact  came  out  a  short  time  ago  in  a 
lawsuit  in  Victwia  between  Warren  and  Boscowitz.  The  books  of  tiic 
firm  being  produced,  it  was  shown  that  Boscowitz  Jiot  only  owned  and 
shared  a  half  interest,  but  had  advanced  moneys  for  Captain  Warren's 
share,  on  which  he  collected  interest.  I  append  a  duly  certified  copy 
of  part  of  the  evidence  in  the  suit  of  Warren  v.  Boscowitz  and  Cooi)er, 
copied  from  the  archives  of  the  court  in  Victoria  and  fully  certified 
to  by  Harvey  Coombe,  esq.,  deputy  registrar  of  the  sui)reme  court  of 
British  Columbia,  over  the  great  seal  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada. 

Besides  the  2,000  skins  taken  by  the  seized  sealers,  the  collections  in 
the  Bering  Sea  by  British  schooners  were; 
2716 — VOL  II 32 


498 


TESTIMONY 

tisl 

1  schooner  Dolphin, 

2,200 

at 

$7.00 

a 

a 

Alfred  Adams, 

1,455 

a 

7.00 

u 

ii 

Active, 

1,338 

ii 

7.00 

a 

a 

Blacl:  Diamond, 

828 

a 

7.00 

ii 

ii 

Pathfinder, 

1,700 

ii 

G.05 

u 

ii 

Sierra, 

1,000 

ii 

0.50 

u 

a 

Favorite, 

3,402 

ii 

0.50 

u 

a 

Anna  Beclc, 

1,142 

ii 

0.05 

u 

a 

^V.  F.  Say  ward. 

],(iOO 

ii 

0.50 

ii 

ii 

Grace, 

1,700 

ii 

0.50 

ii 

a 

Mary  Ellen, 

3,559 

ii 

0.5(> 

ii 

ii 

Denelope, 

104 

ii 

5.50 

ii 

a 

Mountain  Chief, 

030 

a 

0.50 

The  priiicii^al  reason  for  the  tluctaation  m  i^rices  this  year  and  m 
other  years  was  tlie  disturbed  condition  of  the  London 

of^'omio^u'^ui?86."''°  market,  caused  by  reports  of  hirge  collectious,  and  so 
greatly  did  tlie  catch  of  25,000  skius  afl'ect  the  market 

that  the  skins  sold  for  less  in  London  than  was  i»aid  for  them  in  Victoria, 

British  Columbia,  entailing  loss  on  the  purchasers. 


The  seizures  in  the  Bering  Sea  in  188G  stopped  the  American  sealers 
from  fitting  <mt  in  1887,  with  the  exception  of  two  schooners  comniande<l 
by  British  Columbians,  who  decided  to  take  the  risk.  It  was  opeidy 
declared  at  Victoria  that  the  United  States  Government  would  not  go 
farther  than  remonstrate. 

The  American  boats  that  entered  the  Bering  Sea  were  the  City  of  Ban 
Diego,  which  made  a  catch  of  1,187  seals,  selling  at  $5.50,  and  the 
Vauderhilt,  1,349  skins,  at  $5.50. 

The  catch  by  British  sealers  was : 


ish  S( 

[jhoon 

er  Mary  Taylor, 

1,000 

at 

$6.00 

Den  elope, 

1,292 

u 

5.50 

Fathfinder, 

2,377 

a 

0.00 

Mary  Ellen, 

2,130 

ii 

5.50 

Black  l)i((niond. 

990 

a 

5.50 

Mountain  Chief, 

024 

ii 

5.50 

Favorite, 

1,887 

ii 

5.50 

Therese, 

900 

a 

5.50 

Kiite, 

1,025 

ii 

5.50 

Triumph, 

500 

u 

5.50 

Lottie  Fairfield, 

2,507 

u 

5.50 

The  Ada,  Anna  Becic,  Dolphin,  Crace,  and  W.  P.  Say  ward  were  seized 
by  the  United  States  Government. 


18S8. 

Bering  Sea  collections,  sold  in  Victoria  in  1888: 

British  schooner  Juanita, 
"  "        Mary  Ellen, 

**  "        Triumph, 


1,030 

at 

$5.02* 

700 

u 

5.02* 

2,470 

a 

5.G2| 

TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO. 


499 


Britisli   schooner     Annie  C.  Moore^ 
"  "  niuck  J)iuiiiond, 

Pathfinder  J 
Viva, 
Favorite, 
Magffie  Mc, 
Penelope, 
Mountain  Chief, 


German  schooner  ^    A  dele, 
American  scliooner  Anne, 

"  "         Webi'ifer, 

"  "         Olson, 

"  "  Walter  A.  Rich, 

"  "        Allie  L  Alfjer, 

18S9. 


715 

7(55 

()(I0 

2,{)(iD 

2,341) 

1,424 

1,054 

781 

450 

1,040 

520 

500 

400 

o80 


at 


$5.02i 
5.02* 
5.02} 
5.62i- 
5.G2^ 
5.62| 
5.62* 
5.62* 
5.62I 
5.62* 
5.62* 
5.62.^ 
5.()2* 
5.G2| 


Berinfj  Sea  collection,  1S89,  landed  at  Victoria,  and  all  shipped  to 
England  and  United  States. 
So  far  the  average  selling  price  at  Victoria  has  been  $7.65. 


German  schooner     Adele, 
American  schooner  Allie  I.  Alger, 
New  ton, 


u 

ii 
ii 

u 

ii 

British 

schooner 

u 

u 

u 

u 

li 

ii 

iC 

ii 

ii 

ii 

ii 

ii 

ii 

ii 

ii 

J.  G.  Swan, 
Henri/  Dennis, 
Pathfinder, 

Viva, 

Annie  G.  Moore, 
Maggie  Mc, 
ISapphire, 

W.  P.  Wayward, 
Kate, 
Favorite, 
Penelope, 
Blade  Diamond, 
Lilif, 
Ariel, 
Minnie, 
Beatrice, 
Therese, 
Mary  Ellen, 

The  record  of  the  collection  as  given  above  is  from  the  cnstom-honse 
at  A^ictoria  and  verified  by  the  ])rincipal  pnrchasers.  The  price  paid 
for  skins  came  from  the  account  books  of  the  pnrchasers  and  were  veri- 
fied by  current  x)rice  lists  published  in  the  London  fur  market. 

victoria's  investment. 


1,600 

284 

230 
60 

700 
50 
2,180 
1,300 
1,200 
1,620 
1,600 

Oil 

None 

1,850 

55 

74 

834 

521 

700 

None. 

None. 


NUMBER    OF    SCHOONEUS    EMPLOYED   SEALING   IN   THE    15E1UNG,    AND    THEIR   VALUE. 


Vrsacls 
thereof. 


The  second  branch  of  my  investigation  was  the 
number  of  vessels  owned  by  Canadians  engaged  in 
sealing  in  the  Bering  Sea,  their  value,  cost  of  outfit,  etc. 

There  are  in  the  business:  Twenty-four  schooners. 
1,464  tons.     Total  value,  inclnding  outfits,  $173,350.     Whites  employed, 
261.     Indians  employed,  385. 

*  Took  from  Bering. 


Total  tonnage, 


500  TESTIMONY 

Of  tliesc  twenty-four  scliooiiers  sailin,e:  iTnder  the  British  flag,  five 
are  owiumI  half  l»y  Ahum  i<';uis.  Thivsc  five  schooners  illegally  under 
the  J>ritish  llaji'  are  worth  $30,500,  h-aving  au  actual  Canacliau  iuvest- 
inent  of  $130,750. 

NO   ACTUAL   INVESTMENT. 

^,     ,  But  there  is  really  not  one  dollar  actually  invested 

in  the  Bering"  Sea  sealing,  and  lor  these  reasons: 

(1)  All  the  schooners  are  engaged  in  other  business,  such  as  hunting 
and  fishing  down  the  west  coast  and  in  the  North  Pacific. 

(2)  If  the  sealing  business  was  stopped  entirely  the  schooners  would 
not  depreciate  a  dollar  in  value. 

(3)  The  sealing  business  requires  no  sj)ecial  plant,  weapons,  or  uten- 
sils. The  schooners  are  common  schooners,  the  boats  common  boats, 
and  the  guns  common  guns  which  will  bring  their  value  at  any  time 
for  any  other  purpose. 

(4)  Less  than  one-third  of  a  sealing  schooner's  cruise  is  in  the  Ber- 
ing. 

ESTIMATING  VALUES. 

It  is  a  simple  task  to  arrive  with  exactitude  at  the  value  of  the 
■CT         +•     f     ->♦•  vschooners   and   their  outfits.     They  cost   to   build   in 

How    estimate     oi    -r^    .,.,.,    ,         ,  .        ,    ,,>  ,  t       ,i        tt    •<      i    oii^    ^ 

value  of  vessels  and  British  Columbia  -"trhO  per  ton.  In  the  United  States 
outfits  is  arriveti  at.     ^j^^  ^^^^  |^  ^  ^„j  ^^^.^.  ^^^j,_    rpj,g  g^.^^^^  touuage  ot  the  fleet 

being  1,40-1  at  the  American  rate  of  $100  a  ton  it  would  represent 
$140,400,  at  the  Canadian  rate  $117,120. 

This  would  be  for  the  schooners  as  they  are  delivered  new,  with  masts, 
sails,  anchors,  and  littings. 

Some  of  the  sealing  schooners  are  fine,  new  boats,  others  are  very  old. 
The  Mary  Taylor  and  Mary  Ellen  have  both  seen  thirty-five  years  of 
butteting  about  the  stormy  ocean,  while  the  Lilly  has  been  forty-six 
years  afloat.  The  BlaeJc  T)iamon<l  is  really  unfit  for  sea,  and  the  Juanita 
was  driven  out  of  the  coast  trade  as  unsafe  and  i)ast  repair.  This  was 
the  fate  of  the  W((u(lercr  also.  The  Letitia  I  saw  lying  in  the  Victoria 
bone-yard  being  broken  up,  and  the  Mountain  Chief  is  ready  for  the 
same  fate. 

In  order  to  get  an  exact  valuation,  I  procured,  when  possible,  the 
record  of  the  latest  sale  of  the  v(^ssel,  and  in  other  cases  employed  an 
expert  shipbuilder  or  took  the  valuations  of  the  underwriter's  expert, 
not  on  the  amount  for  whicli  the  vessel  was  insured,  but  his  estimate  of 
what  it  would  cost  to  replace  her. 

In  every  case  the  value  I  have  given,  except  in  case  of  actual  sale,  is 
rather  more  than  the  vessel  would  sell  for  in  an  ordinary  bargain. 

In  the  course  of  my  investigation  as  to  the  value  of  the  trade  to  Can- 
ada, I  secured  a  copy  of  a  report  made  fi)r  the  J)oininion  Government 
by  A.  R.  Miln,  esq.,  surveyor  of  the  port  of  Victoria.  While  Mr.  Miln 
is  naturally  prejudiced  somewhat  in  favor  of  his  Canadian  friends  in 
Estimate  by  A.  R.  l>i"«'P"''"^"  '^  re])ort  wliich  will  bc  made  the  basis  of  their 
:Miii.,siirvcyo'rofpoit  claim  on  the  TTnited  States  Government,  he  is  clearly 
ot  Victoria.  j^j^  hoiicst  olficial  and  has  done  his  work  generally  cor- 

rect. His  estimate  of  the  total  value  of  the  Victoria  sealing  fleet  is 
$200,500,  or  $27,150  in  excess  of  my  valuations.  As  his  figures  are 
certain  to  be  the  ones  adopted  by  the  Canadian  Government,  I  took 
special  pains  to  correct  my  valuations  thoroughly  when  they  diflered 
from  his.     I  found  that  in  many  cases  he  had  taken  the  owner's  valua 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  501 

tion,  whieli  was  far  in  excess  of  the  real  value.  I  append  the  real  value 
as  compared  witli  Mr.  IVIiln's  estimates,  and  also  a  copy  of  Miln's  re- 
port made  August  17,  1889,  sworn  to  before  A.  L.  Belyea,  esq..  Vic- 
toria, British  Columbia,  and  forwarded  to  the  governor  general  of  Can- 
ada. 

As  a  sealing  schooner  is  only  engaged  one-third  of  her  time  in  the 
Bering,  the  other  two-thirds  being  spent  in  the  west  coast  sealing,  fish- 
ing, otter  hunting,  or  some  other  business,  only  one-third  of  tlie  fleet's 
value  can  iiroi>erly  be  said  to  be  invested  in  the  Bering  sealing  busi- 
ness. The  actual  cash  investment  of  all  the  Canadas  in  this  traffic  is 
therefore  (me-third  of  $13G,750,  or  the  insignificant  sum  of  $45,585.33, 
and  even  that  wouM  not  be  lost  if  the  traffic  were  stopi)ed. 

OUTFIT,    ADVANCES,    ETC. 

Both  Miln's  valuations  and  my  own  include  the  cost  of  the  sealing 
outfit.  The  value  of  an  outfit  for  sealing  depends  upon 
the  size  of  the  schooner,  the  number  of  men  and  boats  "^*'*  ""*^*' 
she  carries,  and  whether  or  not  they  are  Indians.  As  you  will  see  by 
one  of  the  tables  appended,  there  were  this  year  383  Indians  and  261 
white  men  employed  on  sealing  schooners  fitted  out  in  Alctoria,  and 
Avhere  white  nun  are  employed,  the  schooner  carries  boats  of  American 
make,  has  her  hunters  armed  with  rifles  and  sliotguns,  and  carries  all 
told  a  crew  of  4  men  to  each  hunting  l»oat.  The  men  are  engaged  in 
this  way:  The  hunter  who  shoots  the  seal  has  two  men  in  his  boat  to 
row  him,  making  3  men  actually  in  the  boat,  and  a  few  hands  are  left 
on  board  the  schooner  to  handle  her.  Thus,  a  schooner  having  a  crew 
of  20  men  all  told,  would  have  5  boats  and  5  hunters.  The  cost  of  the 
outfit  is,  for  such  a  schooner : 

Five  boats  costing  in  San  Francisco,  where  tliey  are  all  Imilt,  $100  each $500 

Five  Marling  rifles,  at  $35 175 

Five  shotguns,  at  $o5 175 

Two  extra  gims 70 

Salt  for  seal  skins 200 

Five  thousand  rounds  ammunition  for  guns  and  rifles 125 

Provisions  for  twenty  men  four  months,  at  $8  per  head  per  month 640 

Insurance,  one-third  of  year 175 

2,060 
EXPENSES   OP   A   TRIP. 


Expensos  of  a  trii 


The  expenses  of  a  sealing  trip  in  the  Bering  are,  for 
a  four  months'  cruise: 

Captain,  wages,  at  $100 $.jOO 

Ten  seamen,  at  $35  per  mouth ". 1,  400 

Five  f)rdiuary  seamen  or  boys,  at  $20  per  month 400 

Paid  to  hunters,  at  $2  per  skin,  1,600  an  actual  average 3,  200 

5,400 

Total  expense  and  outfit 7,  460 

As  the  hunters  are  i^aid  by  the  skin,  the  expenses  would  be  more  if 
the  catch  was  larger.  The  expense  of  a  six-l)oat  schooner  would  be 
proportionately  greater  as  it  w<mld  be  if  the  cruise  was  made  longer. 
Miln's  estimate  in  his  report  to  the  governor-general  of  (Janada,  is 
based  on  a  longer  cruise  in  a  large  schooner,  and  is  no  doubt  a  fair 
estimate. 

Still  the  actual  expenses  of  a  schooner  can  not  be  figured  accurately 


502  TESTIMONY 

except  by  the  owner,  avIio  charges  every  item  of  expense  against  hei  as 
it  is  paid  out,  and  the  ligures  J  have  given  only  serve  as  an  approxi- 
mate guide  to  tlie  average  proHts  of  a  sealing  trip.  According  to  Mr, 
Miln's  estimate,  a  big  schooner  catching  2,000  seals  (an  observedly  high 
estimate)  would  make  a  profit  of  $4,440  on  her  trip,  if  the  skins  sold  for 
$7.50  each,  and  he  adds  that  she  could  catch  3,000  skins  if  undisturbed 
by  a  United  States  Kevenue  cruiser,  and  if  she  could,  two  things  would 
liappcn.  Skins  would  drop  to  next  to  nothing  in  vahie  and  there  would 
be  lu)  seals  next  year. 
There  are  24  Victoiian  schooners  in  the  trade  and  32  San  Francisco 
^, ,  ,         ,         „  and  i'u^ict  Sound  schooners,  making  a  total  of  5(5  schoon- 

Total     imuibor     oi  7  <r» 

caua.iiaii  ami  Aiiuri-  €^rs.  At  tlic  rate  of  3,000  skius  to  tlic  schooner,  they 
can  vessels  in  tt.  .t.  ^vould,  if  uudisturbed,  takel08,000  skins.  As  the  seals 
they  kill  in  the  liering  arc  nearly  all  females  either  in  youngor  having 
E.timated  d.stiuc  .J"^^  P"1>P<'<^?  thc loss  of  scal  life  would  be  336,000,  To 
tiouVfseaiiir.  i.ysaki  tliis  uHist  bc  uddcd  108,000  killed  and  wounded  seal 
fleet, if  umestrictci.     .^^,J   ^^^.[y  p^^p^  ^^^^^  caught,  making  a  total  of  072,000 

seal  killed  with  the  i>resent  fleet. 

COST  OF  INDIAN  OUTFIT. 

Where  Indians  arc  emiiloycd  as  hunters,  the  expense  of  the  outfit  and 
voyage  is  much  less.     The  Indians  hunt  from  their 

Costofludiaii outfit.  i   •  t   •^^         •j.t  •        ^         -i      ^  x^ 

own  skm  canoes,  kdl  with  spears  instead  oi  firearms, 
so  that  otiier  seals  are  not  frightene<l  away,  and  feed  themselves  (Ui  seal 
bluliber.  They  are  paid  $1.50  per  skin  and  seal  with  two  men  to  the 
canoe,  one  to  spear  and  one  to  i)addle.  The  cost  of  an  outfit  for  a 
schooner  carrying  thirty  Indians,  Avhich  is  n  common  number,  is  fifteen 
skin  canoes  at  $20,  $300. 

The  expen.se  of  the  voyage  is  tor  the  wages  and  board  of  a  white 
captain  and  four  sailors,  salt  for  seal  skins  aiul  a  little  tea  and  crackers 
for  the  Indians. 

Indian  sealing  lieing  so  much  cheaper  and  more  profitable  all  the 
schooners  wtmld  engage  Indians  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  these 
Siwash  are  an  cxtremelv  troublesome  race  and  recpiire 
prTfe/red.'''''"'''''''"'*^  ^''*'  "fi"<'^t  tact  aiul  skill  to  manage.  Only  a  few  cap- 
tains can  liaiidlc  them  to  advantage  and  they  are  mostly 
cajitains  who  have  Siwash  blood  in  their  veins. 

LOSING  WOUNDED  SEALS. 

The  statement  I  made  that  the  capture  of  108,000  skins  meant  the 
^   ,    ^,.,.  death  of  720.000  seals,  needs  some  explanation.     The 

Waste  of  l^(^.  ,.  .1.1         •  1    •      ^1      t.      •        \,  i         j    t 

scaling  lU'ct  begins  w<»ikin  the  Bering  Sea  about  June 
and  is  all  back  home  by  the  end  of  September.  JJuring  this  period 
there  are  but  few  seals  in  tlui  waters  of  Bering  Sea,  except  females. 
The  male  seals  are  all  at  tlie  br<'eding  islands,  either  guarding  their 
95  per  cent  of  s.ais  I'^rcins  or  Waiting  the  coming  (»f  the  feiuales.  Ninety- 
idVied  in  i5e.ini;  Sea  fivc  ])er  cciit  of  all  tlic  scals  killed  (luriiig  summer  and 
''^'"■''*'*-  autumn  in  the  Bering  are  females. 

Tluunas  IMowat,  esq.,  inspe<'tor  of  fisheries  for  British  (Columbia,  in 
his  leport  to  thc  governor-general  of  Canada,  says  that  only  1  per 
cent  of  the  Bering  cobection  are  juijis. 

Thc  female  seals  killed  in  the  IW'iing  are  either  on  their  way  to  give 
birth  to  their  young  or  liave  left  their  pup  on  the  islands,  and,  guided 


TAKEN    IN    SAN    FRANCISCO.  603 

by  that  instinct  given  by  nature  to  all  motliers,  liave     Females  feedin- 
g-one fortli  to  search  for  food  to  sustain  the  life  of  the       *^"'^  ''^  **^  ™°" 
little  one.    In  either  case  the  death  of  the  mother  means  the  death  of 
the  young. 

In  the  list  of  skins  offered  for  sale  in  the  London  market  there  appears 
the  classification  "black  pups."  These  are  the  skins  ..£1^^^.  ..^^j^^ 
of  unborn  seals  torn  from  the  wombs  of  their  dead  ^"^  ^  "** 

mother.     It  is  not  a  pleasant  picture,  but  it  can  not  be  avoided. 

The  soft-eyed  seal  mother,  making  her  rapid  way  through  the  Bering 
Sea  to  reach  the  islands  in  time  to  bring  forth  In^r  young,  for  she  knows 
that  the  time  of  gestation  is  nearly  at  an  end,  m  ith  every  instinct  of  her 
nature  concentrated  in  the  thought  of  her  expected  delivery,  in  that 
condition,  of  all  others,  most  demanding  the  consideration  of  brutes,  let 
alone  of  men,  is  slain  by  the  ruthless  seal  hunters  and  her  pup  dragged 
moist  from  the  womb  that  his  skin  may  figiTre  among  the  proceeds  of 
the  sealer's  trij).  There  is  something  so  revolting,  so  hideous  in  this 
slaughter  that  even  the  sealers  themselves  do  not  care  to  talk  about  it. 

So,  too,  is  revolting  the  slaughter  of  the  female  seal  that  has  given 
birth  to  her  i)up  and  gone  out  into  the  sea  to  find  food  to  sustain  the 
lives  of  both  of  them.  She  leaves  her  -p\\\>  on  shore,  a  helpless,  tiny 
thing,  soft  and  pulpy,  and  only  able  to  wriggle  and  bark.  Nature  has 
taught  her  to  recognize  it  among  hundreds  of  thousands  by  its  plaintive 
bleat,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  she  rushes  to  its  side  when  she 
comes  ashore  shows  how  much  she  loves  to  fondle  and  care  for  it.  If 
the  mother  is  killed  the  pup  will  linger  on  for  a  time,  ^^^^^ 
only  to  die  of  starvation  in  the  end,  or,  because  of  weak-  "^'^^  ^'"^^' 
uess,  be  dashed  to  pieces  in  the  first  storm.  Thousands  of  these  orphan 
pups  are  found  along  the  coast  after  a  severe  storm,  dead,  because  they 
had  not  sufficient  strength  to  exist  in  tlieir  natural  element.  Had  their 
mothers  been  spared  till  it  Avas  time  for  the  pups  to  .take  to  the  water 
and  live  on  fish  of  their  own  catching,  no  storm  that  ever  raged  in  the 
Arctic  Ocean  could  disturb  them.  The  seal  pup  can  live  a  long  time 
without  food,  which  is  a  wise  provision  of  nature,  because  the  mother  often 
has  to  go  a  very  long  distance  to  fish,  but  after  a  few  days,  if  the  mother 
does  not  return,  the  pup's  vitality  becomes  exhausted  and  it  dies. 

WHAT    IIITNTERS   LOSE. 

In  attempting  to  ascertain  exnctly  the  number  of  seals  ki]lo<l  and 
lost  by  the  Bering  Sea  hunters,  I  fouiul  a  wide  diver-      ^,.,  , ,     ,     , 

'',.."  '  A\  Iiat  Iimifeis  lose, 

gence  of  statement. 

It  is  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  seal  hunter  to  have  the  reputa- 
tion of  losing  but  few  seals.  lie  is  ])aid  by  the  skin,  and  the  more  he 
catches  the  greater  his  lemuneration,  but  that  is  not  all.  The  hunter 
with  the  best  reputation  as  a,  sure  catcher  is  in  the  greatest  deniaud, 
can  secure  employment  in  the  best  schooner  and  the  largest  sum  of 
advance  mcmey.  Besides  self-interest,  there  comes  vanity  to  urge  the 
hunter  to  n)ake  the  biggest  reputation  possible  for  himself. 

To  use  a  common  expression,  the  seal  hunters  all  brag  about  their 
sureness  of  aim.  The  l)est  .shots  use  a  rifle  and  fire  at 
a  range  of  from  50  to  125  yards.  Tlie  ])oor<'r  shots  de-  ofTill^ir'Tklir  ^"''** 
pend  <m  a  shotgnn  loadcnl  with  bucksliot,  and  will  lire 
at  a  seal  up  to  50  yards  away.  The  Indian  hnnters  use  spears,  and 
paddle  noiselessly  u]i  to  the  sle('i)ing  seal  to  ]dnng(^  the  spear  in  its 
shoulder.  They  never  att<'ni])t  to  s])ear  a  seal  that  is  awake.  An  In- 
dian hunter  will  paddle  in  among  a  lot  of  ''sleepers  "  and  spear  them, 


504  TESTIMONY 

one  after  the  otlier,  while  a  white  hunter  who  uses  firearms  alarms 
every  seal  in  the  neighborhood  at  the  first  discharge. 

The  Indians  lose  about  one-third  of  all  they  spear  either  from  failure 
,    ,  ,.         to  kill  wlicn  tliev  stiike  or  because  the  dead  seal  sinks 

Losses  1)Y  Iniliaiis.      ,  ■    ,  ^       n        It  j_  -j. 

too  quickly  lor  them  to  secure  it. 
The  white  hunters  do  not  get  one-half  of  all  they  shoot.     Some  hunt- 
ers are  very  careful  shots  and  will  not  tire  unless  the 
inmtors^   ^'^    '''"*"  ^*^'^^^  ^^  ^^'^'^^  witliiu  laugc,  but  the  seal  is  likely  to  sink 
before  the  boat  can  get  to  it,  or,  if  wounded,  will  dive 
like  a  flash  to  get  away.     A  number  of  hunters  have  boasted  that  they 
secure  ninety-tive  seals  for  one  hundi-ed  shots,  and  some  have  madeafU- 
davits  of  even  more  wonderful  exploits.     They  presume  too  much  on 
public  ignorance  and  crecbility. 

Only  the  head  of  a  seal  ai>pears  for  them  to  aim  at.  They  are  shoot- 
ing at  a  moving  object  from  a  moving  boat,  and  it  is 
8eiMv[u'ib"niei''^  absurd  to  pretend  that  95  i)er  cent  of  their  shots  are 
fatal,  and  that  all  the  seals  they  kill  are  picked  up 
before  sinking.  It  is  as  absurd  as  though  a  hunter  on  land  should 
boast  of  killing  0.5  per  cent  of  all  the  birds  he  aimed  at.  Tliere  are  a 
few  good  seal  liunters  whose  loss  does  not  exceed  25  per  cent,  but  they 
are  as  well  known  in  the  Xorth  as  champion  baseball  players  in  Amer- 
ica, and  form  but  a  small  ]»roportion  of  the  200  seal  hunters  who  signed 
lor  the  tri])  this  year. 

Fortunately  it  is  not  necessary  to  depend  on  the  statements  of  the 
seal  hunters.     1  secured  access  to  the  ship  accounts  of 
timrteat'oisum!''"'    sevcxal  scalcrs,  and  Ibund  that  in  every  case  the  con- 
sumption of  ainnuinition   showed  more  than  ten  car- 
tridges used  for  every  sealskin  <-a])tured. 

I  spent  considerable  time  among  the  Siwash  Indian  sealers,  and,  while 
they  brag  of  their  individual  prowess,  they  admitted  a  loss  of  30  per 
cent  at  least.  On  this  subject  I  append  a  statement  made  by  Captain 
Olsen,  of  the  sealing  bark  Bessie  Untcr^  of  Victoria: 

Captain  Olsen,  of  the  American  schooner  Bessie  Ruter,  of  Astoria, 
reached  Victoria  Sci)tember  27,  1889.     In  the  office  ot 
niasferTi'lhJS;  ^^^  American  consul,  Col.  E.  Stevens  he  said:  "I  took 
j.'uter,  an  to  waste  of  550  slvius  ill  the  Bciiug.     Of  these  27  were  pups,  520 
''""•  -*''•  females,  and  3  male  seals,  which  I  killed  off  the  island  of 

Kod  iak.  Most  of  the  female  seals  were  with  young.  I  had  a  green  crew 
and  green  hunters.  They  used  shotguns  and  sometimes  the  rifle.  They 
got  about  1  seal  for  every  3  they  aimed  at.  Some  they  missed  alto- 
gether, and  some  of  the  wounded  ones  got  away.  There  is  great  risk 
of  losing  a  traveling  seal.  The  slee]»ing  seal  l)low  u])  an  air  bladder  that 
keeps  them  from  sinking,  but  the  vS<'al  wlieii  awake  sink  easily.  Hooks 
are  used  to  grai>])le  them,  but  if  tlui  boat  is  some  distance  from  the  seal 
when  it  is  killed  it  does  not  olten  get  it.  For  that  reason  rifle  shooting 
at  long  rang<»  hardly  pays.  I  Mill  get  about  $7.75  for  some  of  my  skins 
and  $8  for  others.  My  voyage  will  pay  because  I  ran  the  boat  on  the 
cheap.  I  only  had  two  men  to  the  boat,  and  only  paid  my  hunters  $1 
a  skin,  instead  of  $2,  which  is  ])aid  to  first-class  hunters.  .Some  very 
skillful  hunters  do  not  lose  many  skins.  They  will  never  lire  unless  a 
seal  is  at  close  range,  and  they  generally  kill.  Of  course  they  lose  some 
from  sinking.  All  the  hunters  brag  about  how  few  they  lose,  because 
they  want  the  re|)utation  of  being  good  hunters.  The  better  reimtation 
they  have  the  better  chance  they  get. 

"If  the  Bering  Sea  was  o])(ni  many  new  men  would  come  into  the 
business,  and  the  loss  would  be  greater.     Only  a  few  men  make  sue- 


TAKEN    IN    RAN    FRANCISCO.  505 

cessfnl  hunters.     It  is  like  bcins"  n.  c-lever  rifle  sliot.     If  tlie  best  hunt- 
ers lose  ten  or  fifteen  in  a  liundred  the  other  kind  h)se  ten  times  as 
many,  if  not  more.     Green  hands  will  throw  away  a  lot  of  ammunition, 
shooting  at  everything  they  see,  wiietlier  it  is  in  range  or  not.     You 
can  not  stop  them.     They  will  wound  more  than  they  kill.     If  the 
mother  of  a  young  seal  is  killed  the  pup  is  very  likely     ^^^^ 
to  die.     It  will  be  so  weak  that  the  first  storm  wiU       ^"'^   ^"^^" 
dash  it  ashore  and  kill  it,  or  it  may  die  of  starvation.    I  have  seen 
l)ups  hardly  larger  than  a  rat  from  lack  of  nourishment.     A  starved 
or  neglected  orphan  pup  is  nearly  sure  to  die.     At  one  storm  the  na- 
tives found  over  three  hundred  pups  washed  ashore  in  a  little  cove,  and 
the  water  around  was  full  of  dead  pups.     It  is  certain  that  nearly  all 
the  dead  pups  were  orphans.    The  female  seal  Avhen    -^^^^^^^  feeding- 
suckling  her  young  has  to  go  out  into  the  ocean  in     ''""■'' ^^   ee  mg. 
search  of  food,  and  it  is  those  females,  or  females  on  the  way  to  the 
breeding  grounds  lo  give  birth  to  the  young,  that  we  kill  in  the  Bering 
Sea.     We  find  some  barren  female  seals — female  seals  too  old  to  breed, 
or  that  for  some  reason  have  not  bred.     I  have  often  wondered  that 
there  are  not  more  barren  seals.    The  males  on  the  islands  will  secure 
twenty  or  twenty-five  females,  and  the  male  being  constantly  engaged 
in  fighting,  it  is  likely  that  many  of  the  fenniles  are  neglected.     A 
young  seal  does  not  take  to  the  water  naturally.     He 
has  to  be  taught  to  swim.     The  hair  seal  will  pup  any-  i,„^,"P^  "°*  ^"^^^'^ 
where,  and  the  pups  will  go  right  into  the  water,  but 
the  fur  seals  are  forced  to  go  ashore  to  bring  forth  their  young  and 
forced  to  leave  their  young  on  land,  while  they  go  into  the  water  to 
feed  and  bathe.     I  suppose  that  if  everyone  could  kill  seal  in  the  Ber- 
ing in  a  few  years  the  seals  would  all  be  dead  except  the  males,  and  in 
time  the  seals  would  be  exterminated." 

VALUE   OF   SEIZED   VESSELS. 

In  ascertaining  the  value  of  the  vessels  that  have  been  seized  by  the 
United  States  Government  for  illegal  sealing  in  the 
Bering  Sea  I  got  the  record  of  actual  sales  in  every  ^^aiue  of  seized  ves- 
case  where  the  vessel  had  changed  hands  during  the 
past  six  years.  Many  of  the  schooners  w^ere  bought  by  their  last  own- 
ers at  imvate  sale,  but  others  had  been  sold  at  auction.  The  seized 
schooners  belonging  to  Boscowitz  and  Warren  Avere  all  sold  at  auction 
in  the  year  1885  and  were  bought  in  by  a.  party  in  the  interest  of  Bos- 
cowitz for  $1  each  above  the  lien  on  them.  No  one  bid  higher  than 
that,  for  the  excellent  reason  that  the  lien  represented  in  every  case 
the  full  value  of  the  boat  and  outfit,  and  was  given  by  Warren,  in  whose 
name  the  boats  stood,  to  secure  Boscowitz,  who,  being  an  American, 
could  not  legally  own  an  interest  in  boats  sailing  under  the  British 
flag.  I  append  a  certilied  copy  of  the  sale  of  these  vessels  at  public 
auction  in  Victoria  in  1885. 

T.  T.  Williams. 

Victoria,  B.  C,  Octohcr  J,  1889. 

United  States  of  America, 

State  of  California,  City  and  Count y  of  San  Francisco,  ss : 

I,  Clement  Bennett,  a  notary  ])Hbli<',  in  and  for  said  city  and  county, 

residing  therein,  duly  commissioned  iind  sworn,  do  certify  that  on  this 

4th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  one  tliousand  eight  hundred  and  ninety-two,  I 

carefully  comx)ared  the  foregoing  copy  of  a  report  of  T.  T.  Williams 


506  TESTIMONY 

with  tlie  original  tliereof,  now  in  tlio  possession  of  the  Alaska  Commer- 
cial Company  of  San  Francisco,  Calitoinia,  and  that  the  same  is  a  full, 
true,  and  correct  transcript  therefrom  and  of  the  whole  of  said  original 
report. 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affixed  my  offi- 
cial seal  at  my  ollice,  in  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  State  of 
California,  this  4  th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1802. 

[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

JS'otary  Vuhlic. 


Deposition  of  John  Woodruff,  sealer. 
PELAGIC   sealing. 

State  oe  Catjfotjnia, 

City  on  (I  Coiinti/  of  San  Frajiriiieo,  ss  : 
John  Woodrntt',  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  T  am  21 
years  of  age.     My  occupation  is  that  of  a  boatman.     I 

Experience.  ;'•         •       o     '"    i^  •  r  i.  -i-  i       j- 

live  m  San  rrancisco.    1  went  on  a  seahng  voyage  last 
Sonthei-ianii,  1801.     yCRr  in  the  schooner  Sonfherland.     We  left  San  Fran- 
cisco in  March,  sealing  all  thcAvay  along  the  coast.  We 
put  in  at  Sand  Point,  staying  there  a  week,  and  then 
Entered  Bering  Sea.   wcut  iuto  th(^  IJcriug  Sca.     Wc  wcrc  iu  tlicrc  about  a 
Ordered  out.  wcck  and  a  half,  and  were  ordered  out  by  the  lievenue 

Cutter /i'//.s7/.     We  caught  a  few  seals  in  there.     When 
we  first  went  in  there  we  did  not  see  many,  but  after  we  were  in  there 
a  while  we  saw  jdeiity  of  them  tliat  had  large  breasts  that  were  full  of 
^    „     ,      milk,  and  our  catch  wer<^  most  all  females:  the  average 

Pregnant      leniales  ,  ■   i  ,  ,  i      ,       i  ,.  i  i  i   -n     i 

taken  150  miie.s  iroiii    would  be  ubout  ouc  iiuile  to  tcu  icmales,  aud  we  killed 

^®'*'"^^-  cows  in  milk  150  miles  from  the  seal  islands.     A  green 

Waste  of  life.  huutcr  would  gct  OUC  out  of  evcry  fivc  or  six  that  he 

shot  <u'  kilh'd,  and  an  experienced  hunter  might  kill 

three  or  four  and  get  one.     A  great  nuuiy  that  we  shoot  sink. 

After  we  left  the  Bering  Sea  we  hove  to  outside  of  Unamak  Pass, 
staid  there  about  three  days,  and  started  home,  killing  a  few  young 
X)ups  on  the  way  down.  Our  entire  catch  for  that  tri})  was  between 
368  and  37S  seals.  We  landed  most  of  them  at  Sand  Point.  The 
catch  we  nnule  from  there  to  San  l^'rancisco  Ave  landed  here.  I  saw  a 
good  many  vessels  going  into  the  Bering  Sea.  There  was  also  quite 
a.  number  of  vessels  at  Sand  Point.  Some  of  t}\i^  vessels  go  through 
Unanuik  J'ass  nnd  some  go  through  tlu^  J^'onr  Mountain  Pass.  That 
,    was  the  oidv  voyage  I  made.     Tlie  seals  are  getting 

Iiiexperieneea  seal-         .,  ,  i  i       '  ^   j.    '      \    •  rm  j.  ' 

©,-.s.  Wild  and  hard  to  eaten.     Tliere  are  a  great  many  green 

hands  iu  the  business.  We  shot  at  everything  that 
came  along.  We  were  getting  oO  cents  for  every  f>kiu  obtained.  Our 
boats  went  .'iO  and  U)  ndles  IVom  the  schooner.  Sometimes  they  would 
leave  in  the  moining  at  o  and  not  reliirn  until  next  day  at  4  or  5  in  the 
evening. 

John  Woodruff. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  nth  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[seal.]  Clemf,nt  Bennett, 

Koiary  Public. 


TAKEN    IN    SAN   FRANCISCO.  507 

Deposition  of  George  Zammitt,  sealer. 

PELAGIC   SEALINa. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss  : 
George  Zaiiiinitt,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says 
31  years  of  age.  1  rc^side  iu  San  Francisco.  I  am  a 
macliinist  by  occupation.  I  made  a  sealing  voyage  on 
the  schooner  Seventy-six  about  eight  years  ago.  (Jap- 
tain  Potts  was  master  of  her.  We  did  not  hunt  at  all 
going  up  the  coast.  We  left  here  and  went  direct  to 
the  Bering  Sea.  We  went  over  to  the  Copper  Islands, 
on  the  Russian  side,  but  were  driven  away,  and  we 
came  back  towards  the  St.  Paul  and  St.  George  Islands 
and  caught  about  200  seals.  We  were  driven  away 
from  there,  and  then  the  vessel  returned  to  Victoria, 
British  Columbia,  and  I  left  the  vessel  there.  We  only 
used  rifles.  We  .shot  mostly  females,  I  was  boat- 
puller  and  did  other  work  also.  During  the  voyage  we 
lost  the  mate,  who  was  washed  overboard,  and  we  also 
lost  two  boats  at  the  same  time  in  a  storm.  We  sailed 
from  this  city.  We  tired  at  all  the  seals  we  could,  regardless  of  their 
sex.     We  got  one  out  of  every  six  or  seven  we  shot  at  or  killed. 

George  Zammitt. 

Subscribed  and  swoin  to  before  me  this  oth  day  of  April,  A.  D,  1892. 
[L.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

JS^otary  Fuhlic. 


T  am 


Experience. 

Seventi/nix,  1880. 

Entered  Bering  Sea. 

Went  to    Copper 
I.sland.s. 


1  >riven    away 
Ru.ssians. 


I'y 


Caught  200  seaLs. 
Shot  mostly  females. 
Indiscriminate  kill- 

Waste  of  life. 


TESTIMONY  RELATING   TO  THE  GENERAL  SEALSKIN  INDUS- 
TRY IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Deposition  of  George  Banfle,  pacler  and  sorter  of  raw  fur  shins. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

George  Bantle,  having'  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:   My  age 

is  53.     1  reside  in  San  Francisco.     1  am  a  packer  and  sorter  of  raAv  fur 

^.  slvins,  and  have  been  engaged  in  that  occui^atiou  for 

xpeiience.  ^^^^  ^^^^^  twenty  years.     My  calling  has  made  me  a 

judge  of  raw  seal  skins,  as  I  have  handled  in  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years 

from  10,000  to  15,000  annually. 

I  can  tell  by  examining  a  skin  whether  it  was  caught  in  season  or  out 

of  season,  and  whether  it  was  caught  on  the  Russian  side  or  on  the 

Differeuce  between  American  sidc.    A  Eussian  skin  is  generally  coarser, 

Kussian  and  Ameri-  and  the  uudcr  wool  is  generally  darker  and  coarser  than 

the  skins  of  the  seals  caught  on  the  American  side.    A 

Russian  skin  does  not  make  as  fine  a  skin  as  the  skins  of  the  seals 

caught  on  the  American  side,  and  are  not  worth  as  much  in  the  market. 

I  can  easily  distinguish  one  from  the  other. 

Diflereiice  between       1  call  also  tell  byexamiuiug  a  skin  whether  it  has 

male  and  female.  i  ,     i  ^  /.  -,  *-  , 

been  taken  from  a  loniale  or  male. 
I  have  examined  and  sorted  a  great  many  thousand  skins  taken  from 
sealing  schooners,  and  have  observed  that  they  are 
eai  y  a    ema  e.    j^^^.^^.j^  .^|j  ((ijii.jjji^^^  .^  f^^•^  bciiig  oUl  bulls  aud  yearlings. 

A  female  seal  has  a  smaller  head,  aud  a  largcn*  belly,  when  with 
young,  than  a  male  seal,  and  the  fur  on  the  belly  part,  where  the  teats 
are,  in  consequence  of  being  worn,  is  not  worth  much,  and  has  to  be 
cut  off  after  being  dyed. 

G.  Bantle. 

Subscribed  and  sworu  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[L.  S.J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Public. 


Deposition  of  G.  Francis  Bates,  memher  of  the  firm  of  Martin  Bates,  jr., 

tfc  Co.,  furriers. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  Kew  York, 

City  and  County  of  Nerc  Yorl;  ss: 
G.  Francis  Bates,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Martin  Bares,  jr.,  &  Co.,  and  am  the  person  described  in  and  who  veri- 
508 


BEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES. 


509 


fied  an  affidavit  on  the  22d  day  of  Jnne,  1803,  relating-  to  the  vakie  of 
the  indnstiy  of  manufacturiug  seal-skin  articles  in  the  United  States, 
and  other  matters. 

I  have  signed  the  firm  name  to  the  statement  hereto  annexed,  which 
has  been  prepared  from  a,  carefnl  examination  of  the  firm  books,  and  T 
know  it  to  be  trne  in  all  res])ects.  The  seal  skins  therein 
referred  to  were  all  pnrchased  at  Victoria,  British  .skins'^  pi.rcbased"1fy 
Colnmbia,  and  are  of  the  class  commonly  known  as  laTitoilgo*""'^  ^"^""^ 
northwest  coast  skins,  '.  e,,  skins  from  animals  which 
were  canght  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  or  in  the  waters  of  Bering-  Sea.  The 
statement  represents  all  of  the  skins  of  this  class  which  were  pnrchased 
by  my  firm  between  the  years  1880  and  18i)0,  inclusive,  together  with 
the  full  prices  paid  for  them.  I  believe  these  prices  to  represent  the 
average  value  of  northwest  coast  skins  at  Victoria  during  these  years, 
except  that  the  price  paid  for  the  small  lot  purchased  iu  1890  is,  as  I 
am  informed,  below  the  average  for  that  year.  I  find,  however,  upon 
referring  to  my  books,  that  this  lot  was  composed  of  small  skins,  some 
of  them  in  poor  condition. 

During-  the  year  J 801  we  purchased  no  northwest  coast  skins,  and  I 
am  therefore  nnable  to  state,  of  my  own  knowledge, 
their  value  in  that  year,  but  I  understand  that  in  the 
fall  of  1800  and  in  1801  it  was  very  mnch  higher  than 
in  any  previous  year,  owing  entirely  to  the  diminished 
catch  of  sealskins  upon  the  Pril)ilof  Islands  by  the 
lessees  of  the  Government  during  those  years. 

C.  Francis  Bates. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  L'l'd  day  of  June,  1802. 

[SEAL.]  George  Kissenger,  Jr., 

Notary  PnhliG  (No.  09)  City  and  County  of  New  York. 


Xouo  puicLaseil  in 
1891. 

Diminished  catch 
on  Pribilof  Island.s  in 
1890-'91. 


Staientcitt  by  Martin  Bates  jr.  cf  Co.,  of 

New  York. 

Tear. 

Niiniber 
of  seal 
skins 
pur- 
chased 
in  Vic- 
toria. 

Average 

price 
jjer  skin. 

Total 
price. 

1880 : 

4,  3.55 

5,  3(13 
8,  7S0 
(i,  S9.'{ 

11,527 
13,  43G 
10,  797 

2,  990 

3,  805 
500 
309 

$11.10 
9.35 
.5.80 
5.  HO 
5.38 
5.27 
4.89 
4.72 
4.35 
5.74 
5.70 

$48,312.50 

1881 

49.  578.  28 

1882 

,50,  907.  87 

1883         

40,701).  10 

1884 

02,  (152.  2ti 

1885 

70,  807.  90 

1886 ; 

82,211.64 

1887 ..     .. 

14,141.75 

1888 

16,  535.  60 

1889 

2,  906.  90 

1890 --   -- 

1,  735.  00 

Total 

74,  707 

439, 979. 80 

Deposition   of  Max ITeilhroaner,    /Secretary   of  the  AlasJai    Commercial 
Company  of  ^an  Francisco. 

SEALSKINS    purchased   BY  ALASKA  COMMERCIAL   CO. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Max  Heilbronner,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
the  secretary  ot  the  Alaska.  Commercial  Com[»any  of  San  Francisco,  and 
as  such  have  custody  of  all  accounts  of  said  company. 


510 


TESTIMONY. 


Statement  of  skins  The    followiuff  tabulated  statement  prepared  by  mc 

purchased    by     roin-     ,,  ,,  <^  .  ,  j^i         x-  i       i  • 

pauy from  1871  toi89i.  iroui    tliose   accouius   isliows   the  liir-seal   «kins  pur- 
chased and  shipi)ed   to  the  company  by  its  agents  at 
Kadiak  and  Unalaska  and  from  miscellaneous  sources  from  1871  to 
181)1,  inclusive : 


Date. 


1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 
1882 


Unalaska. 

Kadiak. 

Miscel- 
laneous. 

Total. 

516 
700 
444 

1,  223 
356 
562 

2,  500 
2,  001 
1,207 

930 

880 

1,030 

516 
1,503 
2,349 
1,223 

856 

562    1 
2,500 
2,013    1 
1,331    , 

941 

939 
1, 159 

78 

725 
1,905 

12 

124 

11 

59 
129 

Date. 


1883 

1884 

1885 

1886 

1887 

1888 

1889 

1890 

1S91 

Total 


Unalaska. 


Kadiak, 


1,546 
2,183 
1,389 

2,  821 
4,687 
1,757 

3,  046 
2,  679 
2,  925 


106 
35 
96 

223 


494 

95 

543 

471 


Miscel- 
laneous. 


Total. 


1,652 

2,218 
1,485 
3,044 
4,687 
2,251 
3,141 
3.222 
3.396 


40,988 


The  district  covered  by  the  company's  agency  at  Unalaska  embraces 

the  stations  at  Unga,  Bolkotfski,  Sannak,  Akoutan, 

Di.shicts covered  by   Moslirovia,   Umiiak,   Atka,  and  one  or  two  smaller 

unXs"ka"anlKadiak.  posts.     I  aui  credibly  informed  by  those  cognizant  of 

the  business  and  believe  that  a  large  majority  of  the 
skins  from  this  agency  \Yere  captured  in  the  Xorth  Pacific.  The  dis- 
trict embraced  by  the  Kadiak  Agency  includes  the  stations  at  upper 
and  lower  Kenai,  Prince  William  Sound,  and  several  trading  posts 
on  Kadiak  Island,  and  without  doubt  all  the  skins  from  this  agency 
were  caught  in  the  IS^orth  Pacific.     A  large  majority  of  all  the  skins 

from  both  places  were  pups  a  few  months  old.  The 
tw^ofpups"'  ^^'°''  skins  under  the  head  of  miscellaneous  were  bought 

from  ditterent  vessels  which  brought  them  to  San 
Francisco.  I  think  they  were  all  or  nearly  all  caught  in  the  is^orth 
Pacific. 

Max  Heilbronner. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  2d  day  of  May,  A.  D.,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Puhlic. 


Deposition  of  George  Liehcs,  furrier,  of  San  Francisco. 
pelagic  catch. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
George  Liebes,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  My  age 
is  25.     1  reside  in  San  Francisco.     I  am  a  furrier  and  dealer  in  dressed 
and  raw  furs  l)y  occuiiation.     I  have  been  engaged  in 

Experience.  j_i      j^  i         •  /•       ^i       i       i.      •  t  i  t    "      "         • 

that  business  tor  the  last  six  years.  1  have  been  going- 
to  Victoria  for  the  last  two  years  for  the  purpose  of  buying  both  land 
and  sea  furs.  In  1890  I  examined  14,000  fur-seal  skins  that  were 
brought  down  on  a  tender  from  Sand  Point,  Alaska.  That  was  the 
entire  catch  of  the  Victoria  sealing  tleet  u])  to  that  time,  the  middle  of 
June.  It  was  transferred  at  Sand  Point  so  that  the  schooners  Avhich 
had  the  catch  on  board  could  enter  the  Bering  Sea  clear  of  all  skins, 
in   case    they   might  be   overtaken   and  searched   by   revenue    cut- 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  511 

ters.  The  propoitiou  of  females  in  this  .  lot  was 
over  90  per  cent.  It  was  very  easy  to  distinj^niish  ^Zn^lJfJlKZ'!^^'' 
the  males  from  tlie  females  on  account  of  the  forma- 
tion of  their  heads,  the  belly  being  swollen  out  of  shape,  the  teats 
showing  signs  of  development,  and  also  showing  that  the  seal  had 
been  full  of  young  and  had  evidently  been  cut  open  and  the 
young  remo\ed.  There  were  also  some  black  pups  among  the  lot, 
which  are  the  skins  of  unborn  seals  and  have  no  commercial  value. 

I  am  informed  and  believe  tliat  the  reason  of  there 
being  such  a  large  proporticni  of  females  among  the  propilrtSu^of  fe^m^[ls^ 
coast  skins  is  because  the  niah^,  which  is  powerful  and 
strong,  usually  swims  more  ra])idiy  and  at  a  longer  distance  from  the 
coast,  and  are  so  scattered  and  active  and  hard  to  catch  tluit  it  does 
not  pay  to  hunt  them.  The  female  heavy  with  young  easily  tires,  and 
sleeps  on  the  water,  and  is  easily  shot  wlule  in  that  condition. 

I  also  examined  a  porticm  of  the  catch  brought  to  Victoria  in  1891, 
and  the  same  conditions  as  to  females  existed  as  in  the  Lavser  proportion 
previous  year,  except  that  there  was  a  larger  propor-  "at^j^'o^'i'sli*''^'"^  ^'^ 
tion  of  yearling  skins  among  them. 

I  have  also  examined  skins  taken  by  hunters  from  the  Bering  Sea, 
and  there  is  even  a  greater  proportion  of  females  than  j^^^.^^^.  proportion 
among  those  taken  on  the  coast.  It  is  easier  to  distin-  of  teni-iies among Ber- 
guisirthe  females  in  the  Bering  Sea  skins,  for  the  teats  i"fo4Tiios6*of  coast! 
are  fully  developed  from  the  seals  suckling  their  young  j^^^'^ipg  feedino- 
and  they  are  caught  while  in  the  sea  searching  for  food.  ^"'"  "^^  "'' 
The  fur  on  the  belly  of  these  female  seals  is  very  poor  and  thin,  owing 
to  the  swelling  and  fever  in  the  teats,  caused  by  suckling.  Oftentimes 
female  skins  are  found  with  big  bare  spots  round  the  teats,  due  to  the 
same  cause. 

I  have  made  it  my  business  to  find  out  what  proportion  of  skins  of 
seals  killed  are  really  brought  into  the  market,  and  from  the  information 
which  I  obtained  from  the  sealers,  hunters,  and  those     ,^  ,  , 

, ,  ,  •  T   1  1    XI      <     '  '  1  Only   one    securecl 

ownnig  the  skins,  I  learned  that  on  an  average  only  out  of  six  killed. 
about  one  out  of  six  killed  Avas  secured,  varying  with 
the  expertness  of  the  hunter. 

In  former  times  the  seals  were  shot  with  rifles,  and  only  had  one  small 
hole  through  which  the  bullet  entered.     Now  shotguns  ^,^^^^^  ^^^.^^ 

are  used,  and  the  skins  are  fretpiently  so  perforated  that 
they  look  more  like  a  .sieve  than  a  skin,  which  reduces  their  commercial 
value  over  50  per  cent. 

In  the  jmrsuit  of  my  business  I  have  had  an  opportunity  to  buy  and 
examine  fur-seals  taken  from  the  Comnmnder  Islands, 
and  can  readily  distinguish  them  from  the  northwest  ,,,,^;""a\^,"f,^;^t^"\-ro!n 
coast  catch  and  those  taken  from  the  Pribilof  Islands,   that  of  tho  northwest 
They  are  evidently  a  distinct  and  separate  herd,  as  the  ;;;^:,^1""''  ^'"'''•"^  ^" 
foundation  of  the  fur  is  much  ct>arser,  and  at  the  same 
time  does  not  cover  the  belly  as  thickly  as  on  the  Alaska  seal  ami  is 
of  very  much  less  value.     The  proof  of  this  is  that  the  Commander 
Island  skins  bring  ;^)  per  cent  less  in  the  market  than  the  Alaska  skins. 
From  my  knowledge  and  experience  in  the  ])urchase  and  handling  of 
fur-seal  skins,  I  know  that  tlie  skins  taken  from  seals 
along  the  coast  and  those  taken  from  the  Tribilof  Is-   tiioso'^of  Mbiiof* is- 
lands belong  to  the  same  herd.     In  buying  the  skins   lands  belong  to  same 
taken  from  seals  caught  by  hunters  in  the  Bering  Sea, 
the  price  is  usually  made  for  tlie  lot  as  it  runs  without  any  limitation 


512  TESTIMONY. 

as  to  yearlinjis,  the  yearlings  not  aveiaging  more  than 

Pii<e8  paid  for  skills.  2  per  ceut,  wlicreas  the  coast  skins  are  always  bou<iht 

Proportion    ot    year-         f  ^ ,  t      •,     ,•  ^  i-  ■         i   "  •  *    t 

lings.  With  a  limitation  as  to  yearlings,  one  price  being  made 

for  the  skins  and  the  otlier  f(>r  the  yearlings.     In  these 
lots  the  yearlings  nsnally  a\erage  10  i)er  cent. 
ana^Ii'-eifskins'^'^''''*''*       ^  herewith  attach  samples  of  dressed  and  dyed  fur- 
seal  skins  of  the  Alaska  seals,  labeled  as  follows: 
Exhibit  No.  1,  showing  the  teats  on  the  belly  of  a  virgin  female. 
Exhibit  No.  -,  showing  the  teats  on  a  cow  heavy  with  pup. 
Exhibit  No.  3,  showing  teats  on  a  cow  suckling  piij)s. 
Exhibit  No.  4,  showing  teats  on  a  bachelor  seal. 
Exhibit  No.  5,  showing  the  teats  on  a  Avig. 

George  Liebes, 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  Herman  Liebes,  furrier,  San  Franeisco. 

GENERAL    SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY   AND    PELAGIC    SEALING. 

City  and  County  of  'New   Yorl;  ss: 
Herman  Liebes,  being  duly  sworn,  says: 

First.  That  he  is  oO  years  of  age  and  resides  in  the  city  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, Calilbrnia.     That  he  has  been  in  the  fur  business 
Experience.  siiicc  hc  was  13  ycars  of  age,  and  established  in  his 

Purcbased  skins  own  busiucss  ill  Sau  Fraiicisco  in  theyear  18G4.     That 
in°rian8'in''mo*^'""'*  he  first  began  to  buy  sealskins  in  the  year  1805.    At 
that  time  he  made  his  purchases  from  the  Indians  on 
n  y  oma  e  s  ins.  ^jjg^r(ig|-^.j.jj  y(,i,st  of  the  Aincrica.n  continent,  who  offered 
to  him  only  the  skins  of  female  seals;  that  the  price  he  originally  paid 
for  them  was  as  low  as  50  cents  per  skin;  that  he  offered  the  Indians  a 
much  higher  price  for  male  skins,  and  was  told  by  them 
TTiiaiiie  to  procure  ^1,.^^,  ^j^.  jnalc  scals  could  uot  becaught,  and  that  many 

male  .skins.  it  ,  i         i  ii  "  i   ni  i  'i 

Indians  wliom  he  has  personally  seen  kijl  seals,  and 

from  whom  he  has  bought  skins,  have  told  him  that  male  seals  and  the 

young  cows  were  too  active  to  be  caught  and  that  it 

Keasons  tliercfor.     "^  ^      J.^        .■  i  i      i  -i-i         "  i   •    i    j.i 

was  only  the  lemale  seals  heavy  with  young  which  they 
could  catch.  The  males,  for  instance,  as  deponent  was  told  by  the 
seal  hunters,  come  uj»  to  the  surface  of  the  water  after  diving,  often  as 
much  as  a  mile  from  the  j)la(;e  they  went  down;  whereas  the  females 
can  when  inegnant  hardly  dive  at  all. 

Dejionent  says  that  from  his  own  observation  of  live  seals  during 

many  years,  and  from  his  personal  inspection  of  the 
niSirfenlllkins"  sl^>"'S  ^e  kuows  tlic  difference  between  the  skin  of  a 

female  seal  and  a  male  seal  to  be  very  marked,  and 
that  the  two  are  easily  distinguishable.  The  skin  of  the  female  seal 
shows  the  marks  of  the  breast,  about  which  there  is  no  fur.  The  belly 
of  the  female  seal  is  barren  of  fur  also,  whereas  on  the  male  the  fur  is 
thick  and  evenly  distributed.  The  iemale  seal  has  a  much  narrower 
head  than  the  male  seal,  and  this  dilference  is  ai)parent  in  the  skins;  also 
that  the  differences  between  the  male  and  female  skins  are  so  marked 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  513 

that  there  is  now  and  always  has  been  a  difference  in  the  price  of  the 

two  of  from  300  to  500  per  cent.     For  example,  at  the     .^.^  ^ 

last  odles  in  London,  on  the  22d  day  of  January,  1892,   of  mai^e*°and°^ma1e 

there  were  sold  30,000  fiMnale  skins  at  a  price  of  40   '''""s- 

shillings  apiece,  and  13,000  male  seals  at  a  price  of  130  shillings  apiece 

on  an  average. 

Second.  That  from  the  year  1864:  down  to  the  present  day  deponent 
or  his  firm  have  been  large  purcbasers  of  sealskins  on 
the  western  coast  of  America  from  the  Indians  and  res-  i,im''i"uc^"i864^^*'''  ^^ 
idents  ontlu!  British  coast;  and  deponent  believes  tliat 
he  has  handled  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  catch  from  that  time  dowTi  to 
the  present.  That  during-  tlie  whole  of  this  period  he  has  i)urcliased 
from  3,000  to  40,000  seal  skins  a  year,  and  that  he  has  personally  in- 
spected and  physically  handled  the  most  of  the  skins  so  bought  by  him 
or  his  firm. 

That  from  the  year  1880  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  buying  skins 
from  American  and  English  vessels  engaged  in  what  is  now  known  as 
poaching,  and  that  he  has  personally  inspected  every  cargo  bought  and 
seen  unloaded  from  the  i^oaching  vessels,  and  subsequently  seen  and 
superintended  the  unpacking  of  the  same  in  his  own  warehouse;  that 
the  most  of  the  skins  above  mentioned  as  purchased  by  him  have  been 
bought  from  the  poaching  vessels,  and  that  of  the  skins  so  bought  from 
the  vessels  known  as  poachers,  deponent  says  that  at 
least  90  per  cent  of  the  total  nnmber  of  skins  were  those  skinT  LughWrom 
of  female  seals,  and  that  the  skins  of  male  seals  found  ^^^^H""  ^^"^^  °* 
among  those  cargoes  were  the  skins  of  very  small  ani-  ™ 
mals,  not  exceeding  two  years  of  age,  and  further,  that  the  age  of  the 
seal  may  be  told  accurately  from  the  size  of  its  skin. 

Third"!  That  the  skins  bought  at  Victoria  from  the  poaching  vessels 
are  shipped  by  him  largely  to  the  firm  of  C.  M.  Lamp- 
son  &  Co.,  in  London,  Avho  are  the  largest. sellers  of  MmiS>mpo"ac!.«sa''r^ 
skins  in  the  world  and  the  agents  ot  deponent's  firm,   .onsigned  largely  to 
That  he  has  been  through  the  establishment  of  C.  H.  Eomion ™^'°"  ^  ^"■' 
Lampson  &  Co.,  in  London,  very  frequently.     That  he 
has  frequently  heard  stated  by  the  superintendent  thereof  that  the 
great  majority  of  the  skins  received  bv  them  from  what 
is  called  the  "northwest  catch,"  that 'is,  the  northwest  ,,,,^,;',;;n*«kins  and 
coast  of  Victoria,  are  the  skins  of  seals  caught  by  ves-  those  of  females  lu 
sels  in  the  open  Pacific  or  the  Bering  Sea,  and  that  M'ta.upso'n°&  co.  ^' 
a  large  proportion  of  said  skins,  amounting  to  at  least 
90  per  cent,  were  in  his,  the  said  superintendent's,  judgment  obviously 
the  skins  of  female  seals. 

Fourth.  That  deponent  has  frequently  requested  the  captains  of  the 
poaching  vessels  sailing  from  the  port  of  Victoria  and 
other  po'rts  to  obtain  the  skins  of  male  seals,  and  stated    J^':!^^^'^^^^^^^^^^ 
that  he  would  give  twice  as  much  money,  or  even  more,  male  skius. 
for  such  skins  than  he  would  pay  for  the  skins  of  fe- 
male seals.     Each  and  all  of  the  captains  so  approached  laughed  at 
the  idea  of  catching  male  seals  in  the  open  sea,  and      j-aUure  thereof. 
said  that  it  was  imiiossible  for  them  to  do  it,  and  that 
they  could  not  catch  male  seals  unless  they  could  get  upon  the  islands, 
which,  except  once  in  a  long  while,  they  were  unable  to  do  in  conse- 
quence of  the  restrictions  imposed  by  the  United  States  Government; 
because  they  said  the  males  Avere  more  active  and  could  outswim  any 
boat  which  their  several  vessels  had,  and  that  it  was  only  the  female 
seals  who  were  heavy  with  young  which  could  be  caught.    Among  the 
captains  of  vessels  with  whom  deponent  has  talked,  and  who  have 
2716— VOL  n 33 


514  TESTIMC'NY. 

stated  to  him  tliat  they  were  unable  to  catch  anything  but  female  seals, 
are  the  following: 

Captain  Cathcart,  an  American,  now  about  75  years  of  age,  who  com- 
manded the  schooner  /S'rtw  Diego,  and  who  subsequently  commanded 
other  vessels;  Capt.  Harry  Harmson,  Capt.  George  W.Littlejohu,Oapt. 
A.  Carlson,  Gustav  Sundvall,  and  others,  whose  names  he  does  not 
now  remember. 

Fifth.  That  by  reasoTJ  of  his  long  acquaintance  with  the  business 
and  his  conversations  with  the  captains  of  the  vessels, 
^^°     ®-  called  poachers,  and  the  hunters  employed  on  those  ves- 

sels— that  is,  the  i)ersons  who  actually  shoot  the  seals — deponent  is  satis- 
tied  that  a  large  number  of  the  seals  which  are  shot  are  not  caught,  but 
are  lost,  and  that  the  number  so  killed  and  lost  is  at  least  25  to  30  per 
cent. 

Dej)onent  further  says  that  by  reason  of  his  knowledge  of  the  busi- 

Decrease.  ^^^^^  lic  kuows  that  the  uumber  of  seals  has  greatly 

Absolute  prohibi-  dimiuislicd  witljiu  the  last  five  years,  and  is  of  the 
tion  necessary.  opinion  that  opcu-sca  seal-tishing  should  be  absolutely 

prohibited,  and  that  if  the  same  is  not  done  the  seals  will  within  two, 
or  at  the  utmost  three,  years  be  exterminated.  This  opinion  is  based 
upon  the  assumption  that  the  present  restriction  imposed  by  the  United 
States  and  Russia  on  the  number,  age,  and  sex  of  the  seals  killed  upon 
the  islands  owned  by  them  respectively  are  to  be  maintained. 

Deponent  is  farther  of  the  0]3inion  that  it  would  be  necessary,  in 
order  to  fully  protect  the  herds,  to  prohibit,  at  least  for  a  time,  the 
killing  of  all  female  seals  anywhere.  'J'hat  one  reasoii  for  deponent's 
opinion  that  the  total  number  of  seals  in  the  Pacitic  and  Bering  Sea 
has  diminished  very  rapidly  is  the  fict — Avhich  deponent  knows  from 
the  fact  that  he  buys  so  large  a  portion  of  the  poachers'  catch — that 
there  are  now  engaged  on  what  is  called  "poaching" 
o/"p"acMn<^  ?e™efs!  about  eighty  vcsscls,  and  that  about  five  years  ago 
and  diminisW  catch  uot  morc  than  tcu  vcssels  wcre  engaged  in  poacliiug ; 
per^esbe .  ^^^  that  the  total  number  of  skins  brouglit  in  by  the 

whole  eighty  vessels  is  now  not  very  much  greater  than  the  number 
brought  in  five  years  ago  by  ten  vessels.  The  poaching  vessels  a  few 
years  ago  have  been  known  to  get  as  many  as  3,00U  or  4,000  skins, 
and  deponent  has  bought  4,01)0  skins  from  one  vessel,  Avhereas  no  i^oach- 
ing  vessel  now  gets  more  than  a  few  hundred  with  the  same  size  crew. 
One  vessel  last  year  sailing  from  Victoria  made  a  catch  of  1,900  skins, 
but  this  is  now  an  altogether  exceptional  catch,  and  this  vessel  had  a 
crew  twice  as  large  as  poaching  vessels  formerly  carried,  and  was 
eipiipped  with  from  twelve  to  til  teen  boats  instead  of  five  or  six.  One 
or  two  otlier  poaching  vessels  also  nnule  large  catches — that  is, 
over  1,200  skins — but  the  average  catch  of  the  poaching  vessels 
is  not  more  than  a  few  hundred  each.  This  is  true, 
equi"iHurat*of^po"chi  although  tlic  poacliiug  vessels  are  now  equipped  with 
ing  vessels.  mucli  luorc  experienced  shooters,  with  better  rifles,  and 

with  better  boats  than  any  ot"  the  vessels  had  five 
years  ago.  Many  of  the  poaching  vessels  now  have  boats  pointed  at 
both  ends,  so  that  they  can  go  backward  or  forward  Avith  equal  ease; 
and  the  old  poacher  only  had  ordinary  ships'  boats.  Deponent  knows 
this  to  be  true,  because  he  has  seen  tlie  boats  and  talked  with  the  cap- 
tains of  the  schooners  about  them. 

Herman  Liebes, 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  4th  day  of  April,  1892. 

[l.  s.]  '  Edwin  T.  Rice,  Jr., 

Notary  Fuhlic,  JS'ew  York  County. 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN   UNITED    STATES.  515 

Dejposition  of  Isaac  Liehes,  furrier,  San  Francisco. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  op  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

Isaac  Liebes,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  reside  at  San 
Francisco,  in  the  State  of  California.     I  aui  by  occii-        k  •  -• 
patiou  a  fur  merchant,  and  I  have  been  so  engaged  ^puience. 

permanently  for  tlie  last  twenty-three  years,  during  which  time  I  have 
been  constantly  handling  large  (luantities  of  raw  fur-seal  skins;  in  fact 
more  so  than  any  other  individual  in  the  United  States  or  Canada. 
I  claim  to  be  thoroughly  conversant  with  all  kinds  of  seal  skins,  and 
from  all  the  difterent  locations,  and  can  readily  distinguish  one  from 
the  other.  I  am  also  thoroughly  familiar  with  their  mode  of  capture, 
handling,  packing,  etc.;  also  when  the  skin  is  dressed,  dyed,  and  man- 
ufactured. 

Some  eighteen  years  ago  several  thousand  seals  were  taken  on  the 
Guadelupe  Islancls  off  the  coast  of  Mexico,  but  their  Qyadeiu 
hunting  being  unrestricted,  they  were  practically  exter-  seaiH^prao?ticau/  Tx- 
minated  inside  of  three  years.  So  much  so  that  a  ves-  termmated- 
sel  visiting  these  islands  some  four  months  ago  was  only  able  to  secure 
3  fur  seals,  and  the  captain  states  that  he  does  not  think  that  even 
these  would  have  been  obtained  had  it  not  been  for  the  large  number 
of  caves  on  that  particular  island,  which  probably  gave  shelter  to  a 
few  of  the  animals  while  the  extermination  was  being  practiced. 

The  fur-seal  belonging  to  this  island  does  not  migrate,  the  climate 
being  sufticiently  uniform  all  the  year  round  to  make 
it  unnecessary  for  them  to  do  so.     Their  fur  is  of  a  dif-   not 'migrate!  '"^'*    **^* 
ferent  nature  from  the  northwest  skins,  being  much 
shorter  and  of  a  darker  color. 

The  Gallapagos  Island  rookery  was  much  larger  than     ^^^^^ 
the  Guadelupe,   and   the  animals   have    also  become  neariy'Txtmct. 
nearly  extinct  there  by  reason  of  unrestricted  hunting. 

Several   vessels  have  visited  the  rookeries  in   the  vicinity  of  Cape 
Horn  and  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  tlie  last  vessel      „^^^  ^^^^.^ 
returned  from  the  latter  place  only  last  week  with  a  stiaus  of°M"sc-iku 
catch  of  twenty-six  skins,  representing  a  seven  months'  populated. "^^^^^  '^^ 
cruise. 

Heretofore  some  expeditions  went  from  this  port  to  the  Shetland  Is- 
lands, but  their  catches  were  so  small  that  in  thelast  few      ^    „  ^t.  *,    it 

■         ,  ..  ,  ,  ,  -jii'-'j         •!  Soiitli   Shetland  Is 

years  no  hunting  has  been  done  m  tiiat  vicinity,  it  be-   lauds  seal  extiuct. 
ing  understood  that  the  animal  is  extinct  there. 

Isaac  Liebes. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  3d  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1892. 
[L.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


516  TESTIMONY. 

Dciwsition  of  Sidney  Liebes,  furrier,  San  Francisco, 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Sidney  Liebes,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  My  age 
is  22.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco,  and  am  by  occui)a- 
Experience.  tion  a  furricr,  having  been  engaged  in  that  bnsmess 

tor  the  hist  six  years.     1  have  made  it  my  business  to 
examine  raw  seal  slcius  bronght  to  this  city  for  sale,  and  am  familiar 
with  the  ditterent  kinds  of  seal  skins  in  the  market.     I  can  tell  from  an 
examination  of  a  skin  whether  it  has  been  caught  on  the  Eussian  oi 
American  side.     I  have  found  that  the  Eussian  skins  were  flat  and 
smaller,  and  somewhat  different  in  color  in  the  under 
ferioTto  ALask'S^.  ^'  '^ool  ^hau  thosc  caught  on  the  American  side.     In  my 
opinion  they  are  of  an  inferior  quality.    The  Alaska 
skins  are  larger  and  the  hair  is  much  finer.     The  color  of  the  under- 
wool  is  also  different.     I  have  no  difficulty  in  distinguishing  one  skm 
from  the  other.     I  am  of  the  opinion  that  they  belong 
kan"her(is  (fistlii^/''^    ^^  ^^^  entirely  separate  and  distinct  herd.     In  my  ex- 
Ninety  per  cent  of  amiuatiou  of  skins  offered  for  sale  by  sealing  schooners, 
FetX."'''""^^''"*"'^  1  found  that  over  90  per  cent  were  skins  taken  from 
females.     The  sides  of  the  female  skin  are  swollen,  and 
are  wider  on  the  belly  than  those  of  males.     The  teats  are  very  dis- 
cernible on  the  females,  and  it  can  be  i^lainly  seen  where  the  young 
have  been  suckling.    The  head  of  the  females  is  also  much  narrower. 

Sidney  Liebes. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[L.  S.J  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  ruhlic. 


Deposition  of  John  JV.  Lofstad,  furrier,  San  Francisco. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 

John  X.  Lofstad,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:    I  am 

48  years  of  age.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco.     I  am  by 

Experience.  occupatiou  a  dealer  in  furs  and  fur  goods.     I  liave  been 

in  the  business  for  28  years,  during  which  time  I  have 

bought  large  numbers  of  dressed  and  undressed  fur  skins,  and  I  am 

thoroughly  familiar  with  the  business.     I  can  easily 

the  CoiJperfsiamrand  distinguish  the  CoppcT  Island  fur-seal  skin  in  its  un- 

Aiaskau  and  North-  drcsscd  statc  from  that  of  the  Alaskan  and  Northwest 

west  skins  and  herds.  ,      i   •  mi  £•  j^-      i       t    j.-       i.  i 

coast  skins.  They  are  of  an  entirely  distinct  and  sep- 
arate herd,  while  those  of  the  Northwest  coast  and  'Pribilof  Island  are 
of  the  same  variety.     I  have  bought  and  examined  the  catch  of  a  great 

maiiv  sealing  schooners  during  the  last  ten  years,  and 
ceS^t^lSil^i:^  ^I'l^-e  obserN^d  tluit  85  to  90^)er  cent  of  skins  taken 

were  from  female  seals,  which  I  could  distinguish  by  a 
glance,  from  the  shai^e  of  the  skins,  texture  of  the  fur,  and  develop- 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  517 

ment  of  the  teats.    Mj  observation  is  that  the  skins 

taken  from  seals  killed  on  the  islands  are  a  better  ,^Tvnm°^^^^^^^ 

quality  th;ni  those  of  the  same  herd  taken  ott  tlie  coast  than  those  of  coast. 

of  California.    This  is  owing  to  their  being  taken  at 

that  season  of  the  year  when  the  fur  is  in  its  prime,  and  also  taken 

from  the  best  grade  of  seals.     Those  that  are  caught 

off  the  coast  are  killed  indiscriminately,  and  are  largely  .^in.iiscrmunate kiu- 

females.     Many  of  them  having  borne  young  for  years, 

their  fur  is  inferior  to  those  of  young  bachelors. 

John  N.  Lopstad. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  diiy  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fublic. 


Deposition  of  Charles  E.  McClennen^  director  of  the  George  C.  Treadivell 

Company,  furriers. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  jSTew  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  Yorl-^  ss: 
Charles  E.  McClennen,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  30  years  of  age, 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  resident  of  Albany, 
in  the  State  of  New  York.     I  am  a  director  in  the      Experience. 
George  C.  Tread  well  Company,  the  corporation  referred 
to  in  the  affidavit  of  George  H.  Treadwell,  verified  this  day.     I  have 
been  in  the  fur  business  for  about  eight  years,  and  during  that  time  I 
have  handled  many  fur-seal  skins  in  all  their  conditions.     I  have  read 
the  affidavit  of  John  J.  riielan,  verified  the  18th  day  of  June,  1892.     I 
was  present  at  the  examination  of  seal  skins  therein 
referred  to.    While  Phelan  inspected  all  of  these  seal  j  Xn'^  j%f^J.'^'''''*  "^^ 
skins  I  assisted  him  in  the  inspection  of  about  three-   inspection  of  skins.  " 
fourths  of  them.     I  know  that  of  those  we  inspected 
jointly  none  were  improperly  classed  as  the  skins  of  female  animals. 

Chas.  E.  McClennen. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  20th  day  of  June,  1892. 
[SEAL.]  E.  R.  McCarty, 

Notary  FubliG  {No.  57)  in  and  for  the  City  and  County  of  New  Yorl: 


Deposition  of  Br.  H.  H.  McTntyre,  superintendent  of  Ala  si;  a  Commercial 
Company  on  the  Fribilof  Islands. 

COST  OF  PLACING  SEALSKINS  ON  THE  MARKET. 

State  of  Vermont,  Orange  County,  ss : 

H.  n.  Mclntyre,ofEandoli)h,in  said  county,  having  been  duly  sworn, 
deposes  and  says:  I  am  a  native  of  Vermont,  48  ^^  ^..^ 
years  old.  In  the  years  1808  and  1809  I  was  si)ecial 
United  States  Treasury  agent  assigned  to  duty  in  Alaska  under  par- 
ticular instructions  to  visit  and  report  ui)on  the  seal  fisheries  of 
Alaska,  aud  from  1870  to  1889.  inclusive,  1  was  superintendent  of  the 
sealeries  for  the  lessees  of  the  Tribilof  Islands,     in  these  capacities  1 


518  TESTIMONY. 

first  visited  the  seal  islands  in  the  siiminei'  of  18G9,  and  every  year 
thereafter  until  and  incluvlino-  1889,  except  the  years  1883,  1884,  and 
1885.  In  1871  and  1872  I  staid  there  continuously  for  about  sixteen 
months,  and  in  each  of  the  other  years  from  two  to  four  months  through 
the  sealing-  season.  I  also  visited  London  twice  during  my  superinten- 
dency  in  connection  Avith  the  sealing  industry,  and  was  at  all  times  ac- 
tively at  work  in  the  interests  of  my  employers.  My  duties  as  such 
superintendent  demanded  that  I  should  be  thoroughly  conversant  with 
all  the  details  of  shipping  and  transporting  seal  skins  taken,  and  the 
necessary  expenses  incurred  by  my  employers.  From  my  knowledge 
of  such  expenditures  I  herewith  submit  the  folloAving  statement  in  re- 
lation to  the  cost  of  putting  the  annual  quota  of  skins  obtained  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands  upon  the  market  when  a  hundred  thousand  seals  are 
killed,  and  I  believe  such  statement  to  be  practically  correct: 

Maintenaiice  of  island  establisliments $12,  000 

Salaries  of  employ68  (exclusive  of  natives) 12,  000 

Transportation  to  San  Francisco 15,  OOO 

Transportation,  San  Francisco  to  New  York 20,  000 

Transportation,  New  York  to  London 6,  000 

Insurance,  $1, •400,000  at  1  per  cent 14,  000 

Commission  foj  selling,  2i  per  cent  of  $1, 500, 000 37,  500 

Storage,  coope  rage,  twine,  salt,  etc 15,  500 

Interest  on  the  plant,  10  per  cent  of  $100,000 10,000 

Annual  rental  paid  to  Government,  per  terms  of  lease 60,  000 

Obligations  of  the  lease  for  fish,  fuel,  medicines,  etc 25,000 

Supervision  of  business  from  San  Francisco 2(i,  000 

First  cost  of  skins  to  natives 40,  000 

Cost  of  100,000  skins  delivered  in  London,  sold 287,  000 

H.  H.  McIntyre. 

Sworn  and  subscribed  at  Randolph,  this  first  day  of  August,  A.  D. 
1892.     Before  me, 

[SEAL.]  W.  H.  Du  Bois, 

Xotary  Public. 


Deposition  of  John  J.  Phelan,  furrier. 
pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  ISTew  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss  : 
John  J.  Phelan,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  35  years  of  age,  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  and  a  resident  of  Albany,  in  the  State  of 

New  York.     At  the  age  of  11  I  entered  the  service  of 
Experience.  Mr.  Georgc  C.  Treadwcll,  a  wholesale  furrier  of  Albany. 

1  remaim^d  Avith  him  until  the  time  of  his  death,  and 
have  since  been  in  the  em])loy  of  his  son,  JNlr.  George  H.  Tread  well, 
who  has  succeeded  to  the  business  carried  on  by  his  father.  It  has 
always  been  a  part  of  my  occu])ati()n,  beginning  with  the  age  of  11,  to 
handle  fur-seal  skins,  and  duiing  tlie  last  twenty  years  I  have  handled 
nearly  every  seal  skin  that  came  into  t\ie  factory.  I  have  for  many 
years  been  in  the  habit  of  putting  them  through  every  process  con- 
nected with  their  preparation  for  manufacture,  except  that  of  dyeing, 
with  which  I  am  not  familiar.  I  have  removed  the  flesh  and  blubber; 
I  have  washed  the  skins;  removed  the  hair,  or  "picked"  them,  shaved 
them,  and  dressed  them;  and  in  this  way  I  have  constantly  gone  over 
and  closely  observed  every  part  of  their  surfaces  in  all  the  stages  or  proc- 
esses through  which  they  pass  before  they  go  to  the  dyer. 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  519 

As  a  resul.  of  tbe  work  I  liave  performed  for  so  iiinny  years  I  ain 
able  to  distiiigiiisli,  witlioiit  difficulty,  tLe  skin  of  a  female  seal  from 
that  of  a  male  seal.  There  are  generally  several  ways  in  whieh  I  can 
tell  them  apart.  One  of  the  surest  ways  consists  in  seeing-  whether 
any  teats  (;an  be  found.  On  a  female  skin  above  the  age  of  2  years 
teats  can  practically  always  be  discovered;  when  the  animal  is  over  3 
years  old,  even  a  person  who  is  not  an  expert  at  handling  skins  can  dis- 
cover two  i^romiient  ones  on  each  side  of  almost  every  skin.  This  is 
because  after  the  age  of  3,  and  often  even  after  2,  al- 
most all  females  have  been  in  pup.  There  are  also  teats  ],ave°pup8.^  '^*^"'*  **^'^ 
on  a  male  skin,  but  they  are  only  very  slightly  devel- 
oped. When  the  fur  is  matted,  as  it  is  in  salted  fur-st  al  skins,  the  male 
teats  can  not  be  found,  "but  the  female  teats  of  skins  more  than  2  years 
years  old  can  be  found  under  all  circumstances. 

I  have  been  able  to  test  all  my  observations  as  to  the  teats  on  salted 
fur-seal  skins  by  following  these  skins  through  the  various  processes 
which  I  have  described.  During  these  processes  the  skins  become 
thinner  and  thinner,  and  the  teats  more  and  more  noticeable,  and  at  an 
earlj^  stage  in  the  dressing  they  must  be  wholly  removed.  There  are 
other  ways  of  distinguishing  the  skins  of  the  two  sexes.  I  will  state 
a  few  of  them. 

A  female  seal  has  a  narrower  head  than  a  :nale  seal.     By  the  word 
"head"  I  mean  here  to  include  the  part  of  the  body 
from  the  head  down  to  the  middle  of  the  back.     I  bo-  headtbinmaie!™''''''' 
lieve  all  men  who  have  handled  the  skins  of  both  sexes 
have  noticed  this  point. 

Then,  again,  when  the  whiskers  have  not  been  cut  off,  they  geneially 
atford  a  safe  means  of  distinguishing  the  sexes.  Male  whiskers  are 
much  more  brittle  and  of  a  darker  color  than  those  of  the  female  ani- 
mal. When  the  male  seal  is  over  (3  years  old  it  begins  to  have  a  mane, 
and  for  this  reason  it  is  after  that  age  called  a  wig. 

Finally,  it  is  generally  possible  for  me  to  tell  the  skins  of  the  two 
sexes  apart  by  just  taking  a  look  at  them  or  feeling  them.  I  suppose 
I  can  do  this  because  I  have  been  at  the  business  so  long  that  I  am  an 
expert  in  it. 

The  chief  classes  of  seal  skins  which  I  have  handled  are  the  Alaska, 
the  JSTorthAvest  coast,  and  the  Copper  Island  skins.     I 
can  always   distinguish    the  skins  of  these   classes.  ca?^c*h  im)^tiy  fen" I'.t! 
The  Northwest  coast  skins  are  most  easily  told  by  the     N"  temaios  among 

,  ,.  r.  n  1  X    •         V-  "•  tlie  other  catches. 

very  great  proportion  ot  temales  contained  in  any  given 

lot.    Among  the  Alaska  and  Copper  skins  I  have  hardly  ever  seen  a 

female  skin. 

While  the  Alaska  and  IS^orthwest  coast  skins  are  taken  from   the 
same  species  or  herd  of  seals,  I  am  convinced  that  the 
Co])per  skins  are  taken  from  seals  of  a  different  herd.   seSs^'" "*  «i'L''^us  <.f 
I  have  noticed  the  difference  in  the  skins,  both  in  their 
raw   state  and   during  the  processes  of  dressing.     The  hair  of  the 
Copper  skin  is  shorter,  thinner,  and  generallv  of  a 
somewhat  .darker  color  than  that  of  the  Alaska  or  pprV'!,tins."'""^ '^'"''" 
Northwest  coast  skins,  and  in  most  cases  the  difference 
in  shai)e  is  sufficiently  marked  to  enable  me  to  distinguish  thcin  by 
that  means  alone. 

The  difference  between  the  Copper  and  the  other  skins  is  still  more 
marked  during  the  processes  of  dressing.     It  is  verv        .... 
much  more  dithcult  to  unhair  a  Copper  skin.     1  urtlier- 
more,  the  pelts  of  the  Copper  skins  are  less  x)orous  than  those  of  the 


520  TESTIMONY. 

otlier  skins.  While  prei)ai-iiig  skins  for  dressinpr  it  is  necessary  to 
"work"  them  and  open  the  pores  in  order  to  "leisther"  them,  and  it  is 
during'  this  process  that  I  have  noticed  the  fact  that  Copper  skins  are 
much  less  porous  than  the  others.  The  pelt  being  harder  and  stiffer 
and  the  liair  more  brittle  we  can  hardly  ever  unhair  a  Copper  skin  as 
satisfactorily  as  we  can  the  other  skins. 

1  was  sent  to  New  York  from  Albany  a  few  days  ago  by  Mr.  George 
H.  Treadwell,  with  instructions  to  go  through  a  certain  lot  of  seal  skins, 
■which  I  understand  he  had  recently  bought  in  Victoria,  and  to  lind  out 
how  many  of  these  skins  were  taken  irom  female  animals.  I  have 
spent  four  days  in  doing  this,  working  about  seven  hours  a  day. 

There  were  several  men  who  unpacked  the  skins  and  laid  them  before 
me,  so  that  all  of  my  time  was  spent  in  examining  the 
(pSlSc).^^""^''***'^  individual  skins.  The  lot  contained  3,550  skins.  I 
found  that,  with  the  possible  exception  of  two  dried 
ones,  they  were  taken  from  animals  this  year;  they  were  a  part  of  what 
is  known  as  the  spring  catch.  I  know  this  to  be  the  case  by  the  fresh 
appearance  of  the  blubber  and  of  the  skin  as  a  whole.  This  aftbrds  a 
sure  Avay  of  telling  whether  the  skin  has  lain  in  salt  all  winter  or  whether 
it  has  been  recently  salted.  1  personally  inspected  each  one  of  these 
skins  by  itself  and  kept  an  accurate  record  of  the  result.  I  divided  the 
skins  according  to  the  three  following  classes:  Males,  females,  and 
pups.  In  the  class  of  pups  I  i)laced  only  the  skins  of  animals  less  than 
two  years  of  age,  but  without  reference  to  sex. 

I  found  in  the  lot  395  males,  2,107  females,  and  988  jiups..     Leaving 
out  of  account  the  pujjs,  the  percentage  of  females  was 
femafes:- "*'"'^''"'"*  therefore  about  82. 

The  great  majority  of  what  I  classed  as  male  skins 
were  taken  from  animals  less  than  3  years  of  age.  There  was  not  a 
single  wig  in  the  lot.  On  the  other  hand,  nearly  all  of  the  female  skins 
were  those  of  full-grown  animals.  On  evei  y  skin  which  I  classed  among 
the  females  I  found  teats,  with  bare  spots  about  them  on  the  fur  side. 
Such  bare  spots  make  it  absolutely  certain  that  these  teats  were  those 
of  female  skins. 

With  regard  to  the  pup  skins,  I  will  say  that  I  did  not  undertake  to 
determine  whether  they  were  males  or  females,  because  they  had  a 
thick  coat  of  blubber,  which,  in  the  case  of  an  animal  less  than  2  years 
old,  makes  it  very  hard  to  tell  the  sex. 

All  of  the  skins  that  I  examined  were  either  shot  or  speared.     I  did 

, ,,  ,  ,  ,    not  keep  a  close  count,  but  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 

All  shot  or  siiearetl.       ,         ,    -X  ,,.,-,'  ,      , 

about  /5  per  cent  ot  them  were  shot. 

The  result  of  the  examination  is  about  Avhat  I  had  expected  it  would 

Tu^.      ,     ,,      .     be.     The  figures  only  confirm  what  I  have  always  no- 

"Northwest coast  ticcd  lu  a  general  way,  that  nearly  nine-tei'ths  of  the 

males'     "^"''"•^'  *'■   skins  in   any  shipment  of  Northwest  coast  skins  are 

those  of  female  animals. 

John  J.  Phelan. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  18th  day  of  June,  1892. 

[SEAL. J  Willis  Van  Valkenbueg-, 

Notary  FuhUc.  Kinqs  Co., 

(Cert,  filed  iii  N.  Y.  Co.) 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  521 

Deposition  of  Charles  W.  Price,  furrier. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  Califoenia, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Charles  W.  Price,  having  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
34  years  of  age  and  reside  in  San  Francisco.     ]\Iy  oc- 
cujiatiou  is  that  of  a  fur  dresser  and  examiner  of  raw      Experience. 
fur  skins.     I  have  been  engaged  iu  the  dressing   and  examining  of 
fur  skins  about  twenty  years,  and  I  am  an  exjjcrt  in  that  business. 
I  have  examined  and  handled  large  numbers  of  fur-seal  skins,  both 
of  the  American  and  Kussian  side,  andean  easily  dis- 
tinguish  one  from  the  other  from  the  appearance  of        '*^**^^ " 
the  skins.     The  skins  of  the  Russian  side  are  mucli  coarser  than  those 
of  the  American  side,  and  the  fur  is  a  little  darker;   more  of  a  cherry 
color.    The  top  hair  is  darker.   The  seals  on  the  Russian  side  are  a 
distinct  and  different  herd  from  those  on  the  American  side  and  are  not 
as  valuable.     The  skins  taken  in  the  Korth  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  by 
liunters  are  of  the  same  nature  as  those  taken  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands  but  are  of  less  value,  owing  to  the  fact  ^^■^H'''    sealing. 

,,  ,  .  „  '  T^       .      x^    Skius  less  valuable. 

that  they  are  taken  at  all  seasons  of  the  year.  Part  ol 
them  are  stagy,  some  are  full  of  holes  from  being  shot,  and  the  fur  on 
the  belly  of  quite  a  number  of  the  female  seals  giving  milk  is  of  little 
value.  I  have  handled  and  examined  many  thousands  of  skins  pur- 
chased from  hunters  who  had  taken  them  along  the 
coast  and  in  Bering  Sea.  Fully  80  per  cent  of  them  Eighty  per  cent  fe- 
"were  females,  which  skins  were  readily  distinguishable.  "'Dead  pups. 

I  visited  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  1890  and  made  a 
careful  study  of  the  conditions  of  seal  life  on  those  islands.     I  discov- 
ered late  in  the  season  a  large  number  of  dead  pups  lying  upon  the 
rookeries,  which  had  the  api)earauce  of  having  been  starved  to  death. 

Charles  W.  Price. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Clement  Bennett, 

I^otary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  S.  W.  Saalhurg,  hooMeeper  for  H.  Liehes  &  Co.,  furriers. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
S.  W.  Saalburg,  being  duly  sworn,  de])oses  and  says:  The  following 
statistics  relative  to  the  number  of  salted  Northwest      „     ,, 
Coast  seal  skins  purchased  by  the  firm  of  11.  Liebes  &  se^u 
Co.,  of  San  Francisco,  Cal,,  and  prices  paid  therefor, 
have  been  gathered  by  me  from  the  books  and  records     rrices  and  number 
of  said  firm,  covering  a  period  from  the  year  1883  to   igsafuja.'''"''  ^'^'i^'^'i' 
1892,  inclusive.   I  held  the  jmsiticm  of  chief  bookkeeper 
and  cashier  for  H.  Liebes  &  Co.  during  said  period  of  time,  and  know 
of  mj'^own  personal  knowledge  that  the  number  of  skins  set  forth  below 
weie  duly  purchased  by  said  linn  at  the  average  prices  stated,  and  that 
payment  therefor  is  regularly  entered  on  the  firm's  cashbooks  of  the 
resx>ective  years. 


522 


TESTIMONY. 


Statistics  of  imces. 


Year. 

Nunilier 
of  skins. 

Amount  p.iid. 

Average 
price. 

Tear. 

If  umber 
of  .skins. 

Amount  p.aid. 

.A.verago 
price. 

1883    

99 
11,108 
9,854 
7, 5(i:i 
17,  950 
13, 459 

$430.  00 
62,031.00 
74,  184.  75 
37,  729. 25 
99,  549. 50 
74,  956.  00 

$4.34 
5.58 
7.53 
4.99 
5.54 
5.57 

1889 

24,486 

30,011 

11, 174 

1,322 

$170,  221.  00 

302,417.00 

104,  637. 00 

14,  506.  00 

$7.20 
*10. 08 

1884      

1890 

1885 

1891 

*14.  74 

1886     

1892 

*10.  97 

1887 

1888 

127,  032 

1,  006,  661.  50 

'Kecent  increase  in  price. 


S.  W.  Saalburg. 

Snb^^cribed  and  sworu  to  before  me  tliis  24tli  day  of  June,  1892. 
[SEAL.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Ifotary  Fuhlic. 


Deposition  of  B.  R.  Sternfeh,  furrier. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  oe  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
B.  H.  Sternfels,  having  been  duly  s\\'orn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am  50 

years  of  age  and  reside  in  San  Francisco.     My  occiipa- 
Experience.        tiou  is  tliat  of  a  fiir  mercbaiit.     I  have  been  engaged 

in  handling  and  purchasing  fur  for  twenty-six  years, 
and  I  am  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  fur  seal  skins  in  their  raw  and 
dressed  condition.    There  are  known  to  the  trade  in  jnirchasing  raw 

fur  skins  from  the  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea  three 

ciassesof  seal  skins,  (lig-grgji^  Varieties— the  Copper  Island  skins,  the  West 

Coast  skins,  which  are  those  shot  and  caught  by  huntere  in  the  water, 

and,  third,  those  taken  from  the  Pribilof  Islands.     The  most  valuable 

are  those  taken  from  Pribilof  Islands,  and  the  next  are 
le^vaiufbif*  *"^**'^  *^^  Copper  Island  skins,  and  those  of  least  value  are 

what  is  known  as  the  West  Coast  catch.  The  latter, 
while  of  the  same  nature  and  from  the  same  herd  as  those  on  the 
Pribilof  Islands,  are  of  less  value  because  many  of  them  are  caught 

out  of  season.  Tlie  skins  are  stagy  and  are  full  of 
ho^es"^  ^"^^  "^  "^"^  I'oles  from  being  vshot.    A  number  of  them  are  cows  in 

milk,  and  the  fur  on  the  belly  is  very  much  less  valua- 
ble on  that  account.  In  buying  the  catch  of  schooners  engaged  in  the 
sealing  business,  I  have  observed  that  fully  75  per  cent  of  them  were 

females  and  had  either  given  birth  to  their  young  or 
mStJker^"*""""  ^'^^'^  heavy  in  pup  when  killed,  which  was  easily  ob- 
served by  the  width  of  the  skin  of  the  belly  and  the 
small  head  and  development  of  the  teat. 

B.  H.  Sterneels. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[sEAL.j  Clement  Bennett, 

liOiary  Fuhlic. 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  523 

Deposition  of  George  H.  Treadwell,  president  of  the  George  C.  Trcadwell 

Company,  furriers. 

general  sealskin  industry — pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  New  York, 

City  and  County  of  Albany,  ss: 

George  H.  Treadwell,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  55  years  of  age, 
a  citizen  of  tlie  United  States,  and  a  resident  of  Albany  County  in  the 
State  of  New  York.  I  am  the  son  of  George  C.  Treadwell,  of  Albany, 
wlio,  in  the  year  1832  there  started  a  wholesale  fur  busi- 
ness  of  a  general  character.  I  became  associated  with 
him  in  it  in  the  year  1858,  and  upon  his  death  in  the  year  1885  suc- 
ceeded to  the  business.  It  has  been  carried  on  nnder  the  names  of 
George  C.  Treadwell  &  Co.  and  Treadwell  &  Co.  In  the  early  part  of 
this  year  it  was  turned  into  The  George  C.  Treadwell  Company,  a  cor- 
poration formed  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Ncav  Jersey,  of  which 
corporation  I  am  the  president. 

My  father  dressed  and  dyed  a  few  seal-skins  in  1832,  and  each  year 
thereafter,  and  in  18G4  this  became  a  lucrative  item  of 
our  business.    Since  1870  the  house  has  bought  annually  i/London°'  ^'*"^''* 
from  5,000  to  G,000  salted  fur-seal  skins  in  London,  all 
of  which  it  has  dressed  and  dyed  in  Albany. 

In  this  industry  we  have  constantly  employed  during  the  last  ten 
years  about  forty  men  and  women,  who  receive  average 
wages  of  $1.25  to  $2  a  day.     Our  "pickers"  get  an  toffi?^™""*^  ^'^'° 
average  of  $1.25  for  each  skin,  and  they  handle  about 
three  a  day.     My  i)ay  roll  averages  about  *500  a  week. 

I  understand  that  my  concern  and  that  of  J.  D.  Williams,  of  BrookljTi, 
have  heretofore  been  the  only  regular  and  recognized  dressers  and 
dyers  in  the  United  States.  Until  last  year  our  house  dressed  and 
dyed  skins  only  for  its  own  use. 

In  addition  to  dressing  and  dyeing,  our  house  annually  manufac- 
tures a  large  number  of  fur-seal-skin  articles.     I  am 
deeply  interested  in  the  protection  of  the  fur-seals,  cat'ch^raoltiy  females!! 
While  the  Northwest  Coast  catches  have  of  late  years 
placed  upon  the  market  comparatively  cheap  skins,  and  in  that  way 
perhaps  benefited  my  particular  business,  yet  I  recognize  the  fact  that 
such  benefit  can  only  be  of  teni])orary  duration,  for  I  have  always  noticed 
that  these  catches  are  largely  composed  of  female  skins,  and  I  know 
that  to  kill  female  animals  seriously  impairs  the  herd. 
Besides,  skins  are  being  now  put  on  the  market  at  such       ^^'^^"  '*^  p"*'®®- 
irregular  times  and  in  sucli  uneven  quantities  that  buying  them  has 
become  a  speculative  business. 

I  believe  that  the  whole  trouble  has  been  brought  about  by  the  Vic- 
toria and  other  pelagic  sealers,  who  furnish  the  present 
cheap  skins.     Both  in  order  to  maintain  the  herd,  and  j„Houl^to  bus/ncL!"' 
to   restore  the  seal-skin  indu^^try  to  a  sure  footing,  1 
should  like  to  see  all  taking  of  seals  in  the  water  prohibited. 

In  March  of  this  year,  I  inade  a  contract  with  parties  on  the  Pacific 
■coast  for  their  supply  of  northwest  coast  skins  (/.  <?.,  skins  taken  in  the 
Pacific  Ocean)  caught  during  the  present  year,  and  about  a  month  ago 
I  received  the  first  consignment  under  this  contract.  It  was  composed 
of  the  skins  of  the  spring  catch.  Later  ou  I  expect  to  receive  two 
further  shipments. 


524  TESTIMONY. 

The  first  consio-nment  was  placed  in  cold  storage  at  the  Central 
Stores  ill  Xe-w  York  City. 

A  short  time  since  I  consented,  at  the  request  of  the  United  States 
Government  that  this  consiginneiit  be  examined,  in  order  to  determine 
how  many  female  skins  it  contained.  To  perform  the 
rtavirot-!rj*Pheian:  examination  I  detailed  John  J.  Phelan.  This  man 
has  been  in  the  employ  of  my  father  or  of  myself  since 
the  year  1S68.  I  regard  liim  as  one  of  tlie  most  competent  and  trust 
worthy  men  in  onr  service.  I  have  read  an  affidavit  verified  by  him 
on  tlie  18th  of  Jnne.  I  agree  entirely  with  what  he  says  concerning 
his  experience  in  the  handling  and  dressing  of  skins,  and  from  what  J 
know  of  his  character  and  ability  I  believe  that  everything  stated  by 
him  in  this  affidavit  is  correct. 

Geo.  H.  Treadwell. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  27th  day  of  June,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  Geo.  K  Cutler, 

JS'otary  Public^  Albany  County^  if.  Y. 

State  oe  New  York, 

City  and  County  of  Albany ,  Cler¥s  Office: 

I,  Ansel  C.  Reqna,  clerk  of  the  said  city  and  county  and  also  clerk 
of  the  supreme  and  county  courts,  being  courts  of  record  held  therein, 
do  hereby  certify  that  Geo.  N.  Cuyler,  whose  name  is  subscribed  to  the 
jurat  of  the  annexed  affidavit,  was,  on  the  day  of  the  date  thereof  a 
notary  public  in  and  for  the  county  of  Albany,  dwelling  in  said  county, 
duly  authorized  to  administer  oaths  for  general  purposes ;  and  that  I 
am  well  acquainted  with  the  handwriting  of  the  said  notary  public, 
and  verily  believe  that  the  signature  to  the  said  jurat  is  genuine. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand,  and  affixed  my 
official  seal  this  27th  day  of  June,  1892. 

[SEAL.J  A.  C.  Eequa,  Cleric. 


Deposition  of  Henry  Treadwell,  member  of  the  firm  of  Treadivell  &  Co., 

furriers. 

general  sealskin  industry — pelagic  sealing. 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss: 

Henry  Treadwell,  being  duly  sworn,  says  that  he  is  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States;  is  70  years  of  age,  and  resides  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn, 
in  the  State  of  New  York. 

First.  That  he  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of  TreadAvell  and  Company, 

which    has  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  buying,   dressing,  and 

dealing  in  furs  since  about  the  year  18.'j2.    That  for  the 

xpenuice.  twenty  years  last  ])ast  deponent's  said  firm  have  bought 

on  their  own  account,  dressed  and  dyed,  annually  from  5,000  to  8,000 

seal  skins. 

Second.  That  nearly  all  of  the  skins  purchased  by  deponent's  said 

firm  are  bought  of  C.  M.  Lain])soii  and  Company,  of 

Seal  skins  bought  Loiulou,  wlio  arc  the  largest  dealers  in  seal  skins  in  the 

"ciassJs  of  seal  skins,  world.    That  tlic  majority  of  the  skins  bought  by  said 

firm  are  a  part  of  the  skins  known  as  the  "Alaska" 

catch,  that  is,  as  deponent  is  informed  and  believes  the  skins  of  seals 


SEALSKIN   INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  525 

killed  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  by  the  comT)anies  having  leases  from  the 
United  States  for  that  purpose.  A  certain  number  of  slcins  bought  by 
deponent's  firui  are  those  killed  upou  the  Eussian,  called  the  Com- 
mander Islands,  known  as  the  Copper  catch,  and 
about  30  per  cent  of  the  whole  number  of  seal  skins  catlT^"^^^*  ^"^^^ 
bought  by  deponent's  firm  are  what  are  called  the 
Northwest  Coast  skiiisj  the  skins  of  animals  killed  and  caught  in  the 
open  sea. 

Third.  That  the  skins  of  each  of  the  several  catches  are  readily  dis- 
tinguishable from  each  other  by  any  person  at  all  experienced  in  the 
handling  of  seal  skins;  and  the  skins  of  the  ISToithwest,  Alaska,  or 
Copper  catch,  are  none  of  them  found  except  under  those  titles,  that  is 
to  say,  that  skins  of  the  "Copper"  catch  are  not  found  among  the  "Alas- 
ka" seal  skins,  nor  those  of  the  Northwest  catch  among 
the  Alaska  or  Copper  seal  skins.  The  skins  of  the  three  disuugujshabie'!'^'  '^ 
catches  are  so  readily  distinguishable  from  each  other 
that  deponent  says  he  would  be  able,  on  the  examination  of  the  skins 
as  they  are  taken  from  the  barrels  in  which  they  are  jiacked  in  salt  and 
received  by  him,  to  detect  at  once  in  a  barrel  of  Alaska  skins,  the  skins 
of  either  the  Copper  or  the  Northwest  catch ;  or  in  a  barrel  of  the  North- 
west catch  the  skins  of  eitlier  the  Alaska  or  the  Copper  catch,  or  in  a  barrel 
of  the  Copper  catch  the  skins  of  either  the  Alaska  or  Northwest  catch. 
The  skins  of  the  Alaska  and  Copi^er  catclies  are  readily  distinguishable 
from  each  other,  although  male  skins;  and  the  skins  of  the  Northwest 
catch  are  also  readily  distinguishable  from  both  the 
Copper  and  Alaska  by  the  fact  that  they  are  almost  n,S?feml*ie8.  ^""'''^ 
all  females,  and  all  have  marks  of  bullets,  buckshot, 
or  spears,  showing  that  they  have  been  killed  at  sea,  although  the 
Northwest  catch  belong  to  tlie  Pribilof  Island  herd. 

Fourth.  That  the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  are,  deponent  would 
say,  at  least  nine-tenths  of  them,  skins  of  female  seals. 
The  skins  of  the  female  seals  are  as  readily  distinguish-  n-,^^esf^^  ^*"^  *^^''*  ^^" 
able,  before  being  dressed  and  dyed,  from  the  skins 
of  male  seals  as  the  skin  of  a  bitch  and  the  skin  of  a  dog,  or  the  skin 
of  any  other  female  animal  from  that  of  the  male  of  the  same  family. 
The  females  always  have  narrower  heads  than  the  males,  and  the 
breasts  afford  another  ready  means  of  identification  of  female  seals. 

Fifth.  It  is  equally  true  that  the  skins  of  all  the  other  catches  which 
we  had  in  prior  years  were  readily  distinguishable  from  each  other.  I 
have  not  seen  the  seals  in  their  native  rookeries,  and  can  not  speak  as 
to  the  distinguishing  traits  of  the  live  animal,  but  in  the  trade  and  in  the 
experience  of  our  firm  we  have  always  been  able  to  distinguish  readily 
^he  skins  coming  from  one  locality  from  the  skins  coming  from  another. 

remember  upon  one  occasion  my  firm  received  a  consignment  of  skins 
Irom  London  which  bore  no  marks  familiar  to  us  and  which  skins  had 
fnot  been  described  to  us,  and  that  my  brother,  who  Avas  then  at  the 
head  of  the  business,  and  who  is  now  dead,  said,  after  inspecting  the 
said  skins,  that  they  reminded  him  very  much  of  what  were  formerly 
called  "  south  latitude  skins,"  and  ])articnlarly  of  some  skins  Avhich  ho 
had  had  twenty  odd  years  before  irom  Santa  Barbara,  in  Calil'ornia; 
and  upou  inquiry  from  the  Messrs.  Lampson  and  Company,  wc  were 
informed  by  them  that  the  said  skins  were  the  skins  of  seals  killed  at 
Santa  Barbara. 

Heney  Tbeadwell. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  tliis  first  day  of  April,  1892. 

[seal.]  WlLLARD    PAKKER   BUTLER, 

Kotary  Vubllc,  City  and  County  of  New  Yorld 


526 


TESTIMONY. 


Affidavits  of  Joseph  Ullman  tt  ah,  furriers. 


Number 
imported. 


of    skins 


VALUE    OF    THE    INDUSTRY    OF     THE     MANUFACTURE    OF    FUR  SEAL 
ARTICLES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

The  number  of  Alaska  fur-seal  skins  wbioli  are  imported  annually 
into  the  United  States,  after  dressing  and  dyeing  in  London,  is,  upon 
the  basis  of  the  importations  during  the  past  ten  years 
and  upon  a  catch  of  100,000  skins  at  the  Pribilof  Is- 
lands, correctly  estimated  at  05,000  to  75,000. 
The  value,  before  paying  duty  thereon  to  the  United  States,  of  each 
dressed   and  dyed  fur-seal  skin  so  imported,  may  be 
eac  s  m.  ^^^^  to  raugc  between  $15  and  $50,  with  an  average 
value  during  the  past  ten  years  of  about  $25  a  skin. 

The  wages  paid  annually  to  people  engaged  in  the  manufacture  and 
„  .  remodeling  of  seal-skin  articles  are,  on  an  average, 

wages paia.  ^^^^^^  ^„   -  ^^^^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^.^  ^^^.^^^  $490,000. 

The  profits  made  annually  by  merchants,  wholesale  furriers,  and 
retail  furriers  amount  to  about  $30  a  skin,  or  upon 
70,000  skins,  $2,100,000. 

The  amount  of  silk  consumed  annually  in  the  manu- 
facture in  the  United  States  of  70,000  fur-seal  skins 
into  articles  and  in  the  repairing  of  these  articles,  may 
be  estimated  at  $150,000  to  $200,000.  All  silk  which 
is  being  so  consumed  at  the  present  time  is  made  in  the 
United  States. 

Working  men  and  women  are  emj)loycd  in  the  in- 
dustry of  manufacturing  seal-skin  articles  in  the  United 
States  as  follows : 


Profits  of  merchants 
and  furriers. 


Silk  consumed  in 
making  and  repair  of 
aealfkin  aiticlcs. 


Working  men  and 
women  employed  and 
wages  paid. 


a.  Fur  cutters  (i.  e.,  people  who  trim,  repair,  and  prepare  tlie  general 
shape  of  skins) 

b.  Nailers  (i.  e.,  people  who  stretch   and  nail  skins  into  shape  ou 
boards) 

c.  Sewers  and   linishcrs  (t.  e.,  people  who  put  the  article  into  final 
shape) i 

d.  Those  who  machine  skins  {i.  e.,  remove  the  portion  of  gtiard  hairs 
left  by  the  "unhairers") 

Total 


Number. 

Wages  per  diem. 

1,200 

$3.  50  to  $4. 50 

600 

2.00   to   2.50 

1,500 

1.50   to   2.  CO 

60 

2.00 

The  fur  cutters  rei)resent  skilled  labor  of  a  high  order.  They  handle 
about  eight  skins  a  day. 

Ko  acc(mnt  is  taken  of  porters,  clerks,  salesmen,  etc., 
saiesmen"'tcr  "^^  ^'   employed  ill  the  large  establishments. 

Pated  at  the  city  of  New  York,  June  21st,  1892. 

Jos.  Ullmann. 

Martin  Bates,  Jr.,  &  Co. 

Harris  »&  Russak, 
By  Alfred  Harris. 

Henry  Tread  well. 

Estate  of  John  Euszits, 
By  E.  J.  Stake. 

ASCII  &  Jaekal. 

C.  G.  Gunther's  Sons. 


SEALSKIN   INDUSTEY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  527 

The  foregoing:  stutemeat  is  the  one  referred  to  in  the  annexed  atiBda- 
vits  of  Henry  Treadwell,  E,  R.  McOarty,  Xo.  52,  notary  public;  Ilugo 
Jaekel,  Frederick  C.  Scliniidt,  notary  public;  Franklin  L.  Guuther, 
Dan'l  L.  Tower,  notary  public;  Joseph  [Samuel]  Ullmann,  Alfred 
Harris,  C.  Francis  Bates,  George  Kissinger,  jr.,  notary  xJublicj  E.  J. 
Stake,  S.  Steinheimer,  notary  public,  New  York. 


Dejjosition  of  Samuel  Ullmann,  member  of  the  Jinn  of  Joseph  JJllmannj 

fnrrier. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  Xeav  York, 

City  and  County  of  N'ew  YorJc,  ss: 

Samuel  Ullmann,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  34  years  of 
age,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  resident  of  the  city 
of  Xew  York.  The  house  of  Joseph  Ullmann,  in  which  I  am  a  part- 
ner, began  business  at  St.  Paul,  in  the  State  of  Minnesota,  in  185-1. 
It  has  always  been  engaged  in  the  wholesale  fur  business,  and  since 
the  time  when  fur-seal  skins  first  became  an  important  article  of 
commerce  in  this  country  it  has  dealt  in  large  numbers  of  them. 
I  have  j)ersonally  handled  seal  skins  for  the  last  twelve  or  thir- 
teen years,  and  am  familiar  with  the  whole  seal-skin 
trade  of  this  country.  The  house  of  Josei)h  UU-  ^penence. 
mann  now  does  business  at  St.  Paul,  Leipzig,  London,  and  Kew 
York.  The  books  of  the  New  York  Iibuse  show  the  following  pur- 
chases of  dressed  and  dyed  Alaska  fur-seal  skins  in  London  between 
the  years  1885  and  1891.  All  of  these  purchases  were 
brought  to  this  country:  1885,  11,818  out  of  a  total  sidus'lmporte.i'^^by 
Alaska  catch  of  about  100,000:  ISSG,  12,610  out  of  a  «™  f^om  i885  to 
total  Alaska  catch  of  about  100,000;  1887,  25,341  out 
of  a  total  Alaska  catch  of  about  100,000;  1888,  17,900  out  of  a  total 
Alaska  catch  of  about  100,01)0;  1889,  14,100  out  of  a  total  Alaska 
catch  of  about  100,000;  1890,  3,5!j9  out  of  a  total  Alaska  catch  of 
about  21,000;  1891,  3,240  out  of  a  total  Alaska  catch  of  about  13,000. 

I  have  signed  the  name  of  Joseph  Ullmann  to  the  an-      ^^^, 
uexed  statement,  which  I  have  carefully  considered,   cedin™sta\tmcnt^ex- 
aud  to  the  best  of  my  information  and  belief  this  state-  ^l^J^  *"  ^'*''  ''*'° 
ment  is  correct,  except  that  I  know  nothing  about  the 
silk  consumed.     I  regard  the  figures  given  therein  as  conservative. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  tliatthe  nations  interestcid  should  arrive  at  some 
agreement  by  which  the  killing  of  seals  in  the  water 
will  be  stopped.     It  is  true  that  the  Northwest  Coast  suouwbi stopped"^ 
catches  have  of  late  years  placed  upon  the  market  a 
certain  number  of  good  skins  which  could  be  purchased  at  prices  far 
below  tliose  for  whicli  skins  of  the  Alaska  catch  were  sold.     But  I 
realize  that  this  can  not  continue  to  be  the  case,  for  it  is  a  matter  of 
common  Icnowledge  amongst  furriers  that  these  North-     xortbwest   catch 
west  Coast  catches  are  composed  mainly  of  the  skins  of  eomposea  mairiy  of 
fenude  animals,  and  I  understand  that  the  killing  of  fe-   ^^'"''^^'• 
male  seals  is  rapidly  impairing  the  value  of  the  herd.     Then,  too,  dur- 
ing the  last  few  years  buying   fur-seal  skins   has  be- 
come a  business  of  a  very  s])e('ulative  character,  be-   tortile  business?*^ 
cause  it  is  impossible  now  to  calculate  at  what  times  and 


528  TESTIMONY 

in  wliac  quantities  they  will  be  plaoecl  upon  the  market.  It  requires 
from  three  to  six  mouths  to  i)roperly  dress  and  dye  skins,  aud  if  while 
this  process  is  goinq;  on  further  sales  take  place  (as  has  been  the  case 
at  frequent  intervals  in  the  last  two  years),  the  tendency  is  to  unsettle 
the  market,  advance  or  reduce  the  raw  material,  and 
stSdvmarklt  ^""^  "^  ^^^^^  directly  afltect  both  dealers  and  manufacturers. 
8  ea  ^  mai  e .  ^^^.^  ^^^_^  hajjpciied  of  latc  ycars  only.     I  ascribe  the 

Decrease  is  caused  present  Unsatisfactory  condition  of  the  business  to  the 
by  pelagic  sealing.  j^j^^^i.^^^g  Operations  of  the  Victoria  sealers,  whom  I 
furthermore  hold  directly  responsible  for  the  present  diminished  catch 
of  xVlaska  seals  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

Samuel  Ullmann, 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  21st  day  of  June,  1802. 

[l.  s.]  George  Kissinger,  Jr., 

Kotarij  Pahlic  (ifo.  IJ9),  City  and  Couiiti/  of  New  Yoric, 


Deposit  1071  of  C.  Francis  Bates,  member  of  the  firm  of  Martin  Bates,  jr., 
cf;  Co.,  fnfriers,  New  York. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

'State  of  ISTew  York, 

Citi/  and  County  of  Neic  Yorl-,  ss : 

C.  Francis  Bates,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  67  years  of  ago.  a 
.  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  resident  of  the  city 

xpeiience.  ^^  Kew  York.     Early  in  this  century  my  father  estab- 

lished a  wholesale  fur  business  in  this  city,  and  to  this  business  I  have 
succeeded.  I  have  been  engaged  in  it  for  the  past  fifty  years. 
It  is  now  carried  on  under  the  name  of  Martin  Bates,  jr.,  &  Co.  For 
nuiny  years  we  have  been  large  purchasers  of  Alaska  (or  Pribilof 
Island)  fur-seal  skins,  having  bought  in  London  and  brought  to  this 

Niunbor  of  skins  couutry  betwecu  the  years  1879  and  1891,  71,901  such 
impoited  by  firm  from  skius.  I  am  familiar  Avith  the  value  and  extent  of  the 
18/9  to  IS  1.  industry  of  manufacturing  articles  of  fur-seal  skins  in 

this  country,my  house  having  until  very  recently  been  largely  interested 
in  it.  This  industry  is  one  of  great  value  to  the  United  States.  The 
fur-seal  skin  is  in  many  respects  one  of  the  most  valuable  furs  that  has 

„      ,     ^        a,    ever  been  placed   on  the  market.     I  have   read  the 

CorroboratPs      a*-       ,     .  j.  i  j.  i  i       •  i    j-i  fi 

davit  of  Joseph  Statement  hereto  annexed  and  signe<l  the  name  oi  my 
SeirwinfiaftVanf.  ^i""!  thcrcto.  I  believc  it  to  be  iii  all  respects  correct, 
graph  of  Samuel  I'll-  1  liavc  read  the  last  paragraph  in  the  affidavit  of  Samuel 
"''""  ''■  Ullmann  hereto  annexed  aud  agree  with  what  is  said 

therein. 

C.  Francis  Bates. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  22d  day  of  June,  1892. 

[l.  S.J  George  Kissenger,  Jr., 

Notary  Puhlic  {No.  00),  City  and  County  of  New  York^ 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  529 

Deposition  of  Alfred  Harris,   ivitli  firm  of  Harris  &  Bussalc,  furriers, 

New  Yorlc. 
qeneral  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  New  York, 

Oitij  and  County  of  Xew  Yorl;  ss  : 
Alfred  Harris,  being  duly  sworn,  says :     I  am  forty  years  of  age,  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  and  a  resident  of  the  city  of  New  York 
For  twelve  years  prior  to  February  1,  1892,  I  was  a     ^^  ^^.^^ 
member  of  tlie  iirm  of  Harris  &  Eussak,  wkicli  still        ^penence. 
does   a  large  wholesale  fur  business  in  the  city  of  New    York.      I 
am  now  associaied  with  tliis  firm  in  its  business  and  have   charge 
of  its  manufacturing  department.     I  am  authorized  to  sign  the  firm 
name  to  the  annexed  statement,  and  the  reason  why  I  sign  it,    in- 
stead  of  one   of  the   partners,   is  that  I   have  a   much    more    inti- 
mate Ivnowledge  of  all  branches  of  the  business  than  anyone  else.     We 
are  manufacturers  of  furs  of  all  kinds,  and  a  large  proportion  of  our 
business  consists  in  the  manufacture  of  seal-skin  arti- 
cles.    Between  the  years  1880  and  189U  we  handled  firm'^sbusiSin^si^a^ 
per  annum  on  an  average  12,000  fur-seal  skins  of  the  I'^^l'igg^ff*''^'^^^  ^^^^ 
three  catches.    Between  1885  and  1800  we  handled 
from  35,000  to  40,000  Alaska  skins  which  had  been  dressed  and  dyed 
in  London.     Of  this  number  we  purchased  ourselves  in  London  and 
brought  to  this  country  about  nine-tenths.     I  have 
signed  the  name  of  Harris  &  Eussak  to  the  statement     conoboratesaffida- 

,".  11-1T1  J?    II  1T1T  vitoi  Jos.  Ullman,  c< 

hereto  annexed,  which  I  have  carefully  read.     1  believe  ai.,  and  agrees  with 
it  to  be  in  all  respects  correct.     I  have  read  the  last  Ifef  ^"S^'s."^^''"'" 
paragraph  or  section  in  the  annexed  affidavit  of  Sam- 
uel Ullmann,  and  I  agree  with  everything  contained  therein. 

Alfred  Harris. 
Sworn  to  before  me  this  21st  day  of  June,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  GEORaE  Kissinger,  Jr, 

Notary  Fuhlic  {No.  99),  City  and  County  of  Neiv  YorJc. 


Dejposition  of  Henry  Treadicell,  member  of  the  firm  of  Treadicell  &  Co., 

furriers. 
general  sealskin  industry. 
State  of  New  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  Yorl;  ss: 
Henry  Treadwell,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Treadwell  &  Co.,  and  the  person  described  in  and 
who  verified  an  affidavit  of  the  1st  day  of  April,  1892,      e-^'p«"«'^^"«'- 
relating  to   the    difference    in    the    skins    of   the    various    fur-seal 
catches  and  other  matters.     I  have  been  in  the  wholesale  fur  business 
for  over  forty  years,  and  took  an  active  part  in  it  until  two  years  ago,  when 
I  retired  from  business.     I  have  signed  mv  name  to  the 
annexed  statement,  which  I  have  carefully  read,  and  vit^XTos'"uii.n!^l^"^< 
believe  to  be  correct  in  every  respect.     I  have  also  read  ai.,  am\  agrefts  with 
the  last  paragraph  or  section  of  the  annexed  affidavit   samueruitol'mn's."^ 
of  Sanniel  Ullmann,  and  I  agree  with  everything  there- 
in stated. 

Henry  Treadwell. 
Sworn  to  before  me  this  21st  day  of  June,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  E.  E.  McCarty, 

Notary  Public  {No.  52)^  in  and  for  County  of  New  Yorh. 
2710 — VOL  u 34 


530  TESTIMONY. 

Ddposition  of  Emil  J.  Stalce,  mana<ier  of  estate  of  John  Euszlts,  furrier^ 

New  Yorli. 

g-enekal  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  ISTew  York, 

Ciii)  and  County  of  Neic  York,  ss: 
Emil  J.  Stake,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  28  years  of  age,  a  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States,  and  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Kew  York.  In  1851 
John  Euszits  established  in  the  city  Xew  York  a  large  wholesale  fur  busi- 
ness, at  the  head  of  which  he  remained  nntil  his  death  in  1890.  In  1859 he 
imported  1:4  seal  skins  from  London;  his  annual  imi)ortations  gradually 
increased  until  in  the  year  1887  he  imported  10,804 
dressed  and  dyed  seal  skins  of  all  catches.  His  books  show  the  foUow- 
c     -,  inff  purchases  in  London  of  dressed  and  dved  Alaska 

Importation  of  seal     n  ■,      ^   •  ni?        i  •    ^  i  t  j.  j.  "  ^t   • 

skius  since  3859.  lurscal  skius,  all  01  wluch  wcrc  brought  to  this  coun- 

try:  1887,  9,000;  1888,  5,800;  1889,  6,800.     These  fig- 
ures fairly  represent  his  average  i)urchases  and  im^ior- 
tations  betAveen  1880  and  1889. 

I  entered  the  employ  of  John  Euszits  at  the  age  of  14.     Since  the 
age  of  21  I  have  been  familiar  with  every  transaction 
xpeiience.  Connected  with  the  business,  and  ui^on  his  death  I  suc- 

ceeded to  its  sole  management. 
There  are  now  employed  in  this  house  in  the  manufacture  of  fur 
E  1  lo  -6    of  firm    ^^'^icles  about  140  men  and  Avomen,     If  we  were  to  lose 
Rps™^  of  lossV  s^-  the  seal-skin  industry,  I  do  not  know  what  would  be- 
skin  industry.  coiuc  of  thc  busiucss  as  a  wholc.    It  would  be  very 

seriously  crippled.  I  have  signed  the  name  "Estate  of  John  Euszits," 
the  name  under  which  the  business  is  noW'  carried  on,  to  the  annexed 
statement.  I  believe  it  to  be  correct  in  all  respects.  With  regard  to 
rcr  ons  em  .lo  ed  ^^^  approximate  number  of  people  stated  to  be  era- 
intiKf*industiyin\ho  ploycd  in  the  scal-skiu  industry  iu  the  United  States 

wrthl^ttMnentlfiaHt  ^  ^i^^  ^^Y  ^'^^^1  ^^^^\  probably  in  the  fall  aud  winter  a 
parasrapii  of  Samuel  greater  nuQibcr,  wliilc  iu  summer  fewer,  are  employed. 
tu>nann's  affidavit,  j^^^^  j  bclicve  the  uumbcr  given  to  fairly  represent  the 
average  number  em])loyed  throughout  the  year.  I  agree  with  all  that 
is  said  by  Samuel  Ullmann  in  the  last  paragraph  or  section  of  his  affi- 
davit verified  June  21  and  hereto  annexed. 

Emil  J.  Stake. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  22d  day  of  June,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  S.  Steinheimer, 

Notary  Fublic,  New  Yorlc  County,  No.  529  Broadway,  New  York. 


Deposition  of  Hugo  JaccleJ,  head  of  firm  of  Asch  &  Jaeckel,  furriers,  Neio 

York. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  New  York, 

City  and  Coniiti/  of  New  York,  ss: 

Hugo  Jaeckel,  I)eiug  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  44 years  of  age,  a  citizen 

j-x  jiienc  ^^^  ^''*^  United  States  and  a  resident  of  the  city  of  New 

!,xpciitnce.  York.     I  aiu  the  present  owner  of  the  business  which, 

since  the  year  1878,  has  been  carried  on  in  the  city  of  New  York  under 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  531 

the  name  of  Ascli  &  Jaeckel.      I  have  been  in  the  IVir  business  since  I 
was  10  years  okl,  and  am  now  engaged  in  the  wholesale  manufacture  of 
furs,    I  do  a  large  business  in  fur-seal  skins,  and  be- 
tween 1885  and  18U0  annually  bought  and  imported   flrmTom'^ls'TtoVo^ 
into  this  country  from  London  from  6,000  to    8,000 
dressed  and  dyed  Alaska  fur-seal  skins,  and  a  proportionate  num- 
ber of  fur-seal  skins  of  the  other  principal  catches.     I  have  signed 
the  name  of  Asch  &  Jaeckel  to  the  annexed  statement,  which  I  have 
carefully  read.       I   believe  it   to  be   in  all  respects 
correct.'    I  have  also  rend  the  last  paragraph  in  the  .uvk  o'S' joZ  uiinfann 
annexed  affidavit  of  Sanuiel  Ullmann,  and  agree  with  ««az.,Hii(i  agrees witii 
everything  therein  contained.     The  same  is  true  of  an  paJ4snq\h'*of  sanmei 
affidavit  verified  on  the  21st  day  of  June  by  William  uiiuramis. 
Wiex^ert,  my  present  superintendent. 

Hugo  Jaeckel,. 


Sworn  to  before  me  this  l'2d  day  of  June,  1892. 

[l.  s.]  Frederick  C.  Schmidt, 

Notary  Fublic,  New  York  County. 


Deposition  of  Franldin  L.  Gunther,  meniber  of  the  firm  ofC.  G.  Giinthers 

iSo7is,  furriers,  New  York. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  New  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss: 
Franklin  L.  Gunther,  being-  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  39  years  of  age, 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States  and  a  resident  of  the  city  of  JS^ew  York. 
For  the  past  twenty-three  years  I  have  been  with  the 
firm  of  0.  G.  Gunther's  Sons,  and  in  1876  I  became  a     ^^p«"''"'='^- 
member  of  it.      This  firm  has  been  in  existence  and  done  business 
in  the  city  of  New  York  under  names  very  similar   to  its  present 
name  since  the  year  1820;  it  has  always  carried  on  a  wholesale  and 
retail  fur  business.     It  was  one  of  the  first  firms  to  introduce  seal- 
skin garments  into  the  United  States,  and  since  1857  it  has  constantly 
been  engaged  in  placing  theiri  upon  the  market.     It  has  been  in  the 
habit  of  buying-  annually  in  London  from  2,000  to  6,000      ,., .      . 

»  1       1       r  1     I   •  1    .LI         1  11     1  &K1IIS  iniiioiteu  by 

Alaska  tur-seal  skins,  and  it  has  handled  very  many  more,   fln.i  aimuniiy. 
1  have  signed  the  name  of  the  firm  to  the  annexed  ,,HVit's'o1jor'nimalm 
statement,  which  I  have  carefully  read,  and  believe  to  <««?■ 
be  in  all  resjiects  correct. 

FSANKLIN   L.   GUNTUER, 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  22d  day  of  June,  1892. 

[l.  S.J  Dan'l  La  Tower, 

Notary  Public  for  Kinf/s   County. 
(Certificate  on  file  in  iSTew  York  County.) 


532  TESTIMONY. 

Deposition  of  G.  G.  Gunthefs  Sons,  furriers,  N'cio  Yorlc. 

INDUSTRY — DECREASE    OF    ALASKAN    HERD     DUE    TO    DESTRUCTION 
OF  FEMALES   BY   PELAGIC   SEALERS. 

Eelative  to  matter  of  depletion  of  seal  lierds  of  the  Pribilof  Islands, 
this  most  deplorable  fact  is  due  in  our  opinion  in  great  part,  if  not  en- 
tirely, to  the  action  of  sealers  in  the  indiseriminate  killing  of  these  ani- 
mals while  in  transit  to.  and  from  these  islands  for  breeding  pur- 
poses, the  females  being  killed  in  much  greater  proportionate  numbers, 
owing  to  their  less  aggressive  nature  and  their  being  less  able  to  es- 
ca])e.  While  on  their  way  to  these  islands,  the  cow  (female)  seal  is  in 
a  condition  of  pregnancy,  the  period  of  gestation  ending  shortly  after 
their  landing.  If  intercei)ted  and  killed  while  in  this  condition  the  loss  is 

obvious.  In  our  opinion  unless  stringent  measures  be 
t^y^^^^^^°^  ^^^^^'  ad()])ted  on   the  part  of  those  having   authority  on 

waters  adjacent  to  these  islands  and  on  all  contiguous 
bodies,  the  fur-sealof  Alaska  will  soon  be  exterminated  and  this  valu- 
able industry,  alike  of  great  im]iortance  to  the  people  of  Europe  and 
America,  will  have  received  its  deathblow. 

C.  G.  Gunther's  Sons. 

State  of  IS'ew  York, 

City  and  County  of  Weiv  Yorlc,  ss: 
Franklin  L.  Gunther,  being  duly  sworn,  says  that  he  is  a  member  ot 
the  firm  of  C.  G.  Gunther's  Sons,  furriers,  of  184  Fifth  avenue,  New 
York;  tliat  the  foregoing  statement  expresses  the  opinions  of  the  mem- 
bers of  said  firm,  and  that  same  is  true  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge  and 
belief. 

Franklin  L.  Gunther. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  24th  day  of  June,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  Dan'l  La  Tower, 

Notary  FuhUcfor  Kings  County. 
(Certificate  ou  hie  in  Kew  York  County.) 


Deposition  of  Samnel  Ullmann,  memher  of  the  firm  of  Joseph  JJllmanny 

furriers,  New  Yorlc . 

general  sealskin  industry. — pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  jSTew  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  Yorl;  ss: 
Samuel  Ullmann,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  a  member  of  the 
wholesale  fur  house  which  docs  business  in  the  city  of  New  Yoik  under 
the  firm  name  of  Joseph  Ullmann,  and  am  the  person  described  in  and 
who  verified  an  aftidavit  on  the  21st  day  of  June,  1892,  relating  to  the 
value  of  the  seal-skin  industry  in  the  United  States,  and  other  matters 
I  have  signed  the  name  of  Joseph  Ullmann  to  the  statement  hereto 
annexed,  which  has  been  i)repared  from  a  careful  examination  of  the 
books  of  the  house  of  said  Joseph  Ullmann  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
and  1  know  said  statement  to  be  correct  and  true  in  every  respect. 

All  of  the  seal  skins  therein  referred  to  are  of  the  class 
Bidu"'!"'"'^^*  ^°'^''*  known  as  Northwest  Coast  skins.     In  this  term  I  mean 

to  comprise  all  skins  taken  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  or  in 
the  waters  of  Bering  Sea.     The  skins  in  question  were  purchased  at 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  533 

Victoria,  Britisli  Columbia,  with  the  exception  of  499,  which  were  pur- 
chased in  August,  1889,  at  San  Francisco.  Said  books  show  the  fol- 
lowing aSvSortmeut  of  portions  of  these  skins,  respectively,  1,835  and 
1,07G  in  number,  bought  in  May  and  June,  1888,  together  with  the 
prices  paid  for  eaeh  grade  per  skin : 

Mnjj,  1SS8. 

885  Beriiijv  Sea  seals $4. 57 

r 551  West  Coast  seals 5. 00 

1 1  102  West  Coast  gray  pups 1. 25 

t     2  West  Coast  pnp"^s 2. 50 

'  252  West  Coast  seals 5.  00 


II  {    41  West  Coast  gray  pups 1.  00 

2  West  Coast  pups 2.  50 

June,  ISSS. 

985  seal  skins 4.  80 

18  seal  skins 6. 00 

100  gray  pups 1. 25 

The  skins  marked  I.  formed  one  lot  and  represented  the  catch  of  a 
single  vessel.     The  same  is  true  of  the  skins  marked  II.     The  percent- 
age of  gray  pups  contained  in  each  of  these  lots,  both  of  which  were 
bought  on  assortment,  is  not  an  unusual  one.     I  have  for  many  years 
personally  examined  numerous  shipments  of  Northwest  Coast  skins  pur- 
chased at  Victoria.     I  have  had  such  experience  in  handling  fur-seal 
skins  as  enables  me,  readily  in  most  cases,  but  always 
upon  carefnl  examination,  to  distinguish  a  female  skin  stfnsmosTiv^lmaiel* 
from  a  male  skin,  and  I  know  it  to  be  a  fact  that  a  very 
large  proportion  of  the  skins  in  such  shipments  are  those  taken  from 
female  animals.     It  is  also  true  that  a  large  number  of  skins  in  many  of 
these  shipments  are  rendered  almost  valueless  through 
the  numerous  bullet  holes  which  they  contain.     The     ^^^i«t  holes. 
house  of  Joseph  Ullmann  has,  of  late  years,  been  one  of  the  largest  single 
buyers  of  seal  skins  at  Victoria,  antl  my  knowledge  and  ex])erience 
enable  me  to  state  that  the  prices  paid  by  this  house,  as  contained  in 
the  annexed  statement,  represent  fairly  the  value  of  such  skins  at  Vic- 
toria in  each  of  the  past  five  years. 

The  rapid  rise  in  the  price  paid  for  these  skins  in  the  years  1890  and 
1891  can  only  be  explained  through  the  sudden  de- 
crease, which  in  the  years  1890  aiuf  1891,  took  place  in  ^^"^""^''^^  ''^ ?"<="• 
the  annual  catch  on  the  Pribilof  Islands.  As  soon  as  it  became  known 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1890  that  only  about  21,000  skins  had 
been  taken  that  year  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  the  price  of  skins  rose 
rapidly  at  Victoria;  and  reference  to  the  annexed  statement  will  show 
that  while  in  June  we  had  bought  at  less  than  §7  a  skin,  in  September 
of  the  same  year  we  purchased  at  811  a  skin,  these  September  pur- 
chases having  been  nuide  at  my  direction  immediately  after  the  receipt 
of  the  information  concerning  the  reduced  catch  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

Our  Northwest  Coast  pnrchases  of  1891  were  made  in  open  market. 
The  still  higher  prices  paid  in  that  year  were  directly  due  to  the  so- 
called  worf^s  Vivendi  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain, 
whereby  the  Pribilof  catch  was  reduced  to  7,500  skins,  and  sealing  in 
the  waters  of  Bering  Sea  entirely  prohibited. 

Sa:muel  Ullmann. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  21st  day  of  June,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  George  Kissinge"R,  Jr., 

Ifotary  Ihihlic,  City  and  County  of  New  York,  Ho.  99. 


634 


TESTIMONY. 


Month 


1&&7. 


May 

August 
October 


Nmiiber 
of  seal 

slvins 

pur- 
chased. 


730 

57 

,706 


Total 
price. 


$3,910.00 

295.  00 

27, 138. 40 


Average 

price 
per  skin. 


$5.35 
5.17 
5.70 


1888. 


May 

June 

September 
October. . . 


1,835 
1,076 
3.516 
3,686 


$8,  237. 95 
4,831.40 
20,  208.  75 
20, 700.  74 


$4.49 
4.49 
5.75 
5.61 


1889. 


April . . 
May  ... 
Julie. . . 
July... 

Do. 

Do. 
August 


529 

1,992 

233 

138 

678 

24 

1,137 


$3,  236.  00 

$6.12 

13,  022.  20 

6.62 

1, 44U.  25 

6.18 

1,000.75 

7.61 

4,  860.  95 

7.17 

150.  80 

6.28 

7, 159. 00 

6.29 

ISSO — Continued. 


Month. 


August. 
October. 


Number 
of  seal 
skins 
pur- 
chased. 


499 
030 


Total  price. 


$3,  507. 75 
4,  S82.  50 


Average 

price  per 

skin. 


$7.  03 
7.75 


1890. 


May 

June 

Do.... 

SeiJtember 
Do.... 

October. . . 
Do.... 
Do.... 


2,210 
613 
435 
2,618 
2,152 
1,  828 
2,615 
1,366 


20, 965.  50 
5,  332. 50 
3,031.50 
28,  766.  00 
23,  672.  00 
20,  605.  80 
30,  358.  90 
16, 254.  25 


9.48 
8.69 
6.97 
10.98 
11.00 
11.27 
11.60 
11.16 


1891. 


May. . , 
"Do 

July.. 


1,487 

26 

105 


22,  232.  00 

312.  00 

1,715.00 


14.95 
12.00 
16.33 


Jos.  Ullmann. 

Statement  referred  to  iu  annexed  affidavit  of  Samuel  Ullmann. 

George  Kissinger,  Jr., 

Notary  Puhlie. 


Deposition  of  Elkan  Waasermanu ^  furrier ,  San  Francisco, 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco,  ss: 
Elkan  Was-sermann,  liaving  been  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I  am 
53  years  of  age.     I  reside  in  San  Francisco,    My  occupation  is  that  of 
a  merchant.     I  have   been   engaged  in  buying  furs  for  the  last  thirty 
years.     I  have  examined  and  bought  a  great  number 
Experience.  of  scal-fur  skiiis  duviiig  that  time.     Some  were  skins 

taken  by  huiit«n-s  off  the  coast  of  California,  and  others 
from  the  coasts  of  Briti.sli  C<)luml)ia,  Alaska,  and  Japan;  and  I  have 
also  bought  skins  from  other  dealers.  Some  were  shot  and  some  were 
speared.  I  have  often  conversed  with  the  hunters  relative  to  the  per- 
centage of  the  lo.ss  of  seals  to  those  taken,  and  soine 
tell  me  they  get  1  out  of  5  or  6.  From  my  knowl- 
edge of  the  sealing  business  I  am  satisfied  that  the 
seals  will  be  entirely  exterminated  unless  protected 
trom  the  indiscriminate  pursuit  in  the  waters  that  has  been  going  on 
for  the  last  few  years. 

E.  Wassermann. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  12th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892, 
[seal.]  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Puhlie. 


Waste  of  life. 
Protection      neces- 
sary. 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  535 

Deposition  of  William  Wiepert,  superintendent  for  Asch  tt  JaecJ{c1,  fur- 
riers, New  YorA'. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  Xew  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  Yorl;  ss: 

William  Wiepert,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  47  years  of  age,  a 
citizen  of  tlie  United  States,  and  a  resident  of  the  city  of  Brooklyn, 
State  of  New  York.     I  am,  and  have  been  for  the  last  six  years,  the 
superintendent  of  the  manufacturing   department  of     j-xperkmc 
the  house  of  Asch  &  Jaeckel,  which  carries  on  a  gen- 
eral wholesale  fur  business  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  between 
the  years   of  1880   and  18SG   I  was  the  foreman  of  this  establish- 
ment.    Prior  to  1880  I  had  already  handled  large  numbers  of  fur- 
seal  skins,  and  since  the  time  when  I  entered  the  employ  of  Asch  & 
Jaeckel  I  believe  I  have  handled,  assorted,  and  closely  inspected  at 
least  100,000  dressed  and  dyed  fur-seal  skins.     During  the  past  two 
years  I  have  handled  large  numbers  of  northwest-coast  skins  {i.  e., 
skins  of  animals  taken  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  or  in  Be- 
ring Sea).     I  have  assorted  all  of  them,  and  in  doing  so  m^stiyMmaies*:^*''^ 
have  specially  noticed  the  fact  that  a  very  large  pro- 
portion were  skins  of  female  animals.     To  determine  this  fact  in  the 
case  of  dressed  skins  I  see  whether  there  are  any  teat  holes.     I  never 
call  a  skin  a  female  skin  unless  I  can  find  two  such  holes  on  either  side. 
These  holes  can  be  easily  distinguished  from  bullet  or  buckshot  holes, 
of  which  there  are  generally  a  great  number  in  northwest-coast  skins. 
In  the  case  of  a  shot  hole  it  is  always  e\  ident  that  the 
surrounding  fur  has  been  abruptly  cut  oft,  while  around  ^J^l'^'^y  ^'^"^  ^""^t 
the  edge  of  a  teat  liole  the  fur  gradually  shortens  as  it 
reaches  the  edge  and  naturally  ceases  to  grow  at  the  edge. 

I  have  iust  looked  over  an  original  case  of  ninety 
dressed  and  dyed  nortliwest-coast  liir-seal  skins,  which  „.Ses'^^' ^^"^ ''°*  ^'' 
have  been  lately  received  from  London,  and  were  still 
under  seals  placed  on  them  in  London.     I  found  that  of  these  ninety 
skins  nine  only  were  those  of  male  animals. 

William  Wiepert. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  22d  day  of  June,  1892. 

[seal.]  Frederick  C.  Schmidt, 

Notary  Public,  Neio  York  County. 


Deposition  of  C.  A.  Williams,  head  of  the  firm  of  C.  A.  Williams  &  Co. 
and  member  of  the  Alaslca  Commercial  Company. 

PELAGIC   sealing. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washinyton,  ss: 

C.  A.  Williams,  being  dulv  sworn,  savs  that  he  is  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  and  a  resident  of  the  city  i n^n^^tf  y  ""uaMu" 
of  New  London,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  is  63 
years  of  age. 

First.  That  he  was  a  member  of  the  firm  of  ^Vil-      Expcriouco. 
liams  &  Haven,  whose  business  has  of  late  been  carried 


536  TESTIMONY. 

ou  by  liim  under  the  flriii  name  of  C.  A,  Williams  &  Co.;  tliat  said  firms 
have  been  and  tbe  latter  still  is  engaged  in  the  whaling  and  seal  liiiut- 
ing  business,  and  prior  to  the  tbrniation  of  said  firm  of  Williams  & 
Haven,  upwards  of  forty  years  ago,  the  same  business  was  carried  on 
by  deponent's  father  and  grandfather,  from  the  beginning  of  this  cen- 
tury. That  during  the  time  said  business  has  been  in  dei^onent's  hands 
he  has  employed  ujiwards  of  twenty-five  vessels  in  the  sealing  business 
and  has  had  as  many  as  eight  or  ten  vessels  at  one  time  engaged  in 

that  business.  Tliat  deponent's  vessels  have  taken 
^Former  sources  of  ggj^jg  during  the  last  forty  years  from  the  North  Pacific, 
^"^''^'  Cape  of   Good   Hope,   Cape  Horn,    South    Shetland 

Islands,  South  Georgia,  Crozetts,  Desolation  Islands,  Sandwich  Land, 
and  Gough  Island.  Tliat  immediately  after  the  cession  of  Russian 
America  to  the  United  States,  deponent  dispatched  the  American  bark 
Feru  to  the  Bering  Sea  from  Honolulu  (where  deponent  at  that  time 
had  for  some  years  been  residing),  for  t\\Q  i)urpose  of  investigating  the 
possibilities  of  seal  fishing  in  that  locality.     That  about  the  year  1870 

deponent  was  associated  Mith  several  other  gentlemen 
ka^c™finercia°/ cim-  "^  forming  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  which 
pauy.  company  obtained,  in  the  year  1870,  a  lease  from  the 

United  Stales  Government  forai^eriod  of  twenty  years 
of  the  right  to  take  seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  in  the  Bering  Sea; 
those  islands  consistuig  of  islands  St.  Paul,  St.  George,  and  Walrus 
Island.  At  the  expiration  of  the  said  lease,  in  1890,  the  United  States 
Government  invited  bids  for  a  lease  for  a  second  period  of  twenty 
years,  and  a  lease  was  given  to  the  North  American  Commercial  Com- 
pany, and  in  this  company  deponent  has  never  had  any  interest.  That 
during  the  whole  of  the  period  which  deponent  has  been  engaged  in 
this  business  it  has  had  his  close  attention.  Deponent  has  talked  at 
great  length  with  the  captains  of  his  various  ships,  most  of  whom  are 
now  no  longer  living,  and  with  officers  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  Com- 
pany ;  he  has  also  inspected  many  thousands  of  skins  of  seals  caught  by 
his  vessels,  and  has  also  seen  many  thousands  of  skins  in  the  ware- 
houses of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  in  London.  The  members  of  that 
firm  at  the  present  time  are  Sir  George  Lampson,  Emil  Teichman,  Nor- 
man Lampson,  and  Alfred  Fraser.  The  firm  of  C.  M.  Lampson  «&  Co. 
receive,  handle,  and  sell  a  very  much  larger  number  of  seal  skins  than 
all  the  other  houses  in  the  world  together.  The  whole  catch  of  the 
Alaska  Commercial  Company  was  annually  consigned  to  that  firm  for 

sale  at  public  anction  in  the  city  of  London,  and  much 
consi'"nee?  fnesseel  ^^^  larger  proportion  of  all  the  other  catches  that  have 
of  i'nbi'.of  and  Kiis-  bccu  made  by  deponent's  vessels  in  other  parts  of  the 
deponent"'^^'  ^^'^  °^  world  liave  likewise  been  consigned  to  them;  and  the 

present  lessees  of  the  Pribilof  Islands,  deponent  under- 
stands, still  consign  their  catches  to  them,  as  do  the  Eussian  Seal 
Skin  Company,  who  are  the  lessees  of  the  Russian  Islands  in  the  Bering 
Sea,  k7iown  as  the  Commander  Islands. 

Second.  Deponent's  views  as  to  the  history  of  the 
as^o'^Ss'bnJhiels  scaliug  busiucss  down  to  the  year  1887  are  best  set 
set  foitii  iiKstatenient  forth  iu  a  Statement  inepared  by  him  personally,  and 
Miimutua   to    Con-  gi^i^,j,itj-(. J  ^o  a  committee  of  Congress  on  merchant 

marine,  hereto  annexed  and  marked  A.  Before  sub- 
mitting that  statement  to  the  committee,  deponent  submitted  it  to  the 
firm  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  of  London,  who  have  been  his  correspond- 
ents, and  in  reijly  received  from  them  a  letter,  the  original  of  which 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  537 

deponent  now  lias,  and  a  copy  of  which  is  hereto  annexed  and  marked 
B.  Deponent  thinks  no  modification  of  the  statements  made  in  those 
two  communications  is  necessary  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  ex- 
cepting in  respect  to  the  i)rediction  of  the  Russian  authorities  that  in  con- 
sequence of  the  reckless  and  indiscriminate  killing  of  seals  by  the  Ameri- 
cans, the  Pribilof  herd  would  emigrate  to  the  Eussian  Islands.  That 
prediction  has  not  been  verifled.  Tliere  is  no  intermingling  of  the  herds, 
and  the  skins  of  the  two  herds  of  the  Pribilof  and 
Commander  Islands  may  be  so  readily  distinguished  .Alaskan  and  Etis- 
from  each  other  that  an  expert  would  have  no  dfticiilty  termingie^  ^**  "^"^  ^^' 
in  at  once  throwing  out  from  the  catch  taken  on  the 
Commander  Islands  any  skins  of  the  Pribilof  herd,  and  vice  versa; 
and  deponant  understands  from  persons  who  have  had     ^„  .       ,  .,    ,    , 

7  ^         .  •       .1  •       /•  ±-  Ml       f     •  •  Skins    of  the  herd 

long  experience  in  the  examination  ot  the  living  am-  readily  distinguish- 
mals  that  the  two  herds  so  differ  as  to  belong  to  sepa-  ''^^''• 
rate  species  of  the  same  genus,  and  can  readOy  be  distinguished  from 
each  other. 

Third.  Deponent  further  says  that,  commercially  speaking,  the  seal 
skins  now  coming  upon  the  markets  of  the  world  are 
obtained  principally  from  three  catches,  known  as  the     Present  sources  of 
Copper,  the  Alaska,  and  the  Northwest  catches.    The  ^"copper  skins. 
first  includes  the  skins  taken  by  the  Russian  Sealskin 
Company  from  the  islands  of  Copper  and  Bering,  known  as  the  Com- 
mander Islands ;  also  from  Robbeii  Island  in  the  Ohkotsk  Sea.    The 
Robben  Island  skins  difi'er  from  those  of  the  Com- 
mander Islands.    The  Alaska  catch  includes  the  seals     ^'''''^■''  ^^'''^■ 
killed  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands  by  the  lessees  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  Northwest  catch  includes  the  seals  caught  in 
the  open  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  exclusively,  by  what        ^^   '^"'^  ^  *°^' 
are  known  as  poaching  vessels,  and  are  distinguished  from  the  Alaska 
catch  by  the  fact  that  they  are  all  pierced  by  bullet,  buckshot,  or  spear, 
and  are  almost  all  females;  and  the  skins  of  these  three  catches,  as 
deponent  has  before  stated,  are  readily  distinguishable  from  each  other 
and  are  well  recognized  in  the  trade  as  distinguishable  from  each  other 
and  the  differences  between  are  clearly  evidenced  in  the  different  prices 
which  have  always  been  obtained  for  the  seal  skins  of  the  three  catches; 
for  instance,  the  skins  of  the  Alaska  catch  now  com- 
mand and  have  always  commanded  by  20  or  30  per  Ai^slaTkins""**    °^ 
cent  a  better  price  than  skins  of  the  same  size  from  the 
Copper  catch;  and  diis  difference  is  also  recognized  by  the  Russian 
Government,  who  lease  the  privilege  of  catching  upon  the  Commander 
Islands  upon  terms  25  jier  cent  less  than  the  terms  exacted  by  the 
United  States  for  the  lease  catch  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

Fourth.  Deponent  further  says  that  the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch 
are  almost  entirely  the  skins  of  females.     That  the 
skins  of  males  and  the  skins  of  females  may  be  as  nj^s?fy  fjniaies!^**"^ 
readily  distinguished  from  each  other  as  the  skins  of 
the  different  sexes  of  any  other  animals,  when  seen  before  being  dyed 
and  dressed,  and  that  the  reason  why  the  skins  of  this  th  •  f  r 

catch  are  almost  exclusively  females  is  that  the  male  ^*^^°° 
seal  is  much  more  active  and  much  more  able  to  escape  from  the  boats 
engaged  in  this  manner  of  hunting  than  the  female  seal,  and  that  a 
large  number  of  the  female  seals  included  in  the  Northwest  catch  are 
of  animals  heavy  with  young.  A  large  number  of  females  are  also 
caught  on  their  way  fi"om  and  to  the  Pribilof  Islands  and  their  feeding 


538  TESTIMONY. 

grounds  before  and  after  the  delivery  of  their  youne:  on  those  islands. 
Deponent  is  of  the  opinion  that  in  tuhlition  to  the  seals 
astpoi  u  e.  actually  caii<iht  a  very  huge  nnniber  are  killed  and  not 

eanght;  and  he  bases  tiiis  opinion  upon  the  declaration  to  him  of  large 
numbers  of  persons  engaged  in  pelagic  sealing.     He  is  not  able  to 
state  accurately  what  that  proportion  is,  but  considers  that  two-fifths 
would  be  a  very  conservative  estimate:  that  is,  of  the 
01  jpercen   os .  ^^^j^i  n^^jj^^jgi.  killed  three-fifths  are  secured  and  two- 
fifths  lost.     The  method  of  sealing  by  the  poaching  vessels,  that  is,  of 
shooting  the  seal  from  boats  and  catching  them  in  the  open  water  and 
then  salting  tliem  down  on  the  vessels,  affords  another 
Less  price  obtained  explanation  of  tlic  difference  in  the  prices  obtained  for 

lor  JNorthwest  SKins.        ■,  ,  .  ,.      i        -k-r      / 1  -it 

the  skins  of  the  JNorthwest  and  the  other  catches. 
That  is,  nearly  all  of  the  skins  of  the  iS^orthwest  catch  are  in  the  first 
place  marked  with  bullet  or  buckshot  holes,  and,  in  the  second  place, 
the  curing  being  done  on  the  vessels,  where  there  are  no  proper  facili- 
ties for  such  curing,  the  skins  are  inferior  to  those  cured  on  the  islands, 
where  such  facilities  exist. 

Fifth.  Deponent,  by  reason  of  his  experience  in  the  business,  his  ob- 
servation, conversations  with  tliose  physically  engaged  in  catching  and 
curing  skins,  and  the  custody  of  herds  on  the  islands,  feels  justified  in 
expressing  the  opinion  that  the  numbers  of  the  seal  herds  have,  since 
f     1,      ^^^  introduction  of  the  oi)en-sea  sealing  on  a  large 

scale,  suffered  serious  diminution.  The  killing  of  large 
numbers  of  females  heavy  with  young  can  not,  in  deponent's  knowledge, 
but  have  that  effect;  and  the  killing  of  females  shortly  after  the  delivery 
of  their  young  can  not  but  have  the  effect  of  causing  the  death  of  their 
offspring  through  lack  of  nourishment;  and  deponent  is  of  the  opinion 

that  if  no  restriction  be  imposed  upon  such  iudiscrimi- 
^^Protection    neces-  jj^te  killing  as  has  been  going  on  in  Bering  Sea  and 

the  IS'orth  Pacific  since  the  year  18So  by  the  poachers, 
the  sealing  industries  of  the  ISTorth  Pacific  will  follow  the  course  of 
those  industries  that  formerly  existed  in  the  southern  seas;  and  that 
there  is  only  a  measurable  time,  say  at  the  outside  five  years,  when,  if 
the  present  condition  of  things  continues,  the  seals  of  Bering  Sea  will 
be  as  extinct  as  the  seals  of  south  sea  islands. 

Deponent  says  that  the  most  complete  i)rotection  to  the  herds  would  be 
.,    ,  ,         ,., .    the  absolute  prohibition  of  open-sea  hunting;  but  that 

Absolute     prolubi-     . ,  ,  ^nr>    •        ,  j.      x-  x-         j.i         i  i       •        j.i 

tion  the  best  protec-  it  may  bc  Sufficient  protection  for  the  herds  in  the 
*"'"•  North  Pacific  if  a  close  season  can  be  arranged  for  all 

the  seal  north  of  the  fiftieth  parallel,  north  latitude,  and 
z^tm^jlni,!"'^. ""  west  of  the  one  hundred  and  fiftieth  degree  of  west 

longitude  from  the  1st  day  of  May  to  the  1st  day  of 
isovember.  Deponent  regards  it  as  important  that  the  seal  herd  should 
be  protected  as  above  indicated  in  the  Korth  Pacific,  as  otherwise  they 
will  be  exterminated,  even  if  sealing  be  i)rohibited  in  the  Bering 
Sea. 

Sixth.  Deponent  further  says  that  the  number  of  persons  who  are 
,  .     engaged  in  the  handling,  dressing,  and  dyeing  of  seal 

Persons  enjraKcd  in       ,  '.      "  .       ^^         x    i>    -i     •        •        i         i.  "?.  /w\/i  j?       i 

the  industry  in  cjreat  skius  111  Cxrcat  Britain  IS  about  2,()()(),  uiauy  of  whom 
st'iltcs"''^*^*'"^^^^*'^'^  ^'^'*^  expert  workmen  and  receive  high  wages;  and  the 
number  in  the  Tnited  States  is  about  300.  The  num- 
ber of  persons  engaged  upon  the  poaching  vessels  is  about  10  to  each 
vessel,  and  a  considerable  number  of  the  persons  engaged  upon  the 
Canadian  sealers  are  American  citizens. 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  539 

The  amount  of  revenue  derived  by  the  United  States  from  the  Ahiska 
catch  can  be  estimated  from  the  following  figures,  care-  in 

fully  compiled  by  deponent,  from  1872  to  1887,  inclu-   iriiited°state"^ft-om 

Sive  ■  Alaska  catch. 

The  total  number  of  sldns  dressed  and  dyed  in  London  and  shipped 
to  the  United  States  during-  those  sixteen  years,  was  g^^^^^  dressed  and 
825,000.  The  value  of  the  same  Avas  £3,253,941,  which  dyed  in  London  and 
at  exchange  of  $4.80  would  produce  $15,018,910;  the  ^^l^^^^  ^°  ^'"'^'"^ 
duty  upon  which  at  20  per  cent  ad  valorem  would  be 
$3,123,783.  The  average  duty  per  annum  is  $195,236.  The  average 
rental  received  by  the  Government  and  tax  during  these  years  from 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  was  $317,500,  making  a  total  aver- 
age to  the  United  States  from  the  Alaska  seal  skins  of  $512,736;  and 
the  total  during  the  sixteen  years  above  noted  of  $8,203,776,  all  of 
which,  as  deponent  believes,  will  be  lost  to  the  United  States  in  the 
future  if  the  destruction  is  not  prohibited.  Deponent  believes  and  says 
that  if  unrestricted  pelagic  sealing  be  allowed  to  con-  p^^g^it  „f  nnre- 
tinue  throughout  the  whole  of  Bering  Sea,  not  only  stricted  pelagic  seai- 
will  the  United  States  Government  soon  be  deprived  ^°^- 
of  a  considerable  aniuial  revenue,  and  over  2,000  English  workmen  of 
skilled  employment,  of  which  they  now  have  a  practical  monopoly,  but 
a  i^ortion  of  the  civilized  world  Avill  hereafter  be  deprived  of  a  useful 
and  valuable  fur-bearing  animal;  and  a  great  and  irreparable  injury 
will  thus  be  done  to  various  legitimate  industries  which  have  been  built 
up  by  the  authorized  lessees  of  Eussia  and  the  United  States  and  the 
firm  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  which  industries  are  conlined  to  one  lo- 
cality and  which  if  fostered  piromise  to  continue  in  existence  for  an  in- 
definite length  of  time;  while  in  return  for  such  injury  there  will  be 
only  a  comparatively  slight  benefit  of  a  few  years'  duration  to  a  com- 
paratively small  number  of  men. 

The  deponent  resided  in  the  Hawaiian  Islands  for  a  period  of  twenty 
years  during  the  time  his  firm  was  engaged  in  whaling 
and  sealing  as  above  stated;  durin.g  that  time  he  was  igra  ion. 
brought  in  contact  with  many  masters  of  vessels  and  other  seafaring 
men,  who  made  frequent  voyages  between  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and 
Puget  Sound,  and  he  learned  from  them  that  during  the  months  of  No- 
vember and  December  they  occasionally  encountered  schools  or  "jiods" 
of  seals  moving  i'rom  north  towards  the  lower  coast  of  California;  he 
himself  in  one  of  his  voyages  in  the  month  of  November  saw  such 
"pods;"  and  from  these  facts  and  his  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  the 
seals  which  frequent  and  have  their  home  on  the  Pribilof  Islands,  he  is 
satisfied  that  the  herd  of  said  islands  confine  their  migration  to  the 
waters  of  the  American  side  of  the  ocean,  and  that  when  they  leave 
the  islands  they  go  througli  the  passes  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  to  the 
coast  of  southern  California  and  thence  along  u])  the  coast  again  to  the 
Pribilof  Islands. 

The  de])onent  was  for  more  than  ten  years  previous  to  the  sale  and 
transfer  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States  engaged  in  whale  fishing  in 
the  North  Pacific  and  Arctic  Oceans,  emjdoying  quite  a  number  of 
vessels  each  year  in  that  business;  that  these  vessels      „   ,.       ,.,.,, 

-,  ;     1    1        ,,       T,  .         .^  '  J.    ^      ^        1  Sealing     (orbidden 

were  permitted  by  the  Jciissian  (•overnment  to  ireely  by  Russia  in  jseiing 
enter  and  pass  thrcmgh  Pering  Sea  in  pursuit  of  Sea  beiorc  i867. 
whales,  but  it  was  known  to  the  masters  of  the  deponent's  vessels  that 
the  Eussian  Government  did  not  ]ierniit  the  taking  of  seals  in  any  of 
the  waters  of  Bering  Sea,  and  the  deponent  was  informed  by  the 
masters  of  his  vessels  and  by  others  who  resorted  to  Bering  Sea  dur- 


540  TESTIMONY. 

ill g  tlie  Russian  occupation  of  A1;i:^ka  that  no  tiilviiig  of  seals  in  the 
waters  of  said  sea  was  attempted  or  peiiiiitted. 

A  statement  is  attaclied  hereto,  prepared  by  deponent,  giving  liis  esti- 
Estimate  of  females  mate  of  the  number  of  female  seals  killed  by  pelagic 
seaHn-  ^{n  ^alt"^?  liuntiiig  In  the  past  twenty-one  years. 

years."  C.    A.   WiLLTAMS. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  this  2d  day  of  Ai)ril,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Jno.  J.  Cook, 

I^otary  Fuhlic, 

Exhibit  A. 

Statements  and  statistics  relative  to  the  fur-seal  fisliery. 

[Submitted  to  committee  of  Congress  on  merchant  marine  and  fisheries,  1888.] 

Examination  of  the  earliest  records  of  the  fur-seal  fishery  sliows  that 
from  the  date  of  man's  recognition  of  the  value  of  the 
fu^seai^'^'^^"'*"^^^^  fur  the  pursuit  of  the  animal  bearing  it  has  been  un- 
ceasing and  relentless.      Save  in  the  few  instances  to 
be  noted  hereafter,  where  governments  have  interposed  for  the  purpose 
of  proteeliug  seal  life,  having  in  view  benefits  to  accrue  in  the  future, 
the  animal  has  been  wantonly  slaughtered  with  no  re- 
siamrhtCT '^^'"^°"**'  gard  for  age,  sex,  or  condition.     The  mature  male, the 
female  hea^^"  with  young,  the  pup,  dependent  for  life  on 
the  mother,  each  and  all  have  been  indiscriminately  killed  or  left  to 
die  of  want.     This  cruel  and  useless  butchery  has  resulted  in  comi)lete 
extermination  of  the  fur-seal  from  localities  which  were  once  fi^equented 
by  millions  of  the  species;  and,  so  far  as  these  localities  are  concerned, 
has  obliterated  an  industry  which  a  little  more  enlightened  selfislniess 
might  have  preserved  in  perpetuity  to  the  great  benefit  of  all  ranks  of 
civilized   society.    Nothing  less  than  stringent  laws, 
erMrent  nece^sarf ?^ '  "^^^h  will  powcT  to  cuforcc  thcui  agaiust  all  violators, 
can  preserve  for  man's  benefit  the  remnant  of  a  race 
of  animals  so  interesting  and  so  useful. 

The  most  valuable  "rookery"  or  breeding  place  of  these  animals 
Th   most  valuable  ^^^'^  kiiowii  to  mail  is  uow  ill  thc  posscssiou  of  the 
rookery  is  in  pcsses-    United  Statcs.     How  it  lias  bccii  carcd  for  in  former 
states"^  *^'**  United  ygQj-g^  q^^(\^  brought  to  its  prcscut  statc  of  value  of 
It9pr('^ervationthe  usefulncss,  will  bc  showu  hitcr  Oil.     But  tlic  matter 
que.-^iion.  of  its  preservation  and  perpetuation  intact  is  the  im- 

portant question  of  the  moment,  and  that  this  question  may  be  consid- 
ered intelligently  the  evidence  is  here  presented  of  the 
henis*''"^""""^ ''*'"'''  ^'«uton  destruction  that  has  befallen  these  animals 
when  left  unprotected  by  the  law  to  man's  greed  and 
selfishness,  which,  it  is  fair  to  say,  is  all  that  could  be  expected  from 
the  unlicensed  hunter,  whose  nature  seeks  individual  and  immediate 
gain,  with  no  regard  for  a  future  in  which  he  has  no  assurance  of  per- 
sonal advantage. 

The  following  statistics  are  gathered  from  the  journals  of  early  navi- 
gators, and  such  commercial  records  as  are  now  available  are  sub- 
mitted : 

KEKGUELEN  LAND. 

An  island  in  southern  Indian  Ocean  discovered  about  1772.    The 

shores  of  this  island  were  teeming  with  fur-seal  when 

Kergueien  Land.      -^  ^^^^  bccamc  kiiowu.    Betwecu  the  date  of  its  dis- 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  541 

covery  and  the  year  1800  over  1,200,000  seal  skins  were  taken  by  the 
British  vessels  fi-oiii  the  island,  and  seal  life  thereon  was  exterminated. 

CROZETTS. 

The  Crozett  Islands,  in  same  ocean  and  not  far  distant,  were  also 
visited  and  hnnted  over  and  the  seal  life  there  was 

J.   X    n  1  J-     1  Crozett  Island. 

totally  exhausted. 

MASAFUERO. 

An  island  in  southern- Pacific  Ocean,  latitude  38°  48'  S.,  longitude 
80°  34'  VY.,  came  next  in  order  of  discovery,  and  from     Masafuero  island. 
its  shores  in  a  few  vears  were  gathered  and  shipped 
1,200,000  fur-seal  skins. 

Delano,  chapter  17,  page  306,  says  of  Masafuero:  ^' When  the  Ameri- 
cans came  to  this  place  in  1797  and  began  to  make  a  business  of  kilhug 
seals  there  is  no  doubt  but  there  were  2,000,000  or  3,000,000  of  them  on 
the  island.  I  have  made  an  estimate  of  more  than  3,000,000  that  have 
been  carried  to  Canton  from  thence  in  the  space  of  seven  years.  I  have 
carried  more  than  100,000  myself  and  have  been  at  the  ijlace  when  there 
were  the  people  of  fourteen  ships  or  vessels  on  the  island  at  one  time 
killing  seals." 

SOUTH   SHETLANDS. 

In  1821-'23  the  South  Shetland  Islands,  a  group  nearly  south  from 
Cape  Horn,  became  known  to  the  seal-hunters,  and  in 
two  years  over  320,000  seals  were  killed  and  their  skins  i^uds"'  ^^^"'""^  ^^' 
shipped  from  these  islands. 

SOUTH   GEORGIA. 

Later  still  seal  were  found  on  the  island  of  South  Georgia,  South 
Atlantic  Ocean,  and  from  this  locality  was  obtained 
over  1,000,000  of  fur-seal,  leaving  the  beaches  bare  of  i.^^'^^''  Georgia  is- 
seal  hfe. 

CAPE   HORN. 

From  the  coasts  of  South  America  and  about  Cape  Horn  many  thou- 
sands of  fur-seal  have  been  taken,  and  of  the  life  once 
so  prolific  there  nothing  is  now  left  save  such  remnants       ^^^ 
of  former  herds  as  shelter  on  rocks  and  inlets  almost  inaccessible  to  the 
most  daring  hunter. 

This  record  shows  the  nearly  complete  destruction  of  these  valuable 
animals  in  southern  seas.  Properly  protected,  Kerguelan  Land,  Mas- 
fuero,  the  Shetlands,  and  South  Georgia  might  have  been  hives  of 
industry,  producing  vast  wealth,  training  schools  for  hardy  seamen, 
and  furnishing  employment  for  tens  of  thousands  in  the  world's  markets 
where  skins  are  dressed,  ])repared,  and  distributed.  But  the  localities 
were  no  man's  land,  and  no  man  cared  for  them  or  their  products 
save  as  through  destruction  they  could  be  transmitted  into  a  i)assiug 
profit. 

The  skins  from  the  localities  mentioned  were  niaiketed  mainly  in 
China,  as  exchange  for  silks,  teas,  etc. ;  a  portion  went      ,r   i  .   <•     t^    „ 

'  1   •       II  1    TT   '    1         1  ..  Tilai-lut    lor    those 

to  Europe,  and  m  1  ranee  iind  Jiiiigland  were  manutac-   stius. 

tured  into  caps,  gloves,  and  other  small  articles,  being 

simply  unhaired  and  dressed.     Theu"  commercial  value  in  China  was 


542  TESTIMONY. 

about  $5  per  skin  for  first  class,  and  somotliing  less  in  Europe.  But 
Delano,  chapter  11,  page  197,  says:  "Having  agreed  for  a  fi-eight, 
Captain  Stuart  ordered  Lis  ship  to  Canton;  he  sold  his  cargo  of  seals, 
38,000,  for  only  •'^16,000,  so  reduced  was  the  price  of  this  article."  There 
was  no  regular  market  estahlished  for  them,  and,  under  the  condi- 
tions of  tlieir  taking,  there  could  be  none;  for  at  one  time  there  woidd 
be  a  vast  oversupply,  while  at  another  skins  would  be  unattainable, 
and  always  the  assurance  that  however  plentiful  might  be  the  supply 
for  a  season  tlie  end  was  not  distant,  for  utter  destruction  was  the  rule 
of  capture,  and  no  reproduction  was  possible.  Capital  could  not  under- 
take to  develoi)  such  a  trade,  for  the  end  was  in  sight  from  the  begin- 
ning. 

In  1872,  fifty  years  after  the  slaughter  at  the  Shetland  Islands,  the 

localities  before  mentioned  were  all  revisited  by 
gi^nT^^*  ^^^  *^°^''  ^^    another  generation  of  hunters,  and  in  the  sixteen  years 

that  have  elapsed  they  have  searched  every  beach  and 
gleaned  from  every  rock  known  to  their  predecessors,  and  found  a  few 
secluded  and  inhosi)itable  places  before  unknown,  and  the  net  result 
of  all  their  toil  and. daring  for  tlie  years  scarcely  amounts  to  4."),0()0 
skins,  and  now  not  even  a  remnant  remains  save  on  the  rocks  off  the 
l)itch  of  Cape  Horn.  The  last  vessel  at  South  Shetlands  this  year  of 
1888,  after  hunting  all  the  group,  found  only  35  skins,  and  the  last 
at  Kerguelan  Land  only  61,  including  pups.  So  in  wretched  waste 
^    and  wanton  destruction  has  gone  out  forever  from  the 

Seals  exterminated.     ,       j-i    ,  x^  •      "i  i-   i    j.  ~i 

southern  seas  a  race  o±  animals  useiul  to  man,  and  a 
possible  industry  connected  witli  them,  and  it  is  plain  that  without  the 
aid  of  law  to  guide  and  control  no  other  result  could  have  been  ex- 
pected or  attained. 

The  seal  life  of  to-day  available  for  commercial  purposes  is  centered 
p  esp  t   ources  of  ^^  three  localities : 
suppVy'   Lobos   Is-       (1)  The  Lobos  Islands,  situated  in  the  mouth  of  the 
^'^"'^''-  river  La  Plata,  owned  and  controlled  by  the  Uruguay 

Republic  and  by  that  Government  leased  to  pri^'ate  parties  for  the  sum 
of  $0,000  per  annum  and  some  stipulated  charges.  The  annual  prod- 
uct in  skins  is  about  12,000. 

The  skins  are  of  rather  inferior  quality.  Insufficient  restrictions  are 
placed  upon  the  lessees  in  regard  to  the  number  of  skins  permitted  to 
be  taken  annually,  consequently  there  is  some  waste  of  life;  neverthe- 
less, the  measure  of  protection  allowed  has  insured  the  preservation  of 
the  "  rookery,"  and  will  continue  so  to  do. 

(2)  Kommandorski  Couplet,  which  consists  of  the  islands  of  Copper 
and  Bering,  near  the  coast  of  Kamchatka,  in  that  por- 
land^""'"''^"  ^"^  *^<^^^  ^^'  Bering  Sea  pertaining  to  Russia.  These  islands 
yield  about  40,000  skins  per  annum  of  good  quality,  and 
are  guarded  by  carefully  restrictive  rules  as  to  the  killing  of  seal,  an- 
alogous to  the  statutes  of  the  United  States  relative  to  the  same  sub- 
ject. 

The  right  to  take  seals  upon  them  is  leased  by  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment to    an  association   of  American    citizens,   who 
GovTrainenT toAk's"  also  liold  tlic  Icasc  of  tlic  isUiuds  belonging  to  the 
ka  Commercial  Coin-   United  Statcs,  aud  are  thus  enabled  to  control  and 
^^^^'  direct  the  business  in  fur-seal  skins  for  the  common 

advantage  and  benetit  of  all  i)arties  in  interest.  These  islands  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  been  "worked"  at  all  for  salted  seal  skins 
prior  to  the  cession  of  Alaska  by  Russia  to  the  United  States,  and  the 
United  States  Government  now  profits  by  the  industry  to  the  extent 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  543 

of  the  duty  of  20  i)er  cent  collected  on  tlie  '^  dressed  skins"  returned  to 
tills  country  from  the  Loudon  market.  From  1873  to  1887,  inclusive, 
tills  return  has  been  121,275  skins. 

(3)  The  Pribilof  group  consists  of  the  islands  of  St.  Paul  and  St. 
George,  and  is  a  Gov^eriiment  reservation  in  that  part  prfbUof  island 
of  Bering  Sea  ceded  to  tlie  United  States  by  Eussia, 
together  with  and  a  part  of  Alaska.  So  exhaustive  an  account  of 
these  islands  and  their  seal  life  has  been  given  by  Mr.  H.  W.  Elliott, 
special  agent  of  Treasury  Department  in  1874,  a)id  since  intimately 
connected  with  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  which  account  has  been 
made  a  part  of  Tenth  Census  IJeport,  that  it  would  be  intrusive  here 
to  attempt  to  supplement  aught,  and  therefore  only  generalizations 
based  on  said  report  and  such  statements  of  life  and  procedure  on  the 
islands  to-daj^  are  presented  as  may  be  pertinent  in  this  connection. 

These  islands  are  places  of  annual  re»ort  for  the  largest  herd  of  fui-- 
seal  the  world  has  ever  known,  and  the  only  one  of  ^.^^ 
great  importance  now  existing.  After  most  careful  ex- 
amination, Mr.  Elliott  estimated  their  numbers  at  over  4,500,000.  After 
a  thorough  study  of  the  induences  which  act  for  or  against  the  increase 
or  diminution  of  the  life  of  this  vast  body,  taking  into  account  the  kill- 
ing of  100,000  annually  for  their  skins,  Mr.  Elliott  says:  "I  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  quite  confidently  that  under  the  present  rules  and 
regulations  governing  the  sealing  interest  on  tliese  islands,  the  increase 
or  the  diminution  of  the  life  will  amount  to  nothing;  that  the  seals  will 
continue  for  all  time  about  the  same  number  and  condition."  It  goes 
without  saying  that  if  new  induences  for  destruction  are  brought  in, 
seal  life  would  be  diminished  in  proportion  to  the  effectiveness  of  said 
influences. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  these  animals  are  all  United  States  property 
and  ha\'ing  been  born  on  United  States  soil  and  reared 
in  United  States  waters  in  the  twenty-one  years  that  ui^terstTtes"^  ^^^ 
have  elapsed  since  the  cession  of  Alaska  liy  Russia, 
and  having  the  instinct  of  regular  return  to  their  home,  which  accords 
them  a  status  in  law,  they  would  seem  to  be  entitled  to  the  j)rotection 
of  their  Government  Avhile  they  are  in  the  acknowledged  boundaries 
of  their  country. 

The  right  to  take  100,000  seal  skins  annually  from  these  islands,  under 
certain  stipulated  restrictions,  is  leased  by  the  Go v'ern-  Lease  to  Alaska 
ment  of  the  United  States  to  an  associationof  American  Commercial  Com- 
citizens  known  as  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company.  ^"°^' 
The  company  pays  a  rental  of  -155,000  per  annum  and  Tennsof. 
$2.62i  per  skin ,  a  total  of  $  3 1 7,500  per  annum,  for  t  li  i  s  ri  ght.  Th  ey  are  al  so 
obligated  to  a  certain  care  of  the  Aleuts  inhabiting  the  islands  and  to 
a  partial  provision  for  their  needs,  both  mental  and  physical. 

They  pay  to  these  Aleuts  40  cents  iwv  skin  or  -$40,000  per  annum 
for  their  services  in  taking  the  skins.     They  have  also 
built  for  them  a  church  and  school-house,  and  maintain  „f^,^atives'"'"''   ^'"■^ 
teachers  and  physicians  on  the  islands. 

At  the  time  of  the  cession  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States  these  people 
were  li  ving  in  huts,  or  more  properly  holes  in  the  ground, 
and  had  no  ambitions  or  asi)irations  beyond  sujiporting  ^f  n'X^?^/'^ *''""^'"*'° 
their  daily  existeiu'e  in  a  painful  and  lalxnious  way. 
Now  they  are  living  in  franui  houses  provided  for  them  by  the  comjiany, 
and  have  accumulated  savings,  invested  in  United  States  bonds  in  San 
Francisco,  amounting  on  August  1,  1887,  to  $04,128.28.     It  is  safe  to  say 


544  TESTIMONY, 

that  no  laboring  mon  -witliiu  tlie  boundaries  of  the  United  States  are 
better  paid  or  better  cared  for. 
As  to  the  manner  in  which  the  100,000  seals,  which  furnish  the  an- 
nual quota  of  slvius,  are  taken,  Mr.  Elliot  says:  "  By 
ciassof  seals  killed,  ^^fg^.^j^^g  ^^  ^1^^,  j^abits  of  the  fur-seal  it  is  plain  that  two- 
thirds  of  all  the  males  that  are  born  (and  they  are  equal  in  number  to 
the  females  born)  are  never  permitted  bj^  the  remaining  third,  strongest 
by  natural  selection,  to  hind  upon  the  same  ground  with  the  females, 
■which  always  herd  together  en  masse.     Therefore,  this  great  band  of 
bachelor  seals,  or  '  hollus  chickie,'  is  comi)elled,  when  it  \isits  land,  to 
live  apart  entirely,  miles  away  frequently,  from  the  breeding  grounds, 
and  in  this  admirably  perfect  manner  of  nature  are  those  seals  which 
can  be  pro]«erly  killed  without  injury  to  the  rookeries  selected  and 
held  aside  so  that  the  natives  can  visit  and  take  them,  as  they  would  so 
many  hogs,  without  disturbing  in  the  slightest  degree  the  peace  and 
quiet  of  the  breeding  grounds  where  the  stock  is  perpetuated." 
In  this  connection  it  is  ]»roper  to  note  that  the  Company  are  not  al- 
loAved  to  take  any  seal  in  the  water  nor  to  make  any  use 
le^sels"*^*'""*  °'^  ^^^  ^^  firearms  in  their  capture.     And  it  will  at  once  be 
j)erceived  that  if  the  seal  in  Bering  Sea  are  harassed 
and  captured  by  means  of  firearms,  spears,  or  drag-nets  the  routine  of 
their  lives  is  interfered  with,  their  habits  broken  up, 
seSs^  result  of  °^  "^  fcmales  witli  young  killed,  and  such  general  disturb- 
ance caused  that  those  not  slaughtered  will  seek  other 
hauling  places  and  the  United  States  thus  lose  their  sole  source  of  in- 
come from  Alaska,  as  well  as  the  control  they  now  enjoy  of  a  valuable 
trade,  and  the  impoverished  Aleuts,  who  have  no  other  means  of  gain 
open  to  them,  would  become  a  burden  on  the  nation  instead  of  being 
the  self-supporting  and   self-respecting   citizens  they 
(iifTfs'l'f*m^ratio^'^of  ^10^  ^^^-     ludeecl,  it  was  predicted  by  Russian  au- 
Pribiiof  heni  to  Com-  thoritics  coiiversaiit  Avitli  scal  life,  at  the  time  of  the 
man  er  s  an  s.  ccssiou  of  tlic  territory,  that  the  reckless  and  indis- 

criminate killing  of  seal  by  the  Americans  would  soon  drive  the  Pribilof 
herd  to  the  Russian  islands,  and  that  thus  they  (the  Russians)  would  re- 
gain and  retain  all  that  was  most  valuable  in  the  ceded  territory.  But 
the  wisdom  of  Congress,  appreciating  the  value  of  the  islands  as  seal 
rookeries,  was  shown  by  legislative  acts  protecting  tlie  animal  and  by 
leasing  the  right  to  take  skins  under  restrictions  to  a  responsible  asso- 
ciation of  American  citizens,  with  the  result  that  at  the  expiration  of  a 
twenty  years'  lease  the  United  States  Government  will,  from  its  pro- 
ceeds, be  fully  reimbursed  for  the  outlay  for  the  pur- 
mS^iroteft'iJn.'"'''  ^^^^*^  *^^  ^^^'  entire  Territory  of  Alaska,  and  will  also 
have  its  herd  of  seals  intact,  provided  the  Government 
will  protect  the  seal  in  Bering  Sea  against  unlicensed  hunters  and 
foreign  marauders. 

Immediately  upon  commencing  operations  under  the  lease  it  was 
a]>[)arenttliat  the  interests  of  the  Government  and  those  of  the  Company 
were  so  intimately  interwoven  that  a  policy  of  entire  good  faith  between 
the  contracting  parties  was  the  only  one  that  could  be  pursued,  and 
so  well  has  this  relation  been  sustained  in  the  eighteen  years  elapsed 
since  the  lease  was  made  that  no  word  of  complaint  has 
8ee9'™with"°term3  ^of  cverbeeu  uttcrcd  on  the  i)ait  of  the  Government  against 
'^*^''-  the  company,  and  no  comidaint  of  improper  action  that 

has  been  made  by  parties  inimical  to  the  Company  has  been  in  the  least 
degree  sustained,  though  twice,  because  of  misrepresentation,  the  Com- 
pany has  been  subjected  to  most  rigorous  investigation  by  committees  of 


SEALSKIN  INDUSTRY  IN  UNITED  STATES.         545 

Congress.  The  Company  has  received  .just  consideration  at  the  hands  of 
the  (jrovernnient,  and  thongh  they  have  snftered  to  some  extent  from 
complications  of  a  political  character,  arising  from  the  impro])er  a(;tsof 
crews  of  foreign  and  domestic  vessels,  who,  in  contravention  of  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  have  entered  npon  the  waters  of  the  Territory  and 
slaughtered  maliciously  the  seals,  yet  they  feel  assured 
that  the  (Toverniiient  will  so  assert  and  maintain  its  Lesseosfcoi.issnmi 
rights  and  authority  that  no  cause  of  complaint  will  ;.'Mj;['Jtection  of  their 
continue  to  exist. 

Under  Kussian  rule  there  were  many  years  of  faulty  management, 
and  at  one  time  much  danger  of  extermination  of  seal  life  at  these 
islands,  but  in  time  the  Company  came  to  regard  seal  life  with  so  good 
an  eye  to  preservation  and  perpetuaticni  that  their  rules  and  regula- 
tions in  regard  to  these  points  are  still  in  force  on  the  islands;  bnt, 
while  they  iiermitted  free  navigation  throughout  Bering  Sea,  they  sternly 
prohibited  any  interference  with  seal  life  in  the  waters  thereof,  and  so 
the  United  States  Government  will  be  forced  to  do  if  it  would  preserve 
and  jyerpetnate  its  present  si^lendid  property. 

Until  about  1853  the  skins  shipped  by  the  Ilussiaii  American  Com- 
pany from  these  islands,  over  which  they  had  absolute 
control,  up  till  the  time  of  the  cession  to  the  United  ,J^ert\r^'tiirKussian 
States,  went  forward  in  the  parchment  (or  dried)  state  Anieii!?an  coni'pany.'^ 
at  the  rate  of  about  20,000  per  annum.  About  1853  a 
small  trial  shipment  of  salted  skins  was  shipped  in  the  hands  of  Messrs. 
J.  M.  Oppenheim  &  Co.,  London,  who  had  for  many 
years  previous  been  the  leading  firm  who  unhaired  and  o/iUeTwu'l.*^''"'''''"" 
dressed  fur-seals  from  Lobos  Islands,  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  etc.  The  first  ex[)erience  with  salte(l  Alaskas  proved  a  failure, 
the  skins  not  having  been  properly  cured;  by  degrees,  however,  the 
skins  came  forward  in  better  condition,  and  in  the  year  1858  Messrs. 
Oppenheim  contracted  with  the  Itussian  American  (Company  for  an  an- 
nual supply  of  from  10,000  to  13,000  salted  fur-seals  at  lO.s.  10^/.  per 
skin,  delivered  in  London.  This  quantity  was  increased  about  the  year 
18G4  to  20,000  per  annuiti,  the  contract  remaining  in  force  until  the  time 
when  the  territory  was  handed  over  to  the  United  States  Government. 
In  addition  to  the  salted  fur-seals,  Messrs.  Oppenheim  received  annu- 
ally from  the  Itussian  American  Company  about  10,000  parchment  fur- 
seal  at  a  price  materially  below  that  of  the  salted  skins.  Messrs.  Op- 
penheim shipped  to  the  United  States  the  first  dressed  and  dyed 
Alaska  seals  about  18G0,  but  their  shipments  only  amounted  to  a  few 
thousand  skins  per  annum  until  18G5.  From  that  year  until  1872,  Avhen 
this  firm  was  licjuidated,  the  (juantity  shii>ped  by  thcni  increased  from 
2,000  to  3,000  per  annum  to  probal)ly  10,000  skin's. 

Such  was  tlu^  state  of  the  tratle  in  fur-seal  skins  at  the  time  of  the 
lease  by  the  United  States  Government  to  the  Alaska      _  ♦      e     <.  i  i  • 

•    -  /I  11  •  /.  T  1  j_i  Stato    ot     sealskin 

Commercml  Company.  Skins  were  oi  low  value;  there  tra<io  at  timo of  loase 
were  no  regular  open  sales;  the  dressing  and  dyeing  cot.paliy.*^""""*'''"'^^ 
were  badly  done,  and  the  net  result  ot  sales  was  insuf- 
ficient to  meet  the  rental,  tax,  and  charges  imposed  by  the  Governmeufc 
on  the  lessees  at  the  date  of  the  issue  of  the  lease.  The  company 
undertook  the  building  up  of  this  business  by  the  intro-  improved  methods 
duction  ot  method  and  system  on  the  islands  in  the  introduced  by  tho 
place  of  the  loose  and  careless  management,  by  care- 
ful selection  of  skins  and  great  attention  to  the  curing  of  them  and  by 
guaranteeing  regnlar  supply  as  to  quantity  and  (luality  to  the  IjoiuIou 
market.  They  were  most  ably  seconded  in  their  eftorts  by  the  London 
2716— VOL  II 35 


546  TESTIMONY. 

house  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  to  Avhom  tlie  skins  were  consi^ed,  and 
to  tlie  critical  acquaintance  with  value  of  furs,  to  the  sound  judgment 
and  unsurpassed  business  ability  of  the  then  head  of  that  house;  and 
to  the  confidence  assured  to  the  buyers  by  hisiianie  in  connection  with 
the  sales  the  success  of  the  undertaking  in  London  is  largely  due.  Up 
to  the  time  that  this  company  was  formed  the  dress- 
Assistance  rendered  jijo-  of  scal  was  efficiently  douc  onlv  by  the  firm  of  Op- 

by   Lampson   &    Co.,  »  .1      •     i-        ■  i    I-  xi  ±. 

oppenheini  &  Co.,   penliciiu  «&  Co.,  but  ou  their  liquidation  there  was  great 

mann.^'''*'"  ^  '^''''"  danger  til  at  the  business  would  fall  into  weak  hands 

and  be  so  badly  done  as  to  render  the  manufactured 

fur-seal  unpopular.     Realizing  this  fact,  Messrs.  Lamjison  &  Co.  stepped 

in  and  by  liberal  inducements  led  Messrs.  Martin  &  Teichmann  to 

carry  on  the  Alaska  factory. 

After  a  series  of  diflaculties,  such  as  strikes  and  trouble  with  the 

Difficulties raet with  ^o^'^  peoplc,  who  wcre  determined  that  no  more  or 

■  better  work  should  be  done  than  of  old,  this  factory  has 

gradually  succeeded,    by    continual  improvement,    in  rendering    the 

dressing    and    dyeing,    formerly  a  most    uncertain     undertaking,    a 

thoroughly  reliable  process.      Tliese  efforts   ou    the  island   aiul  in 

London  combined    largely    account  for  the  measure  of  succes.s  the 

Success  company  has  attained.     In  addition,  however,  large 

expenditure  has  been  necessary  in  all  the  European 

centers  to  keep  the  article  before  the  public  and  in  their  favor.     The 

laws  of  trade  take  these  skins  to  Loudon  for  market.    Two  public  sales 

London  trade  sales  '""^  ^^^^  ^^^'^  ^^^^^  usually  iu  March  and  November. 
At  these  sales  attend  buyers  from  Eussia,  Germany, 
France,  England,  and  America.  The  company  sells  the  entire  stock  on 
hand,  at  each  occasion,  and  has  no  further  connection  with  the  skins. 
Its  rule  is  to  meet  the  market,  and  it  buys  no  skins  for  account,  nor  has 
it  any  interest  in  the  dressing  and  dyeing.     That  this  work  is  done  so 

London  the  princi-  ^^^S^^^J  ^^  ^^"do" /«  ^bc  choicc  of  the  buycrs,  and  as 
pal  place  of  dressing  luorc  than  halt  ot  the  Alaska  skins  sold  in  London  are 
and  dyeing.  rcturucd  as   drcsscd  skins  to   America,   the  United 

States  Government  adds  to  its  revenue  from  'the  seal  islands  by  the 

Revenue  to  United  collection  of  20  per  ccut  duty  on  the  valuation  of  this 
states^'^on  imported  rctum.  It  is  estimated  that  75,000  dressed  and  dyed 
8^i"»-  -     skins  were  shipped  from  London  to  New  York  in  1887. 

To  the  intelligent  inquirer  as  to  the  value  of  the  system  now  in  opera- 

„,    „       ,^,  tion  for  handling  and  disposing  of  the  annual  quota  of 

The  Government       ,  .         ,.  ,  i     •   i         i  i       i  ,  ^.       ,,      , 

coukinotcarrvonthe  sKius  ironi  the  scal  islaiids,  no  doubt  can  remain  that 

the'isiauds"''^^'""""  ^^  is  the  best,  indeed  the  only  one  possible  to  pursue 

Avitli  success.    The  Government  itself  could  not  enter 

into  business  and  follow  details  either  with  propriety  or  hope  of  profit. 

To  open  the  sea  and  the  rookeries  to  the  taking  of  seal  by  any  who 

_      ,  .  ^  ,         choose  to  seek  them  would  be  simply  to  surrender  the 

Unrestricted    pe-     ^         t    .        ^       ,  ,-  -r.j_i  .1 

lagic  sealing  would  hcru  to  destruction.  But  a  danger  menaces  the  system 
destroy  the  herd.  aud  the  scals  which  the  Government  alone  can  avert, 
viz,  the  intrusion  of  foreign  vessels  with  armed  crews  iu  the  Avaters  of 
Bering  Sea,  with  intent  to  kill  seal  in  the  water  between  the  Aleutian 
chain  Of  islands  and  the  Pribilof  gioup.  In  this  water  the  seal  rest 
and  sport  after  their  long  migration;  "here  the  females,  heavy  Avith 
young,  slowly  nearing  t!u^,  land,  sleep  soundly  at  sea  by  intervals, 
reluctant  to  haul  out  of  the  cool  Avater  u])ou  the  rookeries  until  the 
day  and  the  hour  which  limits  the  period  of  gestation ;" 
n.wr.^n!r'iv,imr  Sea'  ^^*'^"^''  ^^'i^''  -'i"  •'"*•  ^l"':'i'  =1"*^  <l''''i^'  »t^<'>  ^^iC^e  maraud- 

milieu  m  i>enng  sea.  ..  .i-i  ,•   ^ 

ers  desire  to  rea^)  tlieir  harvest  oi  uestructiou  aud  tor 


SEALSKIN     INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STANES.  547 

their  selfisli  greed  exterminate  the  animal  whicli  now,  under  the  wise 
policy  of  Congress,  plays  so  important  a  part  in  the  economy  and  distri- 
bution of  commerce.  Three  years  of  open  sea  would  suflice  in  these 
waters  to  repeat  the  story  of  the  southern  ocean  and  the  fur-seal  would 
be  of  the  past,  and  a  valuable  industry  would  be  obliterated  forever. 
Let  the  sea  be  open  to  all  comnu'rce  that  harbors  no  evil  intent,  but 
protect  the  seal  life  that  swims  in  its  waters  and  "  hauls"  on  its  shores. 
Let  the  sea  be  as  free  as  the  wind  to  all  legitimate  ccmunerce,  but 
protect  the  unique  liosscssion  of  seal  life  that  harms  none  and  benehts 
thousands. 

C.  A.  Williams. 

Exhibit  B. 

[From  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.  to  C.  A.  Willianis,  August  22,  1889.] 

London,  64  Queen  Street,  E.  C, 

August  22^  1888. 

Dear  Sir:  We  beg  to  acknowledge  receipt  of  your  favor  of  the 
10th  instant,  inclosing  draft  of  a  paper  to  be  submitted  to  Congress  on 
merchant  marine  and  fisheries. 

We  have  read  the  paper  with  a  great  deal  of  interest  and  consider 
that  it  places  the  matter  in  a  thoroughly  impartial  way 
before  its  readers.  It  has  been  so  carefully  i)repaied  A^ees  with  Mr. 
and  goes  into  all  details  so  fnlly  that  we  can  add  but  meuts'to'congiess''.**'' 
little  to  it.  There  are,  however,  one  or  two  points  to 
which  we  beg  to  draw  your  attention,  and  which  you  will  find  marked 
in  red  ink  on  the  paper. 

When  speaking  of  the  supply  of  fur-seal  skins  we  oftuppiy!"''^  ^"'"'''''^ 
would  suggest  mentioning  the  following  localities: 

(1)  Cape  of  Good  Hope. — From  some  islands  oft'  this  cape,  under  the 
protection  of  the  Cape  Government,  a  yearly  supply  of  fiom  5,000  to 
8,000  skins  is  derived.     All  these  skins  come  to  the  Lon- 
don market,  part  of  them  being  sold  at  public  auction,      ^""^^ °^ ^"""^  ^"^'^• 
the  remainder  being  dressed  and  dyed  for  account  of  the  owners. 

(2)  Japan. — The  supply  from  this  source  has  varied  very  much  of  late 
years,  amounting  sometimes  to  15,000  skins  a  year,  at 

others  to  only  5,000.     Last  year,  we  understand,  the     '^''^^' 
Japanese  Government  passed  stringent  laws  prohibit- 
ing the  killing  and  importation  of  seals,  with  the  view  au^sTGovernmeut!'^" 
of  protecting  seal  life  and  encouraging  rookeries,  and 
the  consequence  has  been  that  this  year  very  few  skins  have  come  for- 
ward. 

(3)  Vancouvers  Island. — For  many  years  past,  indeed  long  before  the 
formation  of  the  Alaska  Company,  regular  supplies  of  ,  ,  ,  , 
fur-seals  in  the  salted  and  parchment  state  have  come  ^ancouverisiand. 
to  the  London  market,  killed  mostly  off  Cape  Flattery.  The  quantity, 
we  should  say,  has  averaged  at  least  10,000  per  annum.  This  catch 
takes  place  in  the  months  of  Mar(;h  and  April,  and  we  believe  that  the 
animals  from  which  these  skins  are  derived  are  the  females  of  the 
Alaska  seals,  just  the  same  as  those  caught  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

Had  this  quantity  been  materially  increased  we  fecr  sure  that  the 
breeding  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  woiild  have  suflered  before  now;  but 
fortunately  the  catch  must  necessarily  be  a  limited  one.  owing  to  the 
stormy  time  of  the  year  at  whi(,-]i  it  is  made  and  the  dangerous  coast, 
where  the  seals  only  for  a  short  time  are  found.     It  must,  howe\'er,  be 


548  TESTIMONY. 

evident  tliat  if  tbese  animals  are  followed  into  the  Bering  Sea  and 
bunted  down  in  a  <;alni  sea  in  tlie  quietest  months  of  the  year  a  practi- 
cally nuliniited  (juantity  of  females  mijuht  be  taken,  and,  as  you  say,  it 
"would  be  only  a  few  years  till  the  Alaska  seal  was  a  thing  of  the  i:)ast. 
Yours,  very  truly, 

C.  M.  LAMrsoN  &  Co. 
C.  A.  Williams,  Esq., 

ifciv  London. 


Deposition  of  Joseph  I).  Williams^  furrier,  New  York. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  New  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss : 
Joseph  D.  Williams,  being  duly  sworn,  says:  That  he  is  74  years  of 
age,  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  a  resident  of  Brooklyn,  in  the 
State  of  iS'ew  York;  that  be  has  been  engaged  in  the 
Experience.  busiucss  of  drcssiug  and  dyeing  fur-seal  skins  contin- 

uously for  fifteen  years  last  past,  and  prior  to  that  time 
at  intervals  during  the  whole  time  he  has  been  engaged  in  business, 
during  a  jieriod  of  some  fifty-odd  years,  be  has  dressed  and  dyed  seal 
skins,  and  tliat  bis  fatber  was  engaged  in  the  same  business  before 
him;  that  for  the  last  fifteen  years  he  has  had  consigned  to  him  by  fur 
dealers  from  8,000  to  10,000  seal  skins  annually,  for  the  purpose  of  dress- 
^.„^  ,   .  ing  and  dyeing  the  same;  that  about  50  per  cent  of  the 

Fifty  per  cent  of         •.  -tii.'  <•  -r-i  •  ■, 

ekins.  skuiS  SO  rcccived  by  him  came  trom  London  m  casks 

marked  as  they  are  catalogued  by  C.  M.  Lampson  & 

Co.,  and  are  the  skins  belonging  to  what  is  known  as 

"Northwest catch."  ^^^^  " i^^orthwcst  catcli ; "  and\leponent  is  informed  and 

believes  that  the  Korthwest  catch,  as  the  term  is  used  in  the  trade, 

means  the  skins  of  seals  caught  in  the  open  sea  and  not  upon  the 

islands.    Another  reason  for  this  belief  is  the  fact  that  all  of  the  skins 

of  the  Northwest  catch  contain  marks  showing  that  the  animal  has  been 

killed  by  bullets  or  buckshot,  the  skins  being  pierced  by  the  shot, 

whereas  the  skins  killed  on  the  American  and  Eussian  islands  are 

killed  on  land  by  clubs  and  are  not  pierced. 

That  of  the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  coming  into  his  hands  for 

.      .  t  h  all  treatment  i)iol)ably  all  are  the   skins  of  the  female 

femaitS!''    ^"  ^  scal,  aiid  that  the  same  can  be  distinguished  from  the 

skins  of  tbe  male  seal  bv  reason  of  the  breasts  and  of 

tiS'dS  ^"^  *^'"  the  thinness  of  the  fur  around  the  same  and  upon  the 

belly,  most  of  the  female  seals  being  killed  while  they 

are  bearing  their  young,  and  the  lur  therefore  being  stretched  and 

thinner  over  that  |>art  of  the  body;  and  also  for  the  further  reavson 

that  tbe  head  of  the  female  seal  is  much  narrower  than  that  of  the 

male  seal,  and  that  this  point  of  <litference  is  obvious  in  the  skins  of 

the  two  classes.     That  of  the  total  number  of  the  skins  received  by  him 

alxmt  25  per  cent  are  the  skins  of  tbe  "Alaska"  and 

"Aiasi^a"    and  "  Coppcr  "  catcb.     That  all  the  sldus  of  the  "Alaska " 

*'Coi)per      catches  ,i  ,  -,  -,  li- 

nearly all  males,  catch   are  male  seals,  and   an  overwhelming   propor- 

tion of  the  "  Copper "  catch  are  likewise  male  skins. 
That  the  remainder  of  the  skins  sent  to  deponent  for  dressing  and  dye- 


SEALSKIN     INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  549 

iii^,  as  aforesaid,  are  received  by  liim  tlironj>li  the  house  of  nernian 
Liebes  &  Company,  of  San  Francisco,  and  others;  the  majority,  how- 
ever, from  Herman  Liebes  &  Company.  The  skins  received  from  the 
latter  sonrces  are  from  each  of  the  three  catches  known  to  the  trade  as 
the  "Copi)er,''  "ALaska,"  and  "^^orthwest"  catch,  although  the  major 
part  thereof  belono-  to  what  is  known  as  the  "Xorth- 
west"  catch,  and  are,  as  in  the  case  of  the  skins  re-  MflZTZ 
ceived  from   London  of  that   cat(;h,  all   skins  of  the 

female  seal. 

J.  D.  Williams. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  29th  day  of  March,  1892. 
[l.  s.j  KoBERT  L.  Harrison, 

Notary  Fublic,  City  and  County  of  New  Yorlc. 


Deposition  of  Joficpli  IK  Williams,  furner,  Xcir  Yorl:. 
GENERAL   SEALSKIN   INDUSTRY. 

State  or  I-Tew  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  Yorlc,  ss  : 
Joseph  D.  Williams,  being-  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  75  years  of  age, 
and  reside  in  Brooklyn,  IT,  Y.     My  business  is  that  of 
dressing-  and  dyeing  iurs,  ai)d  I  have  been  engaged  in      Experience. 
it  for  over  sixty  years.     Most  of  the  furs  dressed  and 
dyed  in  my  establishment  are  fur-seal  skins,  and  during 
each  of  tlie  past  five  or  six  years  I  have  dressed  and  dyed  from  8,000 
to  10,000  seal  skins.     I  employ,  and  for  some  time  past 
have  employed,  about  00  workmen,  and  my  pay  roll  p,S '''°'''"''° '°'' 
amounts  to  about  $900  a  week.     ]\Iost  of  these  workmen 
can  be  classed  as  skilled  laborers.     I  dress  and  dye  fur-seal  skins  of  the 
Alaska,  Copper,  and  Northwest  coast  catches.     I  can  readily  distin- 
guish the  skins  belonging  to  each  of  them.     I  can  also  readily  tell  a 
female  skin  from  a  male  skin.    The  predominan(;e  ot  the  former  over 
the  latter  in  the  Northwest  coast  catch  is  one  of  its  most  distinguishing 
features.     I  can  not  state  exactly  what  the  percentage  is  of  each  sex, 
but  I  am  sure  that  as  a  rule  there  are  found  in  the 
Northwest  coast  catches  at  least  ten  times  as  many  n.i^luyS'ieB.'***'^ 
female  skins  as  male  skins.     There  are  various  ways  of 
determining  the  sex  of  the  animal  fiom  which  seal   skins  are  taken. 
Some  of  them  are  the  following:  (1)  Female  skins  have  teats,  which 
are  easily  found  even  in  the  salted  skin,  especially  when  the  animal  is 
over  two  years  of  age.     (2)  The  shape  of  a  female  skin  is  narrower  at 
the  head  and  on  the  shoulders.     (3)  There  is  a  percept  ible  dilference  in 
the  character  of  the  hair  of  the  skins  of  the  two  sexes. 

J.  1).  Williams. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  17th  day  of  June,  1892. 

[L.  s.]  Forbes  J.  HE^'^'ESY, 

Notar)/  I'uhlic  {No.  270),  NeiQ  YorJc  County. 


550  TESTIMONY. 

Deposition  of  Maurice  Windmiller^  furrier,  San  Francisco. 

pelagic  sealing. 

State  of  California, 

City  and  County  of  San  Francisco^  ss: 
Maurice  Wiiidniillei',  liaviug  been  duly  swoiii,  doiiof-os  aiul  snys:  INIy 

age  is  40;  I  reside  in  San  l^^ranci-sco;  my  oeeni>ation  is 
Experience.  that  of  a  furrier.     1  have  been  engaged  in  the  fur  busi- 

ness all  my  life,  and  my  fatlier  Avas  a  furrier  before  me. 
I  am  an  expert  in  dressed  and  undressed,  raw,  and  made-up  furs,  and 
also  a  manufacturer  and  dealer  in  the  same.  I  have  bought  and  ex- 
amined large  numbers  of  fur-seal  skins  during  the  last  twelve  years, 
caught  by  sealing  scliooners  both  on  the  Kussian  and  American  side  of 
the  Xorth  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea,  and  I  can  easily  distinguish  one 
from  the  other. 
The  Russian  seal  is  a  smaller  seal,  and  the  fur  is  not  as  close  as  the 

fur  of  the  Alaska  seal,  nor  as  good  quality.  They  are 
kan"eail°  ^^'^  ^^^^'  '^^^  entirely  different  herd  from"  those  on  the  American 

side,  and  their  skins  have  peculiar  characteristics  by 
which  it  is  not  difrtcult  to  separate  them.  In  examining-  and  purchas- 
ing seal  skins  from  the  schooners  in  their  raw  state  I  have  observed 

that  1»0  per  cent  of  their  catch  are  females.  I  know 
taw"'^'   females  ^j,^|  j^  ^^  ^  jv^^^^  bccause  the  heads  of  the  females  are 

smaller,  the  bellies  larger,  and  the  teats  can  be  plainly 

seen.     The  teats  show  more  plainly  when  the  skin  is  dressed  and  dyed. 

In  examining  the  skins  taken  by  sealing-  schooners  I  have  found 

most  of  them  perforated  with  shot,  making-  them  much 
BiSt.'"'  "''^'^^"^  ''"''  less  valuable  thereby.     Formerly  more  of  them  used  to 

be  killed  with  a  ritie,  which  did  not  injure  the  skin  as 

much. 

Maurice  Windmiller. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me  this  8th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1892. 
[SEAL.]  .  Clement  Bennett, 

Notary  Fuhlic. 


TESTIMONY  RELATIXCx  TO  THE  GENERAL  SEALSKIN  INDUS- 
TRY L\  GREAT  BRITAIN. 


De])osH\on  of  H.  S.  Bcvivf/fov,  head  of  the  firm  of  Bcrbujion  &  Morris^ 

furriers,  London. 

GENERAL   SEALSKIN   INDUSTRY. 

H.  S.  Beviiigton,  m.  a.,  being  duly  sworn,  dotli  depose  and  say:  Tliat 
he  is  40  years  of  age  and  a  subject  of  Her  Britannic 
Majesty /and  is  the  liead  of  the  lirm  of  Bevington  &      Experience. 
Morris j^  doing  business  as  fur  merchants  and  manufac- 
turers, at  28  Cannon  street,  in  the  city  of  London.     That  his  said  firm 
was  founded  in  the  year  1726  and  has  been  continued  in  the  same 
family  during  the  whole  of  these  years  down  to  the  present  time,  and 
has  been  engaged  during  the  whole  of  the  period  since  1720  in  the 
same  business,  dealing  in  furs  and  leather.     That  deponent  has  been 
in  the  business  ever  since  the  year  1873.     During  the  whole  of  the 
period  since  that  date  his  said  firm  have  been  in  the  habit  of  buying 
fur-seal  skins,  and  he  knows  from  his  general  knowledge  of  the  business 
that  prior  to  that  time  they  were  in  the  habit  of  buying  seal  skins  ever 
since  they  became  an  article  of  commerce.     That  deponent  has,  per- 
sonally, handled  many  thousands  of  skins  of  the  fur-seal,   and  by 
reason  of  that  fact  and  of  his  experience  in  his  business  has  a  general 
knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  fur-seal  skin  business,  and  a  general 
and  precise  knowledge  of  the  several  kinds  of  skins  which  now,  and 
for  many  years  last  past,  have  come  ujiou  the  London  market.     That 
since  deponent  has  been  in  business  skins  coming  upon  the  London 
market  have  been  principally  divided  into  three  classes, 
known  as  the  Alaska  catch,  the  Copper  catch,  and  the  jf ^VtJnvesf  sK  tut 
Northwest  catch.     Small  supplies  have  also  been  re-  lerences  between. 
ceived  from  the  Southern  Sea,  the  Lobos  Islands,  Falk- 
land Islands,  and  Cape  Horn,  but  the  skins  arriving  from  these  last 
mentioned  localities  make  no  figure  in  the  market.    That  what  is  known 
as  the  Alaska  catch  consist  of  skins  of  seals  which  are  killed  upon  the 
Pribilof  Islands  in  the  Bering  Sea,  and  the  Copper  catch  of  skins, 
which  are  killed  upon   the  Copper   and  Bering  Islands,  in  Eussian 
waters. 

That  the  Northwest  skins  consist  of  skins  taken  from  animals  which  are 
caught  in  the  open  Pacific  Ocean  ofi"  the  coast  of  Brit  ish  Columbia  or  in 
the  Bering  Sea.  That  the  diftei  ences  between  the  three  several  sorts  of 
skins  last  mentioned  are  so  marked  as  to  enable  any  person  sldlled  in 
the  business,  or  accustomed  to  handle  the  same,  to  readily  distinguish 
the  skins  of  one  catch  from  those  of  another,  esi)ecially  in  bulk,  and  it 
is  the  fact  that  when  they  reach  the  market  the  skins  ot  each  class  <'ome 
separately  and  are  not. found  mhigled  with  those  belonging  to  the  other 

551 


552  TESTIMONY. 

classes.  The  slvins  of  the  Copper  Island  oatoh  are  flisHiiouishod  from 
the  skins  of  the  Alaska  and  Northwest  catch,  which  two  last  men- 
tioned classes  of  skins  ai)pear  to  be  nearly  allied  to  each  other,  and  are 
of  the  same  general  character,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  in  their  raw 
state  the  Copper  skins  are  lighter  in  color  than  either  of  the  other  two 
and  in  the  dyed  state  there  is  a  marked  difference  in  the  appearance  of 
the  fur  of  the  Copper  and  the  other  two  classes  of  skins.  This  difference 
is  difticult  to  describe  to  a  person  unaccnstomed  to  handle  skins,  but  it 
is  nevertheless  clear  and  distinct  to  an  expert,  and  may  be  generally 
described  by  saying  that  rhe  Copper  skins  are  of  a  close,  short,  and 
shiny  fur,  particularly  down  by  the  flank,  to  a  greater  extent  than  the 

Alaska  and  Northwest  skins.  The  skins  of  the  male 
mSe^mifeniiJifakins.  ^nd  female  animal  are  readily  distinguishable  from  each 

other  in  the  adult  stage  by  reason  of  the  difference  in 
the  shape  of  the  heads.     That  the  Copper  and  Alaska  skins  are  almost 

exclusively  the  skins  of  the  male  animal,  and  the  skins 
uo^tiwJstf femTe*  °^  ^^  ^he  Northwest  catch  are  at  least  80  per  cent  of  the 

skins  of  the  female  animal.  That  prior  to  aiul  in  prepar- 
ation for  making  this  deposition  deponent  says  he  carefully  looked 
through  two  large  lots  of  skins  now  in  his  warehouse  for  the  especial 
])urpose  of  estimating  the  iiercentage  of  female  skins  found  among  the 
Northwest  catch,  and  he  believes  the  above  estimate  to  be  accurate. 

That  the  skins  in  the  Northwest  catch  are  also  pierced  with  shot 
and  spear  marks,  in  consequence  of  having  been  killed  in  the  open 
water  instead  of  upon  land  by  clubs.    That  the  business  of  dealing  in 

fur-seal  skins  in  the  city  of  London  has  become  an 
luftnide.  °^  ^°'^'^""  established    and    important  industry.    Dei>onent    is 

informed  that  practically  all  the  seal  skins  in  the  world 
are  sold  in  London,  and  the  number  runs  up  in  the  year  to  between 
100,000  and  LM)0,()()0  averaging  considerably  over  150,000  a  year.  These 
skins  are  sold  for  the  most  part  either  by  the  firm  ot  C.  M.  Lampsou  & 
Co.,  through  their  brokers.  Goad,  Rigg  &  Co.,  or  by  the  tirm  of  Culver- 
well,  Brooks  &  Co.  At  the  auction  sales,  which  are  advertised  twice 
or  three  times  in  the  year  by  these  linns,  skins  are  bought  by  dealers 
from  all  over  the  world,  who  are  i)resent  either  in  x>erson  or  by  proxy. 
The  next  stage  in  the  industry  is  the  dressing  and  dyeing  of  the  furs, 
and  practically  the  whole  of  these  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  are 
dressed  and  dyed  in  that  city,  the  principal  firms  being  engaged  in  that 
business,  are  C.  W.  Martin  &  Sons  and  George  Eice.  Deponent's  own 
firm  dress  a  small  number  of  skins  and  have  dressed  in  one  year  as 
many  as  23,000  and  formerly  dj'cd  large  numbers  of  skins,  but  do  not 
now  dye  skins  as  the  secrets  of  the  piesent  fashionable  color  are  now  in 
the  hands  of  other  firms.  After  having  been  dressed  and  dyed,  the 
skins  of  the  fur  seal  are  then  passed  into  the  hands  of  fur  merchants, 
by  whom  in  turn,  they  are  passed  to  furriers  and  drapers  and  retail 

dealers  generally.  Deponent  estinmtes  the  total  num- 
tii^'trmi"*  engaged  m  j^^j.  of  pcrsons  engaged  in  onew^ay  or  another,  directly 

or  indirectly,  in  the  fur-seal  industry,  in  the  city  of  Lou- 
don at  at  least  two  or  three  thousand,  many  of  whom  are  skilled  labor- 
ers, all  receiving  high  wages. 

That  a  large  amount  of  capital  is  also  invested  in  the  business  in  the 
_    .,,...,       eity  of  London,  and  the  jirecise  value  of  the  industry 

can  be  estimated  by  reckoning  the  amount  exj>ended 
in  the  various  processes  which  deponent  has  enumerated  upon  each 
skin.  For  instance,  after  the  skins  arrive  at  the  London  market  they 
are  sold  at  the  sales  at  prices  which  in  the  year  1890  averaged  say  80 


SEALSKIN     INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  553 

shillings  apiece.  The  commissions  on  the  vselling  of  the  goods  includ- 
ing warehousing,  insurance,  and  so  forth,  deponent  believes  amount  to 
6  -per  cent  of  the  price  obtained.  That  the  amount  i)aid  for  dressing, 
dyeing,  and  machining  each  skin  averages  say  !(>  shillings.  These  pro- 
cesses take  together  about  four  or  five  months.  The  next  expenditure 
upon  the  skin  is,  say,  an  average  of  five  shillings  at  least  for  each  skin 
for  cutting  u]),  and  that  thereafter  there  will  be  an  average  of  at  least 
from  3  shillings  to  4  shillings  per  skin  expended  in  quilting, lining,  and 
making  up  the  jackets  or  other  garments,  showing  a  total  expenditure 
upon  each  skin  for  labor  alone,  in  the  city  of  London,  of  25  shillings 
in  addition  to  the  percentage  paidfor  brokerage,  before  the  processes  of 
manufacture  began,  and  the  most  of  this  money  is  actually  paid  out  in 
wages. 

Deponent  says,  that  in  the  above  estimates  he  has  given  the  bottom 
figures  and  that  the  amount  actually  expended  upon  the  skins  in  the 
city  of  London  undoubtedly  averages  a  larger  sum.  This  would  make 
on  an  average  of  200,000  skins  a  year,  which  is  not  excessive,  a  total 
expenditure  annually  in  the  city  of  London  of  £250,000,  minus  the 
amounts  paid  for  cutting  and  making  up  in  respect  to  the  skins  sent 
to  the  United  States. 

Deponent  further  says  that  the  preservation  of  the  seal  herds  and 
the  continued  supply  of  fur-seal  skins,  which,  fur- 
thermore, it  is  important  should  be  constant  and  ref/u-  ahIointe\fn6c2lllfy. 
lar  in  supply,  is  absolutely  necessary  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  this  industry.  Deponent  says  that  the  reason  for  this  opinion 
is  shown  in  the  history  of  last  season's  business.  For  instance,  at  the 
October  sale  the  prices  of  skins  were  very  high,  as  a  short  sup])ly  was 
expected.  The  skins  purcHiased  at  that  sale  were  then  ])ut  into  the 
hands  of  the  dressers  and  dyers,  where  they  would  be  retained,  as 
above  stated,  in  process  of  treatment  four  or  five  months.  During  this 
interval  it  appeared  that  instead  of  there  being  a  short  sui)ply  the 
poaching  vessels  had  caught  a  large  number  of  skins,  50,000  or  00,000, 
which  being  unexpect(Hlly  plumped  on  the  market,  brought  the  price 
down  so  that  there  was  a  loss  of  perhaps  25  shillings  per  skin  on  the 
skins  bought  at  the  October  sales;  and  deponent  further  says  that  it  is 
of  course  obvious  that  the  business  can  not  be  maintained  unless  the 
herds  are  ])reserved  from  the  destruction  which  has  overtaken  the  South 
Sea  herds,  which  formerly  existed  in  such  large  numbers,  and  so  im- 
portant has  the  sealskin  business  become  that  if  the  herds  were  exter- 
juinated  deponent  says  it  would  hardly  be  worth  while  to  remain  in  the 
fur  business. 

Deponent  says  while  he  does  not  wish  to  express  any  o])ini()n  upfui  the 
matters  which  are  in  controversy,  that  nevertheless,  looking  at  the  ques- 
tionof  preserving  the  seals  from  a  natural-history  point  of  view  alone,  and 
having  no  regard  whatever  to  the  rights  of  any  individuals  or  uations,but 
lookingattliematter  simply  from  thepointof  view  of  how  best  to  preserve 
the  seals,  he  has  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  best 
Avay  to  accomplish  that  object  would  be  to  prohibit  ab-  garv™*'^''*'""  neces- 
solutely  the  killing  of  all  seals  except  ujwn  the  islands, 
and,  furthermore  to  limit  the  killing  of  seals  on  the  islands  to  the  male 
species  at  particular  times,  and  to  limit  tlic  numbers  of  the  mah'S  to  be 
so  killed.  Jf,  however,  the  rights  of  individuals  are  to  be  considered, 
and  sealing  in  the  ojxmi  sea  is  to  be  allowed,  then  deponent  thinks  that 
the  number  of  vessels  to  be  sent  out  by  each  country  ought  to  be  lim- 
ited, and  the  iiumber  of  seals  which  may  be  caught  by  each  vessel 
should  be  specitied. 


554  TESTIMONY. 

Deponent  says  tlmt  one  reason  uliy  lie  tliinlcs  tlie  killinji'  of  senls  in 
the  open  sea  slionld  be  proliibited  and  all  killing-  limited  to  the  islands 
is  becanse  deponent  is  of  tlie  ojyinion  tliat  when  seals  are  killed  in  the 
open  sea  a  larjie  number  must  be  killed  wliieh  are  not  recovered,  and 
consequently  that  the  herds  must  snfl'er  much  greater  loss  than  is 
measured  by  the  skins  of  the  seals  caught  or  coming  to  market. 

Deponent  further  says  that  one  reason  for  this  opinion  is  that  he  has 
had  some  small  experience  in  shooting  hair  seals  in  the  Scilly  Islands, 
and  has  himself  personally  killed  hair  seals  at  a  distance  of  40  or  50 
yards,  which  sank  before  he  could  reach  them.  Hair  seals  are  of  the 
same  general  family  as  fur-seals,  and  he  has  no  doubt  that  the  same 
thing  occurs,  and  must  occur,  when  the  fur  seals  are  killed  on  the  open  sea. 

Herbert  Shelley  Bevington,  M.  A. 

Sworn  at  No.  2S  Cannon  street,  in  the  city  of  London,  England, 
this  2Gth  day  of  April,  1892,  l)efore  me. 
[8EAL.]  Francis  W.  Frigout, 

Vice  and  Deputy  Consul-General  of  the 
United  States  of  America  at  London,  England. 


Bepofiitum  of  A  If  red  Fraser,  memhcr  of  firm  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  fur- 
riers, London. 

general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  ISTew  York, 

City  and  County  of  N'em  YorJc,  ss: 

Alfred  Fraser,  being  duly  sworn,  says: 

First.  That  he  is  a  subject  of  Her  Britannic  Mnjesty  and  is  52  years 
of  age  and  resides  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  in  the  State 
inAl^^tv''^  sealskin  of  Ncw  York.     That  he  is  a  member  of  the  tirm  of  C. 
^°""'^^'  M.   Lampson   &   Co.,    of   London,   and    has    been   a 

member  of  said  firm  for  about  thirteen  years;  prior  to  that  time  he  was 
in  the  em])loy  of  said  tirm  and  took  an  active  part  in  the  management 
of  the  business  of  said  tirm  in  London.  That  the  business  of  C.  M. 
Lampson  &  Co.  is  that  of  merchants,  engaged  principally  in  the 
l)usiness  of  selling  fnr  skins  on  commission.  That  for  about  twenty- 
four  years  the  hrm  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.  have  sold  the  great 
majority  of  the  whole  number  of  seal  skins  sold  in  all  the  markets  of 
.  the  world.     That  while  he  was  engaged  in  the  manage- 

xperieiice.  ment  of  tlic  busiiicss  of  said  tirm  in  London,  he  had 

personal  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  various  seal  skins  sold  by 
the  said  tirm,  from  his  personal  inspection  of  the  same  in  their  ware- 
house and  from  the  physical  handling  of  the  same  by  him.  That  many 
hundred  thousands  of  the  skins  sold  by  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.  have 
physically  passed  through  his  hands;  and  that  since  his  residence 
in  this  country  he  has,  as  a  member  of  said  firm,  had  a  general  and  de- 
tailed knowledge  of  the  character  and  extent  of  the  business  of  said 
tirm,  although  since  Jiis  residence  in  the  city  of  IS'ew  York  he  has  not 
physically  handled  the  skins  disposed  of  by  his  tirm. 

That  during  the  last  year  or  two  a  large  number  of  skins  have  been 
sold  in  London  by  the  firm  of  Culverwell,  Brooks  &  Co.,  and  that 
said  fii'in,  as  deponent  is  informed  and  believes,  have  secured  the  con- 
signment of  skins  to  them  during  the  period  aforesaid  by  advancing 
to  the  owners  of  vessels  engaged  in  what  is  now  known  as  pelagic 


PEALSKIN    INDTTSTRY    IN    GREAT    T5RTTATN.  555 

scaling  sums  of  money,  whicli  is  vStatetl  to  be  115  per  skin,  as  against 
sliipinents  from  Vi(;toiia  of  sueli  skins. 

Second.  Tliat  tlie  seal  skins  Avliieli  liave  been  sold  in  London  from  time 
to  time  since  deponent  iiist  be;j;an  business  have  been  obtained  from 
sources  and  were  known  in  the  markets  as — 

(A)  Tlie  South  Sea  skins,  being  the  skins  of  seals  principally  caught 
on  the  South  Shetland  Islands,  South  Georgia  Islands, 
and  Sandwich  Land,  That  many  years  ago  large  num-  |""j^  1li?c-thma' la- 
bers  of  seals  were  caught  upou  these  islands,  but  in  laurt'*-  south  Georgia 
consequence  ot  the  fact  that  no  restrictions  were  im-  Land, 
posed  on  the  killing  of  said  seals  they  were  ])ractically  j^i^Vu/*^**^"*"*^'""  "^ 
exterminated  and  no  seal  skins  appeared  in  the  market 
from  those  localities  for  many  years.  That  about  twenty  years  ago 
these  islands  were  again  visited  and  for  live  seasons  a  considerable 
catch  was  made,  amounting  during  the  whole  five  seasons  to  about 
30,000  or  40,000  skins.  Among  the  skins  fiiund  in  this  catch  were  those 
of  the  oldest  males  and  the  smallest  pups,  tlius  showing,  in  the  judg- 
ment of  deponent,  that  every  seal  of  every  kmd  was  killed  that  could 
be  reached.  That  in  consequence  thereof  the  rookeries  on  these  islands 
were  then  completely  exhausted.  Once  or  twice  thereafter  they  were 
visited  without  result,  no  seals  being  found,  and  about  five  years  ago 
they  were  again  revisited  and  only  30  skins  were  obtained.  Deponent  is 
informed  that  all  the  South  Sea  skins  were  obtained  by  killing  seals  ujion 
the  islands  above  mentioned,  and  that  it  is  obviously  everywhere  much 
easier  to  kill  seals  upon  the  land  than  in  the  water;  and  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  deponent  the  seals  of  the  above-mentioned  islands  were 
thnsentirely  exterminated  because  of  the  entire  absence  ^,  .  . 
of  any  protection  or  of  any  restriction  of  any  kind  what- 
ever upon  the  number,  age,  or  sex  of  seals  killed,  and  not  merely,  as 
deponent,  understands  has  been  claimed  by  some  authorities,  because 
they  were  killed  on  land  instead  of  in  the  open  sea,  which,  moreover, 
in  that  locality,  deponent  is  informed,  is  practically  impossible  by  reason 
of  the  roughness,  of  the  sea  and  weather, 

fB)  A  considerable  number  of  seal  skins  were  formerly  obtained 
upon  the  Falkland  Islands;  how  many  deponent  is  not 

able  to  state.  Falkland  islands. 

(0)  That  a  certain  number  of  seals  were  also  caught  at  Cape  Horn, 
and  that  more  or  less  are  still  taken  in  that  vicinity, 
though  the  whole  number  has  been  very  greatly  re-      ^"pe  ii"in  s«ai3. 
duced, 

(]))  That  at  the  i)resent  time  and  for  many  years  last 
past  the  skins  coming  to  the  market  and  which  :ire     rrosont   skin.s    of 
knoAvn  to  commerce  have   come  from  the  following 
sources : 

1.  And  by  far  the  most  important  are  the  northern  Pacific  skins, 
which  are  known  to  the  trade  under  the  following  titles: 

'J  he  "Alaska"  catch,  which  are  the  skins  of  seals  caught  on  the  Prib- 
ilof  Islands,  situated  in  Bering  Sea,     For  many  years 
past  the  whole  of  tlie  skins  caught  upon  these 'islands      ^i«ska  skins, 
have  been  sold  by  deponent's  firm,  and  a  statement  of  the  number  of 
skins  so  sold   in  eacli  year  is  appended  hereto  and 
marked   Exhibit  A,  showing  the  aggregate  of  such  igTofJisoi.  °^'  ^''""" 
skins  sold  from  the  year  1S70  to  the  year  1891,  inclu- 
sive, as  J, 877, 077. 

The  "Oojiper"  catch,  being  the  skins  of  seals  caught  u]>on  what  are 
known  as  flie  Commander  Islands,  being  tlie  islands 
known  as  Copper  and  Bering  Islands.    All  the  skins     ^"I'P"'- «^»°»- 


556  TESTIMONY. 

SO  caiiglit  luive  heo^^  sold  l)y  deponent's  ihm  in  the  city  of  I^ondon,  and 

the  total  imniber  of  sncli  "Copper"  catch  from  the 
1872  to^i892  "^'  ''^°"'  y^^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^*^-^  ai)pears  u])on  tlfe  statement  which  is 

hereto  annexed  and  marked  Exhibit  B,  showing  the 
total  so  sold  during  such  years  of  7()8,Oi)0  skins. 

The  "Northwest"  catch,  being  the  skins  of  seals  caught  in  the  open 

sea  either  of  the  Pacific  Ocean  or  of  the  Bering  Sea. 

^  These  skins  were  originally  caught  exclusively  by  the 

Indians  and  by  residents  of  the  colony  of  Victoria  and  along  the 

coast  of  the  British  possessions.    A  statement  of  the  total  number  of 

the  catch  from  the  year  18C8  to  1884,  inclusive,  is  ap- 
ismoSl  °^'  ^''''™   ponded  hereto  and  marked  Exhibit  C,  showing  a  total 

of  153,348.  That  statement  is  divided  into  three  heads: 
First,  the  salted  "Northwest"  coast  skins;  second,  the  dried  "North- 
west" coast  skins,  both  of  which  were  mainly  sold  tlirough  deponent's 
firm  in  London;  and  third,  salted  "Northwest"  coast  skins,  dressed 
and  dyed  in  Loudon,  but  not  sold  there.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the 
years  1871  and  1872  an  unusually  large  proportion  of  dried  skins  ap- 
pear to  have  been  marketed.  Those  skins  were  purchased  in  this  year 
from  the  Eussian  American  Company,  which  was  the  lessee  of  the 
Russian  Government  on  the  Pribilof  Islands  prior  to  the  cession  of  Eus- 
sian America  to  the  United  States.  Those  skins  had  been  accumulated 
by  the  Eussian  Company  and  sold  when  the  Americans  took  posses- 
sion. For  the  years  1871  and  1872,  therefore,  the  surplus  skins  over 
the  average  for  the  other  years  should  be  rejected  in  a  computation  of 
the  general  average  of  seals  killed  during  the  years  from  1868  to  1884, 
inclusive. 

From  the  year  1885  to  the  year  1891  the  number  of  skins  included  in 

the  "Northwest"  catch  enormously  increased,  and  a 
isfs  to'im  "^'  ^"''"  statement  of  such  skins  is  hereto  annexed  and  marked 

Exhibit  D,  showing  a  total  of  331,962,  and  is  divided, 
like  the  statement  marked  Exhibit  C,  into  three  heads:  The  salted 
Northwest  coast  skins,  the  dry  Northwest  coast  skins,  and  the  salted 
skins  dressed  and  dyed  in  London,  but  not  sold  there.  The  majority 
of  the  first  two  classes  were,  as  in  the  i)revious  case,  sold  by  deponent's 
firm.  The  great  majority  of  these  skins  appearing  in  the  last-mentioned 
statement  are  the  skins  caught  by  vessels  sent  out  from  the  Canadian 
Provinces;  many  also  by  vessels  sent  out  fi'oni  San  Francisco,  Port 
Townsend,  and  Seattle;  and  a  few  from  vessels  sent  out  from  Yokohama; 
the  majoiity,  however,  are  supposed  to  have  been  caught  by  vessels 
sent  out  from  British  harbors.  A  large  number  of  the  skins  included 
in  Exhibit  J)  have  been  consigned  to  C.  ^1.  Lampson  &  Co.,  by  the  firm 
of  Herman  Liebes  &  Co.,  of  San  Francisco.  In  estimating  the  total 
number  of  the  "northwest"  catch  it  should  also  be  mentioned  that  some- 
thing like  ;')().()0()  skins  belonging  to  that  catch  have  been  dressed  and 
dyed  in  the  United  States,  whicli  have  not  gone  to  London  at  all. 
(E)  Besides  the  "Alaska,"  "Copper,"  and  "Northwest"  skins  there 

are  also  a  certain  number  of  skins  arriving  in  London, 
Lobos  Mand  sians.  j.^j,,^^.,^  ^^  ^j^^  j^q^^^^  j^].„,,I  ^|.  j„g^  although  the  samc  are 

not  handled  by  the  firm  of  C.  M.  Lami)sou  &  Co.;  but  the  total  num- 
ber of  which,  iTom  the  year  1872  to  the  year  1891,  iucln- 
.o^of'v-^T  "*'  ^''"'"'   ''^i'^'O'  is,  asap])earsfrom  1  he  catalooues  of  sales,  247,777. 
to  1891.  ,j,j^^^  Lobos  Island  skins  are  those  of  seals  killed  on  the 

Lobos  Island,  belonging  to  the  Eepiiblic  of  Uruguay;  and  deponent 
is  informed  and  believes  that  there  is  no  ojien  sea  sealing  in  the 
vicinity  of  such  island,  and  that  the  animals  are  protected  on  the  island 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    UNITED    STATES.  557 

as  tlicy  are  on  the  Russian  and  Pribilof  Islands,  by  prohibition  from 
the  killing  of  females  and  limiting  the  number  of  males  killed  in  each 
year.  A  statement  of  the  seals  killed  on  Lobos  Island  is  hereto  an- 
nexed and  marked  Exhibit  E,  from  which  it  appears  that  there  is  a 
regular  annual  supply  obtained  from  that  source,  which  shows  no  dimi- 
nution. 

(F)  There  are  also  a  certain  number  of  skins  sold  in  London,  obtained 
from  rookeries  at  or  near  the   Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
the  exact  number  of  which  deponent  is  not  able  to  ^^Capo  of  Good  Hope 
state,  but  which,  he  is  informed,  shoM\s  a  steady  yield. 

The  statements  marked  A,  B,  C,  D,  and  E,  hereunto  appended,  have 
been  carefully  prepared  by  me  personally,  and  the 
figures  therein  stated  have  been  compiled  by  me  from  ^.^^^^''^  °f  >°*"™^ 
the  several  sale  catalogues  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co. 
and  others  from  my  private  books  which  I  had  kept  during  all  the 
years  covered  by  the  statements,  and  I  am  sure  that  those  statements 
are  substantially  accurate  and  truly  state  the  respective  numbers  of 
the  skins  caught  and  sold  which  they  purport  to  state. 

Third.  The'great  majority  of  the  skins  sold  from  the  Northwest  catch 
are  the  skins  of  female  seals.  Deponent  is  not  able  to  state  exactly 
what  proportion  of  such  skins  are  the  skins  of  females,  but  esthnates  it 
to  be  at  least  85  per  cent,  and  the  skins  of  females  are 
readily  distinguishable  from  those  of  the  males  by  rea-  ^e\?cSwie^^' 
son  of  the  fact  that  on  the  breast  and  on  the  belly  of  the 
bearing  female  there  is  comparatively  little  fur,  whereas  on  the  skins 
of  the  male  seals  the  iur  is  evenly  distributed  ;  asid  also  by  reason  of 
the  fact  that  the  female  seal  has  a  narrow  head  and  the  male  seal  a 
Jbroad  head  and  neck;  and  the  skins  of  this  <',at<'h  are  also  distinguish- 
able from  the  "Alaska"  and  '^ Copper"  catcli  by  reason  ^,,,,^^^^^^  i,,^,,,,„ 
of  the  fact  that  the  seals  are  killed  by  bullets  or  bu*'k-  Northwest  skins  and 
shot,  or  speared,  and  not,  as  on  the  Pribilof  and  (5om-  Alaska  and  Copper. 
mander  Islands,  by  clubs.  Marks  of  such  bullets  or  buckshot  or  spears 
are  clearly  discernible  in  tlie  skins,  and  there  is  a  marked  diflerence  in 
the  commertdal  value  of  the  female  skins  and  of  tlie  male  skins.  This 
fact,  that  the  Northwest  skins  are  so  largely  the  skins  of  females,  is 
further  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  in  many  of  the  early  sales  of  such 
skins  they  are  classilied  in  deponent's  books  as  the  skins  of  "females." 

Fourth.  Deponent  further  says  that  in  his  judgment  the  absolute 
prohibition  of  pelagic  sealing,  i  e.,  the  killing  of  seaJs 
in  the  open  sea,  whether  in  the  North  Pacitic  or  the  Be  «a5."^'^"'°°  '"'"'"" 
ring  Sea  is  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the  seal 
herds  now  surviving,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  most  of  the  females  so 
killed  are  heavy  with  young,  and  that  necessaiiiy  the  increase  of  the 
species  is  diminished  by  their  killing.  And  further,  from  the  fact  that 
a  large  number  of  females  are  killed  in  the  Bering  Sea  while  on  the 
search  for  food  after  the  birth  of  their  young,  and  that  in  consequence 
thereof  the  pups  die  for  want  of  nourishment.  Deponent  has  no  per- 
sonal ki  owledge  of  the  truth  of  this  statement,  but  he  has  inlbrmation 
in  respect  of  the  same  from  i>ersons  who  have  been  on  the  Pribilof  Is- 
lands, and  he  believes  the  same  to  be  true.  Deponent  further  says  that 
this  opinion  is  based  upon  the  asvsuinption  that  tlu',  ])resent  restriction 
imposed  by  Russia  and  the  United  States  on  the  killing  of  seals  in  their 
respective  islands  are  to  be  maintained,  otherwise  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  impose  such  restrictions  as  well  as  to  prohibit  pclajjic  sealing  in 
order  to  preserve  the  herds. 


558 


TESTIMONY. 


Fiftli.  Deponent  is  furtlier  of  tlie  opinion,  from  his  long  observation 

Alaska  and  Co  .er  ^"<^  l''i"<^liiiJi' <>f  the  skius  of  the  Several  catches  that 

Bkiii.rmidUy  d?stin-  tlic  skills  of  the  Aliiska  and  Copper  catches  are  readily 

guishabie.  dlstiiigiiisliable  from  each  other  and  tlmt   the   herds 

from  which  snch  skins  are  obtained  do  not  in  fact  intermingle  Avith  each 

-^    ,    ,      .    .    ,   other,  because  the  skins  classiiicd  under  the  head  of 

Herds  do  not  mnijrle.  r^  i    \  i^    o  i  >  i 

Copper  catch  are  not  lound  among  the  consijjnments 
of  skins  received  from  the  ^Vlaska  catch,  and  vice  rersa. 

Sixth.  Deponent  further  says  that  the  distinction  between  the  skins 
of  the  several  catches  is  so  marlvcd  that  in  his  judgment  he  would,  for 
instance,  have  had  no  difficulty  had  there  been  inchided  among- 100,000 
skins  in  the  Alaska  catch,  1,000  skins  of  the  Copper  catch  in  distin- 
guishing the  1,000  Copper  skins  and  separating  them  from  the  99,000 
Alaska  skins,  or  that  any  other  person  with  eqnal  or  less  experience  in 
the  handling  of  skins  would  be  equally  able  to  distinguish  them.  And 
in  the  same  way  deponent  thinks  from  his  own  ]>ersonal  experience  in 
handling  skins  that  he  would  have  no  difficulty  wliatever  in  separating 
the  skins  of  the  Xorthwest  catch  from  the  skins  of  the  Alaska  catch  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  they  are  the  skins  almost  exclusively  of  females, 
and  also  that  the  fur  upon  the  bearing  female  seals  is  much  thinner 
tlian  upon  the  skin  of  the  male  seals;  the  skin  of  the  animal  while 
pregnant  being  extended  and  the  fur  extended  over  a  large  area. 
Seventh.  Deponent  says  that  the  number  of  persons  who  are  employed 

in  the  handling,  dressing,  dyeing,  cutting,  and manufac- 
du^t'/y'in Loudon/"'  tiiriug  of  scal  skiiis  in  the  city  of  London  is  about 

2,000,  many  of  Avhom  are  skilled  laborers  earning  as 
high  as  £3  or  £4  a  week.  Deponent  estimates  the  amount  paid  in  the 
city  of  London  for  wages  in  the  preparation  of  fur-seal  skins  for  a 
manufacturer's  uses,  and  excduding  the  wages  of  manufacturers'  em- 
ployes, prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  pelagic  sealing  in  1885,  at  about 
£100,000  x>er  annum ;  and  deponent  further  says  that  in  his  judgment 

if  tliis  pelagic  sealing  be  not  prohibited,  it  is  a  ques- 
threatened! ''*'""  °^'   tiou  of  but  a  fcw  years,  probably  not  more  than  three, 

when  the  industry  will  cease,  by  reason  of  the  exter- 
mination of  the  seals  in  the  same  way  in  whicli  they  have  been  exter- 
minated on  the  South  Sea  Islands  by  reason  of  no  restrictions  being- 
imposed  upon  their  killing. 

Alfred  Fraser. 

Subscribed  and' sworn  to  before  me  this  1st  day  of  April,  1892. 

Emvm  T.  Rice, 
Xotary  Public,  Xcw  York  County. 

Exhibit  A. 

Salted  Alaska  I'lir-scal  sold  in  London. 


Tear. 


1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 


Skins. 


<j,  965 

100,  896 
96,  2H3 

101, 248 
90, 150 
99,  634 
no,  267 
75,  410 
99,  911 


Year. 


1879 

1880 
1881 
1882 
1S83 
18X4 
1885 
1880 
1887 


Skins. 


100,  036 
100, 161 
99, 921 
100, 100 
75,  914 
99,  887 
99,719 
i)i), !)  1 0 
9J,  010 


Year. 


1888 

1889 

1890 

isoi ".'.".'-'-".' 

Total 


Skins. 


100, 000 
100,  OOO 
20, 994 
*4, 158 
13, 473 


1, 877, 977 


*  Food  skins. 


SEALSKIN     INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN. 

Exhibit  B. 

Salted  Copper  Island  fur-seal  sold  in  London. 


550 


Tear. 

Skins. 

1872 

7,182 
21,614 
30, 349 
34, 479 
33, 298 
25, 380 
19,000 
28,211 

1873 

1874 

1875 

1876 

1877 

1878 

1879 

Tear. 


1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1886 
18S7 


Skina. 


38, 885 
45, 209 
39,  111 
36.  500 
26,  675 
48,929 
41,  753 
54,  584 


"Year. 


1888 

1889 

1890 

1891 

1892 

Total 


Skins. 


46. 333 
47,416 
95. 486 
17. 025 
30,  678 

768, 096 


Exhibit  C. 

Sailed  Nor tluc est  coast  f\ir-seal  skins  sold  in  London,  prior  to  ])ela(jic  sealing  in  Bering 

Sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Tear. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

1872 

1, 029 

1877 

1882       

11,727 

1873 

1878              

264 

12,212 

8,9i9 

9,997 

1883     

2, 319 

1874 

4,949 
1,646 

2,042 

1879             

1884        

9,242 

1875 

1880 

Total 

1876 

1881 

64,  3C6 

Salted  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  sMns^  dressed  and  dyed  in  London  {hut  not  sold  there) 
taken  prior  to  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 


Year. 


1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 


Skina. 


40 

122 

578 

1,062 


Year. 


1877 

1878 
1879 
•1880 
1881 


Skins. 


772 
2,434 
2,397 
4,  562 
5,890 


Tear. 

Skins. 

1882 
1883 
1884 

11  159 

6  385 

10, 115 

Total 

40, 215 

Dry  ii'-rthicest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  jjrior  to  pelagic  scaling  in  Bering  Sra. 


Tear. 


1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
1872 
1873 


Skins. 


2,141 

1,671 

684 

12,  495 

14, 584 

891 


1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 


Skina. 


2,772 

1,  3.51 

993 

1,173 

912 

918 


Tear. 


1880  . 

1881  . 

1882  . 
1883. 
1884. 


Total. 


Skins. 


686 
321 
390 
785 

42,  767 


Of  the  skins  sold  in  1871  and  1872  a  very  large  pro]ioiti(ni  were  the 
accumulation  of  the  llussian  American  Company  and  sold  by  them 
after  the  purchase  of  Alaska  by  the  United  States. 


RECAPITULATION. 


Tear.       Skina 


Salted  skins  sold  in  London 

Salted  skin.s  dressed  and  dyed  in  London. 
Dry  skins  sold  in  London 


Grand  total. 


1872-1884 
1872-1884 
1868-1884 


64,366 
46, 215 
42,  767 

153, 348 


560 


TESTIMONY. 


Exhibit  D. 

Dry  norlhivcsl  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  after  commencement  of  pelaylc  sealing  in 

Bering  Sea. 


Tear. 

Skins. 

Yoar. 

Skins. 

Tear. 

Skins. 

1885 

1,520 

979 

2,8i3 

1888             

1,252 
228 
099 

1891 

1,083 

]886    

1889 

Total 

1887 

j  1890  

8,604 

Salted  northwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  dressed  anddricdin  London  (hutnot  sold  there)  taken 
after  the  commencement  of  i)elatjic  sealing  in  Bering  sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Tear. 

Skins. 

Tear. 

Skins. 

1885         

10,067 
15,  087 

1887       

3,589 
1,930 

1889 

2,017 

188(5 

1888    

Total 

39  290 

In  addition  to  above  it  is  estimated  that  from  25,000  to  30,000  skins  have  been  dressed  and  dyed  in  the 
United  States. 

E.  T.  11.,  Jr., 
Notary  Fublie. 
Forward. 

Salted  northicest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  after  commencement   of  pelagic 

sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 


Tear. 

Skins. 

Tear. 

Skins. 

Tear. 

Skins. 

1885 

2,078 
17, 909 
36, 907 

36,818 

1889 

39,  563 
38,  315 
54, 180 

1892* 

28, 295 

1886 

1890 

Tot.il 

1887       

1891 

254, 068 

1888 

*  To  date. 
RECAriTULATIOIT. 


Dry  skins  sold  in  London 

Salted  skins,  dressed  and  dyed  in  London,  Imt  not  sold  there. 
Salted  skins,  dressed  and  dyed  in  United  States,  estimated... 
Salted  sk ins  sold  in  Loudon 


Grand  total . 


Tear. 


1885-1891 
188.5-1889 
1885-1889 
1SS5-1892 


Skins. 


8,604 

39, 290 

30,  000 

254, 068 


331 , 902 


Tear. 


Exhibit  E. 

Salted  Lohos  Island  fur-seal  sold  in  London. 


1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 


Skins. 


6, 956 
8,509 
8,179 
11, 353 
13, 066 
12, 301 
12, 295 
14,  865 


Tear. 


1881 

1882 

1883 

1884 

1885 

1880 

1887 

1888 

*  To  date, 


Skins. 


13, 569 

13,  200 
12,  801 
16,  258 
10,  953 

13,067 
11,0(18 
20,  747 


Tear. 


1889 

1890 

1891 

1892*  

Total 


Skins. 


8,755 
18,541 
15,834 

4,  800 

247,  777 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN. 


561 


Deposition  of  Alfred  Frascr,  member  of  the  firm  of  G.  M.  Lamj)son&  Co., 

furriers,  London. 


London  trade  sales. 


Tables  sliowin;; 
number  of  skins  soM 
and  i)rice8  jiaiil  fjoin 
1868  to  1891. 


general  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  New  York, 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss: 

Alfred  Fraser,  beiug"  duly  swoiii,  says:  I  am  a  member  of  the  firm 
C.  M.  Lamp.son  &  Co.,  of  London,  and  the  person  described  in  and  who 
verified  an  afiidavit  on  the  1st  day  of  April,  1892,  relating-  to  the  fur-seal 
industry.  The  tables  hereto  annexed  marked  A,  1>,  C,  D,  E,  and  F 
have  been  prepared  by  me  from  the  printed  catalogues 
of  public  auction  sales  in  London  of  fur-seal  skins  and 
also  from  my  private  memoranda,  and  from  my  knowl- 
edge and  information  of  the  fur-seal  industry  I  believe 
them  to  be  correct  in  every  particular.  Said  tables 
state  all  of  the  salted  fur-seal  skins  of  the  Alaska, 
Copper,  northwest  coast,  and  Lobos  catches,  which,  according  to  the 
said  catalogues  and  memoranda,  were  sold  at  public  auction  in  London 
between  the  years  1SG8  and  181)1,  together  with  the  average  price  per 
skin  obtained  during  each  of  said  years  for  the  aforesaid  skins. 

Alfred  Fraser. 

Sworn  to  before  me  this  oth  day  of  July,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  Fredk.  F.  Fisher, 

N'otary  Public,  Kings  County. 

(Certificate  filed  in  New  York  County.) 

Exhibit  A. 

Salted  Alaska  fur-seal  sold  hi  London  from  1S71  to  ISDl. 


Tear. 

Skins. 

Averatrej 

price  per 

skin  . 

1870     

9,965 

100,  896 
96,  283 

101,  248 
90, 150 
99.  634 
90,  267 
7.5,410 
99,911 

«.   d. 
21    8 
42    2 
44  10 
52    0 
52    6 
50    9 
34    4 
39  11 
69    2 

1871 

1872     

1873 

1874           

1875 

1870  

1877 

1878     

Tear. 

Skins. 

Avcmge 

price  per 

skin. 

1879  

100,  036 
100, 161 
99,  921 
100, 100 
7.5,  914 
99,  887 
99.  719 
99.910 
99,  940 

s.    d. 
84    9 
91    5 
79    9 
53    7 
82    9 
51    9 
57    2 
69    3 
56    0 

1880         ..      . 

1881 

18S2     

188.'! 

1884 

1885 

1886 

1887 

Tear. 

Skin.s. 

1888 

100, 000 
100.(100 

20,  994 
4,158 

13,473 

1889      

1890   

1890 

1891 

Total  . . 

1,877,977 

Average , 

price  per 

skin. 


s.    d. 

78     0 

67  0 
146     0 

98  6 
125     0 


Exhibit  B. 

Salted  Copper  Island  fur-seal  sold  in  London  in  the  years  1S70  to  1S03. 


Tear. 

Skins. 

Average 

price  per 

skin. 

1870 

12,  030 
9,  522 
7, 182 
21,614 
30,  349 
34, 479 
33,  298 
25,  380 
19,000 

«.      d. 

18    8 
21    4 
33    9 
36    0 

40  0 

41  0 
24  10 
26    6 
38     6  1 

1871 

1872        

1873  

1874 

1875         ..    .. 

1876  

1877  

1878 

Tear. 

Skins. 

Average 

price  per 

skin. 

1879 

28,211 

38,  885 
45, 209 

39,  111 
36,  .5110 
26,  675 
48,929 
41,  752 
54,  584 

s.     d. 
57    6 
80    0 
60    0 
45    6 
38    3 
59    0 
37     0 
40    0 
40    0 

1880 

1881 

18SJ 

18S;! 

18S4 

1885 

1886 

1887 

Tear. 

Skins. 

1888     

46,  333 
47,416 
95. 486 
17,  025 
30,  678 

18,S9 

1890 

1891     

1892 

Total  . . 

789, 648 

Average 

price  per 

skin. 


.  d. 
38  3 
50  6 
72  1 
64  8 
68    G 


2716— TOL  11- 


-3(} 


562 


TESTIMONY. 

Exhibit  C. 


Salted  Xorthwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in   London  prior  to  pdafjic  sealing  in   Bering 

Sea. 


Average 
Year.            Skins,    'price  per 
1    skin. 

Tear. 

Skins. 

.Average 

price  per 

sliin. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Average 

price  i)er 

skin. 

1 
1872     1  029 

«.  d. 

1877 

s.   d. 

1882 

11,717 
2,319 
9,  242 

s.    d. 
20      3 

1873 

1878 

204 
12,  212 
8,939 
9,  997 

42    6 
53    5 
57    0 
81    7 

1883 

1884 

25    10 

1874 4,949 

34    7 
36     8 
21     4 

1879 

27      2 

1875                    '         1  646 

1880 

Total.. 

1876 i        2^042 

1881     

64,  366 

Exhibit  D. 

Salted  Northwest  coast  fur-seal  skins  sold   in   London  after  commencement  of  2)elagio 

sealing  in  Jferiny  Sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Average 

price 
per  skin. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Average 

price 
per  skin. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Average 

price 
per  skin. 

1885 

2,078 
17. 909 
36,  907 
36,818 

*.  d. 
26    1 

28    8 
30  11 
30  10 

1889 

39,  563 
38,315 
54,  180 

s.  d. 
39    5 
60  10 
62    0 

1892* 

Total . . 

28,  298 

«.  d. 

41      7 

1886 

1800 

1887 

1891 

254, 068 

1888     

*To  March  25. 

Exhibit  E. 

Salted  Lohos  Ishind  fnrseal  skins  sold  in  London, 


Year. 

Skins. 

Average 

price  per 

skin. 

Yejir. 

Skins. 

Average 

price  per 

skin. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Average 

price  per 

akin. 

1873 

6,  956 
8,509 
8,179 
11,353 
13, 006 
12,  301 
12,  295 
14,  8G5 

s.   d. 
{') 

n 
n 
(*) 

14    5 
35    6 
42    0 
41    1 

1881 

13,569 
13,200 
12, 861 
16,  258 

10,  953 
13.  667 

1 1,  068 
20,  747 

*.   d. 
31    1 
16    5 

19  0 
14    1 

16  0 
18    6 

17  3 

20  0 

1889     

8,755 
18,  541 
15, 834 

4,800 

«.   d. 
25    0 

1874 

1882 

1890 

31    9 

1875 

1883 

18!)  1 

33  11 

1876 

1884 

1885 

1892t 

Total.. 

25    4 

1877 

1878  

18SG 

247,  777 

1879 

1887 

1880 

1888 

*  Unknown. 


t  To  date. 


Exhibit  F. 


Salted  Alaska  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  L.ondon  in  the  years  1S6S  to  1S71  taken  2»'ior  to  the- 
leasing  of  the  J'rihilof  Islands 


Year. 

Skins. 

Average 

price  per 

skin. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Average 

price  per 

skin. 

1868      

28,  220 
121.  820 
110,511 

g.    d. 

24  8 

25  0 

20    8 

1871 

20,111 

s.    d. 

90     7 

1860 

Total       

1870 

280, 662 

SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  563 

Deposition  of  Arthur  ffirschel,  member  of  the  firm  of  Uirschel  &  Meyer, 

furriers^  London. 

general,  sealskin  industry. 

State  of  New  York, 

City  and  County  <f  JSfetv  YorJc,  ss : 

Arthur  Hirvschel,  heing  duly  sworn,  says:  I  am  39  years  of  age,  a 
British  subject,  and  a  resident  of  London,  England.  ^^  erience 
I  am  and  for  the  past  twenty  years  have  been  a  mem-  ^penence. 
ber  of  the  firm  of  Uirschel  &  Meyer,  which  transacts  a  general  fur 
business  at  London,  with  branch  establishments  at  Paris,  Leipzig, 
Moscow,  Shangliai,  and  elsewhere.  About  one-tenth  part  of  the  firm's 
business  consists  in  dealing  in  fur-seal  skins,  of  which  about  15,000  are 
annually  bought  by  it.  I  am  familiar  with  the  character  and  extent 
of  the  fur-seal  industry  in  London,  and  I  believe  that  the  following 
data  relating  to  it  are  correct. 

A  large  capital,  the  amount  of  which,  hoAvever,  it 
would  be- difficult  to  estimate,  is  invested  in  the  busi-   enSoj*el '""^  ^""' 
ness  of  selling  raw  fur-seal  skins.     Two  firms  own  large 
warehouses,  and  one  of  them  expensive  cold-storage  vaults,  portions 
of  which  are  used  exclusively  for  the  purpose  of  storing  fur-seal  skins. 

About  seven  firms  are  engaged  in  the  dressing  and  dyeing  of  seal 
skins,  of  which  a  very  much  larger  amount  is  done  in  London  than  in 
any  other  city  in  the  world.  In  this  branch  of  the  fur-seal  industry 
there  are  invested  about  £80,000  in  permanent  plant,  which  would 
become  entirely  useless  if  the  seal-skin  industry  were  to  come  to  an 
end. 

About  12,000  dressed  and  dyed  Alaska  fur-seal  skins,  which  may  be 
valued  at  £5  a  skin,  are  annually  manufactured  into 
garments  in  London,  and  a  very  much  larger  propor-   gamt8hi''Londo°n!' 
tion  of  Copper  and   ^STorthwest  coast    skins   are  so 
consumed. 

The  seal-skin  industry  furnishes  occupation  to  workingmen  in  Lon- 
don as  follows:  To  about  GOO  dressers  and  dyers;  to     .Workmen employed. 
about  1,400  cutters,  nailers,  sewers,  and  other  laborers 
engaged  in  manufacturing  seal-skin  articles.     Many  of  those  employed 
as  above  are  skilled  laborers,  who,  in  any  other  employment,  would  be 
but  ordinary  laborers.     Some  of  them  have  been  engaged  in  this  in- 
dustry from  childhood.     In  the  foregoing  no  account 
is  taken  of  the  numerous  clerks,  salesmen,  and  porters,   f„ri!|"*'*^  ''^^  "*''^'" 
of  whom  large  numbers  owe  their  means  of  support  to 
the  tra<le  in  fur-seal  skins. 

I  believe  that  in  round  numbers  the  capital  invested  in  this  industry 
in   London  amounts  to  £1,000,000,  and  that  when  a 
full  Alaska  catch  came  to  market  the  weekly  amount  wages'paknnLmdon. 
expended  in  wages  in  connection  with   all  the  catches 
was  about  £2,500  or  £3,000  a  week. 

The  business  of  dealing  in  fur-seal  skins  has  of  late  entered  into  a 
speculative  stage,  which  is  doing  it  much  injury.  The  present  uncertain 
trade  can  no  longer  know  with  certainty  when  and  condition  of  tho  mar- 
in  what  quantities  seal  skins  will  be  placed  upon  the  ^''^' 
market.  To  remedy  this  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  here-  Prohibition  noces- 
after  skins  should  be  taken  only  from  animals  of  the  ^^^^' 


564  TESTIMONY. 

male  sex  and  upon  land,  under  Goveruineut  regulations  sucli  as  have 
heretofore  existed. 

Arthur  Hirschel. 

Sworn  to  before  nie  this  21st  day  of  Juno,  1892. 

[seal. J  Geokge  Kissinger,  Jr., 

JS'otary  Ftiblw{No.  O'J),  City  and  County  of  New  York. 


Deposition  of  8ir  Gcovfic  Curtis  Lamijson,  haronet,  head  of  the  firm  of 
C.  M.  hainpson  t&  Co.,  furriers,  London. 

GENERAL    SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY. 

Sir  George  Curtis  Lauipson,  baronet,  being  duly  sworn,  doth  depose 
and  say  : 

(1)  That  he  is  58  years  of  age  and  a  subject  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty. 
That  ho  is  the  son  and  successor  of  the  late  Sir  Curtis  Lampson,  baronet, 
wlio  founded thehouseof  CM. Lampsonaboutthe year  1830.  Thatdepo- 
nent  is  at  the  present  time  the  head  of  the  firm  of  C.  M.  Lampson  & 
Co.,  doing  business  at  64  Queen  street,  in  the  city  of  London.  That  the 
business  of  said  firm  is  tliat  of  commission  merchants,  engaged  in  sell- 
ing and  in  buying  on  commission  fur  skins  of  various  kinds.     That  his 

said  tirm  now  handle  and  for  many  years  last  past  have 
Expononco.  Jiaudled  a  greater  mimber  of  skins  of  fur-seals  than  all 

the  other  firms  in  the  world  i)ut  t<»getlier,and  that  he  has  a  general  knowl- 
edge of  the  character  of  tlie  business  of  buying  and  selling  fur-seal 
skins.     That  his  partner,  Mr.  h]mil  Teichmann,  has  a 
Mr.    Emii   Teich-  more  dctaih'd  and  technical  knowledge  of  the  business 
maim,   lur-skm  ex-  ^j^^^^^  depoucnt,  aud  cau  dcposc  ill  respect  to  the  tecli- 
nical  aspects  of  the  business  in  more  detail  and  with 
greater  accura(;y  than  deponent  would  wish  to  do. 

(2)  That  the  way  in  which  the  business  of  the  firm  of  C.  M.  Lamp- 
sou  &  Co.  is  conducted  at  the  present  time  in  respect  to  fur-seal  skins 
is  briefly  as  follows : 

The  firm  receives  consignments  of  fur-seal  skins  from  the   North 
From  whom  tho  American  Commercial  Company  which  as  deponent  is 
firm  receives  consigu-  informed  lias  a  lease  from  the  United  States  Govern- 
ments of  skins.  ^^^^^  ^^  ^jj^  j.j^.j^^  ^^  ^.j^  fur-seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands 

in  the  Bering  Sea,  from  the  liussian  Seal  Skin  Company  which,  as  de- 
ponent is  informed  have  a  lease  from  the  Kussian  Government  of  a 
rigiit  to  kill  fur-seals  on  the  Kommondorski  and  Koben  Islands  and 
large  consignments  of  fur-seal  skins  aie  also  made  to  deponent's  firm 
by  the  firm  of  Hermann  Liebes  &  Co.,  of  San  Francisco,  TJ.  S.  A. 
These  three  mentioned  firms  or  (companies  are  the  principal  consignees 
,     ,         ,      ,       of  seal  skins  to  the  dei)()nent's  firm.     The  consignments 

London  trade  sales.         ,  .         ,  ,     \  ,,  i  -,         ■,  i^ii- 

when  received  are  duly  catalogued  and  sales  at  public 
auction  of  these  skins  and  of  those  of  any  other  consignments  which 
there  may  be  are  held  in  the  months  of  January,  March,  and  October. 
That  at  such  sales  there  are  present  in  person  or  by  representative 
all  the  leading  dealers  doing  business  in  the  city  of  London  and  all  the 

other  markets  in  the  world.  The  total  number  of  buy- 
)nyer3.  ^^^  does  iiot  average  more  than  fifty,  and  a  list  of  all 
the  buyers  is  hereto  annexed  and  marked  A.  The  major  part  of  the 
skins  purchased  are,  however,  purchased  by  a  comparatively  small 
numl)er  of  firms.  Deponent's  own  firm  as  the  agents  of  dealers  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada  are  also  among  the  principal  buyers. 


SEALSKIN   INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  565 

That  down  to  witliin  one  or  two  years  ago  the  skins  so  pureliased  by 
the  piineipal  buyers,  or  at  least  a  great  majority  of 
them,  were  after  such  jmrchase  consigned  to  the  firm  g^^s  ^Ve^'''^""  d 
of  C.  W.  Martin  &  Sons,  by  whom  they  were  dressed,  dyers  of  skiuf  for  ma- 
and  the  most  of  the  skins  also  dyed  by  them,  and  hav-  {"fg^.g*'^  principal 
ing  been  so  dressed  and  dyed,  they  are  then  sent  to  ^  '  ' 
the  dealers  and  manufacturers  of  fur  clothing  in  various  parts  of  the 
world. 

("i)  That  the  history  of  the  fur-seal  skin  business,  and  the  sources  of 
its  supi)ly,  have  been  fully  and  correctly  described  by  deponent's  part- 
ner, Mr.  Emil  Teichmann,  and  deponent  was  present  at  the  time  when 
the  deposition  of  Mr.  Teichmann  was  dictated  to  the 
shorthand  writer.  The  principal  present  sources  of  the  suppiy^'of  sS^^  "^ 
supply  of  the  seal-skin  market  are  what  are  known  as 
the  Alaska  catch,  the  Copper  Islands  catch,  and  what  is  known  as  the 
Northwest  catch.  As  stated  by  Mr.  Teichmann,  the  skins  of  these 
several  catches  are  readily  distinguished  from  each  other,  and  separate 
sets  of  forms  or  patterns  are  used  by  deponent's  tirm  in  sorting  and  siz- 
ing the  skins  of  the  three  catches.  These  differences  are  emjihasized 
by  the  fact  that  the  skins  of  the  three  catches  are  of  different  values 
and  produce  in  the  market  different  prices. 

The  skins  of  the  Alaska  and  Copper  Island  catch  are  almost  exclus- 
ively skins  of  male  seals  and  the  skins  of  the  Morth-      ^j.,  ^.^ 
west  capture  are  in  like  manner  largely  the  skins  of  skins!' "^  ""^    "^^'^^ 
female  seals.     What  is  now  called  the  Northwest  catch 
was  for  many  years  known  as  the  Victoria  catch,  and  todalcauh!*'  *"^  ^"^' 
prior  to  1884  the  skins  of  this  catch  came  to  the  Lon- 
don market  consigned  largely  by  the  firm  of  Herman.n  Liebes  &  Co.  to 
the  deponent's  tirm   and  averaged  for  many  years   about  10,000   or 
12,000  skins  per  year.     In  1884  the  skins  of  this  catch 
began  to  increase  largely  in  number,  and  the  numbers  ,ve"u'-atch  in^issl!*''^ 
which  since  that  year  have  arrived  in  the  London 
nnuket  are  stated  with  substantial  accuracy  upon  the  lists  annexed 
to  tlie  affidavits  of  my  partners  Messrs.  Fraser  &  Teichmann. 

(4)  Deponent  says  tliat  what  may  be  described  as  the  fur-skin  busi- 
ness has  been  built  up,  that  is  the  product,  the  fur-seal 
skins,  have  been  made  an  article  of  fashion  and  com-   i^"^*^['^Y^,^"^i"''^^  = 
merce,  and  the  sales  of  such  skins  largely  increased,  andbmit  up!" '' 
the  methods  of  dressing  and  dyeing  the  same  have  been 
perfected  almost  entirely  through  the  influence  and  joint  endeavors  of 
the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  the  North  American  Commercial 
Company,  the  Eussian  Seal  Skin  Company,  deponent's  own  firm,  and 
the  film  of  C.  AV.  Martin  &  Sons,  and  their  predecessors  in  the  city  of 
London. 

That  the  business  at  the  present  time  has  attained  the  rank  of  an  im- 
portant industry,  in  which  there  is  embarked  in  the 
city  of  Jxjndon  a  large  amount  of  capital  and  u])on   imsiiKs".    "'' '" 
wliicli  there  is  dependent  a  large  number  of  worlcmen 
and  enii»loyes.     The  anumnt  of  capital  from  time  to      capital  invested 
time  imcsted  in  the  business  is  ccn-rectly  stated,  de-   :>"••  wages  paid  in 
ponciit  l)('lieves,  by  Mr,  Teichmann,  at  as  much  as 
ivl, 000,000,  and  until  witliin  a  year  or  two  the  miiiibers  of  ])ersons  de- 
]>ending  upon  the  industry  lor  their  support  has  likewise  been  correctly 
stated  by  Mr.  Teichmann,  a]>p''oximately  at  2,000  jiersons,  receiving  on 
an  average  a  weekly  wage  of  .JO  shillings,  and  most  of  them  having  fam- 
ilies dependent  upon  their  labors  for  their  support. 


5GG 


TESTIMONY. 


During  the  last  two  years  tlie  diiuiiuUion  and  ii're.iinlaiity  of  tLe  sup- 
^.  .    ,.        ,  .     ply  of  fur  aiul  seal  skins  lias  caused  some  decrease  in 

Dimiuutiou  and  ir-    t,  ''  ,        r.  -i    ■       j^-i        •-,,■,      , 

regularity  in  supply  tlie  aniouut  ot  persons  eiij^iged  in  the  industry,  but 
two^'^iara'^""""  ^'""^^  deponent  is  not  able  to  state  exactly  to  what  extent 
^"^'"^  "  sneh  decrease  has  taken  place. 

A  considerable  number  of  the  persons  employed  in  this  business,  as 
deponent  is  informed,  are  not  skilled  in  any  other  kind  of  business,  and 
should  tlie  fur-seal  industry  cease,  deponent  believes  that  these  persons 
would  be  obliged  to  master  some  other  trade  or  means  of  livelihood. 

That  one  of  the  most  important,  and  deponent  feels  justified  in  say- 
Necessity  for  a  re'T-  ^^Si  vital  elements  in  the  maintenance  and  preservation 
iiiar  and  constairt  of  tlic  buslncss  Or  iiidustry  is  that  the  supplv  of  fur- 
suppiy  of  skins.  ^^.^^  ^^.-^^^^  sliould  bo  TCgular  and  constant  so  'that  in- 

tending buyers  may  be  able  to  know  beforehand  approximately  what 
the  prices  of  their  stock  in  trade  are  going  to  be,  and  that  the  people 
engaged  in  the  business  may  have  beforehand  a  reasonably  definite 
notion  of  what  they  shall  be  able  to  count  upon. 

(5)  Deponent  has  no  doubt  but  that  it  is  necessary  in  order  to  main- 
tain the  industry  that  steins  should  be  taken  to  pre- 
he^d^nlciTai^^  ^^^^  ^^^^'^  *^^  existeucc  ot  the  seal  herd  in  the  IS^'orth  Pacific 
Ocean  and  Bering  Sea  from  the  fate  which  has  over- 
taken the  herds  in  the  South  Seas.  Of  the  steps,  if  any,  which  are 
necessary,  in  order  to  accomplish  this  result,  deponent  does  not  feel 
that  he  is  in  a  position  to  state  as  he  has  no  i)ersonal  knowledge  of  the 
regulations  which  at  the  present  time  exist,  but  it  is  obvious  to  depo- 
nent's mind  that  regulations  of  some  kind  imposed  by  somebody  who 
has  authority  and  jiower  to  enforce  them  are  necessary  to  prevent  the 
rookeries  in  the  iSJorth  Pacific  Ocean  from  sutfering  the  fate  of  the 
rookeries  in  the  Southern  Atlantic  and  Pacific  seas,  where  deponent  is 
informed  no  restrictions  were  at  any  time  even  attempted  to  be  im- 
l^osed. 

George  C.  Lampson. 

Sworn  at  64  Queen  street,  in  the  city  of  London,  England,  this  23d 
day  of  April,  18i)2,  before  me, 

Francis  W.  Frigout, 
Vice  and  Deputy  Consul- General  of  the 
United  States  of  America  at  London,  England. 


BUYERS  OF  FUR-SEAL  SKINS. 


Alllinnson  &  Co. 
Ai)t<'l  lirothers. 
li(!\  iiio'ton  «fc  Morris. 
Jlhitspiel,  .Staiii]!  »V.  ITeacoclc. 
Borras,  K.,  &  .Sons. 
Creamer,  .J.  H.,  &  Co. 
Dixon  &,  Co.,  H. 
Knsor,  Weber  &  Co. 
Eysoldt  &  Co. 
Friedebery,  H. 
Felsenstein  Bros. 
Hand,  J. 

Hirscbell  &  Meyer. 
Hoffman  &  Thaw. 
Howell,  J.,  «fc  Co. 
luce,  T.  H. 


International  I'nv  Store. 
]\Iarsliall,  W.,  &,  Co. 
Martin,  C.  W.,  &  Sous. 
Meyers,  J.  &  H. 
Kicholav,  J.  A.,  &  Son. 
Phillips,  Politzer  &,  Co. 
Poland,  P.  R.,  &  Son. 
Poland,  Geo.,  &  Son, 
Euss,  C. 

Sinitli,  Geo.,  &  Sons. 
Snjjdeu,  C.  A.,  &  Co. 
Slater  &  Co. 
IUhnanu,  Jos. 
Vyse  Sons  Si,  Co. 
Wotherspoou,  D.  ifc  J, 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  £67 


Grebert,  E.,  &  Grison.  Revilloii  Fiercs. 

Huudler,  N.,  &  Fils.  Revilluu,  S. 

Hertz,  E.,  &  Co. 


Bromljerg,  M.,  &  Co.  Gaudig  &  Blnm. 

Dorufeldt,  G.  Kouigeweither,  H.  M. 

This  is  the  paper  writing  marked  A  referred  to  in  the   affidavit  of  George  Curtis 
Lanipson,  sworn  before  nie  tiiis  23d  day  of  April,  1892. 

Francis  W.  Fkigout, 
Vice  and  Dejyiity  Consul-General,  U.  H.  A.,  London,  Encjland. 


JDeposition  of  Walter  Edward  Martin,  head  of  the  firm  of  C.    W.  Mar- 
tin &  Sons,  furriers,  London. 

GENERAL   SEALSKIN   INDUSTRY. 

Walter  Edward  Martin,  being  duly  sworn,  doth  depose  as  follows: 

First.  Tliat  he  is  40  years  of  age,  a  subject  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty, 
and  lives  in  the  city  of  Ht.  Albans,  and  carries  on  business  at4  Lambeth 
Hill,  in  the  city  of  London ;  that  he  is  the  head  of  tlie  firm  of  C.  W.  Mar- 
tin &  Sons,  who  are  the  successors  of  the  lirni  of  Martin  &  Teichmann, 
which  firm  was  composed  of  deponent's  father,  C.  W.  Martin,  and  Emil 
Teichmann,  who  is  now  a  member  of  the  firm  of  C.  M.  Lampson&  Co.,  of 
the  city  of  London ;  that  the  said  firm  of  C.  W.  Martin  &  Sons  is  engaged 
in  the  Ijusinessof  dressing  and  dyeing  furs  of  all  kinds;  that  they  have 
until  the  last  year  and  have  for  many  years  last  past  dressed  and  dyed 
a  larger  number  of  skins  of  the  fur-seal  than  all  the  other  firms  in  the 
world  together;  that  deponent  has  made  no  examination  of  the  books  of 
Ills  firm  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  precisely  the  number  of  skins  annuaiiy 
dressed  and  dyed  by  his  said  firm  and  its  predecessor,  but  it  is  the  fact 
that  his  said  firm  in  one  year  dressed  loO, ()()(>  fur-seal  skins,  and  of  that 
number  dyed  130,000,  and  it  is  also  the  fact  that  until  within  the  last 
two  years  his  firm  dressed  u])wards  of  110,000  or  120,000  skins  in  each 
year,  and  dyed  upwards  of  100,000  skins  so  dressed. 

That  deponent  has  been  in  the  business  of  dressing  and  dyeing  fur-seal 
skins  about  twenty-two  years;  that  he  lias  personally 
handled  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  such  skins,  and  xpenrticc. 
that  he  has  a  detailed  and  speidfic  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the 
various  sorts  of  seal  skins  and  of  the  markets  therefor,  and  that  he  has 
also  a  general  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  seal-skin  business  during 
the  whole  of  that  period. 

Second.  That  the  first  seal  skins  of  which  deponent  has  any  knowl- 
edge arriving  in  the  London  market  were  consigned 
by  a  Kussian  company  to  the  firm  of  J.  M.  C)i>]>en]ieiin    i„f,',','^7"l'"'"   "'   *'"* 
&  Co.,  the  business  of  which  firm,  so  far  in  as  it  rehited 
to  the  dressing  and  dyeing  of  fur-seal  skins,  Mas  subse(|nently  taken 
over  by  the  firm  of  Martin  «Ki  Teichmann.     That  the  fur  seal  skin  busi- 
ness was  greatly  develoi>ed  about  the  year  1870  throiiiili 
the  efibrtsof  C.  M.  Lampson  .^c,  Co.;  that  about  that  ,,,/i;;;''"^'"'"'' °'' '" 
time  the  firm  of  rl.  jM.  Oppenheim  «K:  Co.  found  great 
difdculties    in    getting    the   skins    prox)erly    unhaired,    dressed,   and 


5G8  TESTIMONY. 

dyed,  whicli  difficulties  ciiliniiiated  in  a  stiike  of  their  operatives 
about  the  year  1873,  tlie  result  of  Avhich  was  that  the  tii  m  of  IMartiu 
&  Teichuiaun  took  over  that  portion  of  the  business  of  Messrs.  Op- 
]>enheim  &  Co,  connected  with  the  dressing-  and  dyeing  of  fur-seal 
skins  as  aforesaid  and  began  a  system  of  education  of  their  own  oper- 
atives, and  that  from  that  time  until  ^yithin  a  year  ago  the  business  of 
dressing  and  dyeing  skins  has  been  practically  controlled  by  the  firms 
of  Martin  &  Teichmann  &  Co.  and  C.  W.  Martin  &  Sons,  and  has  be- 
come an  established  and  important  industry,  in  which  a  large  amount 
of  capital  is  invested  and  a  large  number  of  persons  emi)loyed. 

The  lirm  of  C.  W.  Martin  &  Sons  has  employed  until  the  last  two 
Persons  employed  Y^ars  500  pcrsous,  and  emjtloy  at  the  present  moment 
and  wages  paid  bj'  about  400  pcrsons,  luost  of  whoui  are  skilled  laborers, 
^'^^'^'"'  receiving  on  an  average  at  least  30  shillings  a  week, 

and  most  of  whom  have  families  dependent  upon  the  in  for  their  sup- 
port. Deponent  estimates  that  the  total  number  of 
in^Londdu.  ''"1'^°^'*^'^  pcrsoiis  employed  directly  or  indirectly  in  the  business 
of  dressing,  dyeing,  handling,  and  cutting  fur-seal  skins 
u])  to  within  the  last  two  years  in  the  city  of  London  was  about  2,000. 

Third.  That  the  business  is  carried  (m  in  the  city  of  London,  briefly, 
as  follows:  Messrs.  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  and  during  the  last  two 
^     ,    ^    ,      ,         years  one  or  two  other  firms,  advertised  the  annual 

London  trade  sales.        ''    ,  ,,  ,,  ■,     ■,  ■  r.      i  •    i  i      ^  i       i 

sales  or  iur-seal  skms,  of  which  very  much  the  largest 
number  are  advertised  and  sold  by  C,  M.  Lami^son  &  Co.  That 
at  such  sales  merchants  and  furriers  from  all  over  the  world  are 
])resent  or  represented,  and  make  their  purchases  of  fnr-seal  skins 
tor  the  ensuing  season.  After  the  sales  the  skins  purchased  are  deliv- 
ered by  the  xJui'ehasers  to  my  firm  and  others  for  dressing  and  dyeing. 
Most  of  the  seal  skins  dressed  bv  my  firm  are  likewise 
oiSs"^'''"^'^^'''^*^  intrusted  to  us  to  be  dyed,  but  some  of  the  merchants, 
notably  Ivevillon  Freres,  of  Paris,  have  the  skins  which 
liave  been  dressed  for  them  by  us  dyed  in  France,  and  this  is  true  of 
one  or  two  other  firms,  although  Kevillon  Freres  are  the  principal  firm 
who  so  do.  This  makes  the  number  of  furs  dressed  by  us  larger  than 
the  numljer  dyed. 

Fourth.  Deponent  knows  of  his  own  knowledge  and  from  conversa- 
tions with  the  merchants  and  dealers  above  mentioned 
stoTsuppb'"*^  "*  *"'"    ^l*'*^  ^t  ^'^  ^  matter  of  vital  importance  to  the  continu- 
ance of  the  of  fur-seal  industry  and  the  industries  re- 
sulting therefrom  and  de})endent  thereon  that  the  supply  of  fur-seal 
skins  shcmld  be  constant;  that  is,  that  the  number  of  skins  coming  upon 
the  market  in  each  year  should  be  known  the  year  beforehand  with 
apju-oximate  certainty,  and  that  it  should  not  vary  greatly  from  year 
to  year.     That  this  is  necessary  in  order  that  prices  may  be  fixed  and 
that  those  perscnis  or  firms  who  physically  deal  with  the  skins,  such  as 
dci)onent's  lirm,  should  know  what  ])rovision  they  must  make  for  the 
Supply  reeuiar  to  ^usiuess  of  tlic  cusuing  scasoii.     That  down  to  within 
Avitiiiu  the  past  three  a  fcw  ycai's  last  ])ast,  thrcc  or  five  years,  the  supjdy 
or  live  years.  has  becii  legular,  but  that  during  the  last  three  or  five 

years,  and  notably  during  tlie  last  two  years,  the  sui)ply  has  fluctuated 
very  largely  and  continually  diminished  and  in  consequence  thereof 
business  has  greatly  sullcicd. 

Fifth.  That  the  skins  which  have  come  to  the  London  market  within 

Sources  of  supply,    the  last  fcw  ycais   have  been  principally  what  are 

Aiasisa,  Copper  Is-  kuowu  as  the  Alaska  catch,  the  Copper  Island  catch 

luiir'^  ^'"'"''''''''  and  the  Northwest  catch.     Small   supplies  are  also 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  569 

obtained  from  the  Lobos  Islands,  Cape  Horn,  and  Aus-      ^  ,     t  ,    ^  r. 

.,.,,,,  ,.  ,,,  ii"j.i  i.-  1        Lobos  Island,  Cape 

tralasia,  but  tlie  skins  .not  lioni  last  three  mentioned  Hom  and  Australasia 
localities  play  an  inconsiderable  part  in  the  business.  ^'^''»^- 
That  the  great  majority  ot  tlie  skins  coming-  into  the  market  are  known 
as  the  Alaska,  the  Copper  Island,  and  the  Northwest  skins.  The  skins 
belonging  to  these  several  catches  are  catalogued  separately,  sold  sep- 
arately, and  are  of  dilferent  values  and  necessarily,  therefore,  bring  dif- 
ferent prices  in  the  market. 

Sixth.  That  the  ditterences  between  these  several  classes  of  skins 
are  so  marked  as  to  enable  any  person  skilled  in  the  .         ^  ^^^^^^ 

business  to  readily  distingaiish  one  from  the  other.    An  the  Uvenii  catches™ 
essential  point  of  difference  between  the  skins  of  the 
Northwest  catch  and  the  skins  of  the  Alaska  and  Copper  Island  catches 
consists  in  the  fact  that  most  of  the  Northwest  skins     5,T„,.ti,^e8t  skins 
are  the  skins  of  the  female  seal,  while  the  Copper  and  mostly  those  of  fe- 
Alaska  skins  are  of  the  m ale  seal.     Deponent  has  made  ^'^^^-  ^""^  '''^  ^°  ^"  p*^"" 
no  comi3utation  or  examination  which  would  enable  him 
to  say  si^ecifically  what  proportion  of  the  Northwest  catch  are  the  skins 
of  the  female  seal,  but  it  is  the  tact  that  the  great  majority,  deponent 
would  say  75  to  80  per  cent,  of  the  skins  of  this  catch  are  the  skins  of 
the  female  animal.     The  skins  of  the  nmle  seal  and  of  the  female  seal 
may  be  as  readily  distinguished  as  the  skins  of  the  ditierent  sexes  of 
any  other  animal.     The  skins  of  the  female  seal,  tor     ^^^  ^^^^^^  ^^.^^ 
instance,  show  the  marks  of  the  breast  and  the  lur  .ire  distinguished. 
upon  the  belly  is  thinner,  and  the  whole  of  the  fur  is 
also  finer,  lower  in  pile;  that  is,  the  fibers  composing  the  fur  are  shorter 
than  in  the  case  of  the  male  seal.     Another  means  of  distinguishing  the 
female  skins  from  the  skins  ot  the  male  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  skins  of 
the  female  are  narrower  at  the  head  and  tail  and  are  proportionately 
wider  in  the  belly  than  the  skins  of  the  male  seal. 

Another  means  of  distinguishing  the  seals  of  the  Northwest  catch 
from  the  skinsof  the  Copper  Island  and  Alaska  catches 
consists  in  the  fact  that  nearly  all  the  skins  of  this  ti4?,i*hL7''ycoppe; 
catch  have  holes  in  them,  which  deponent  nnderstands  island  and  Alaska 
is  caused  by  thel\ict  that  the  seals  from  which  they  are  NoiUnves™  *^°''  °^' 
taken  have  been  shot  or  speared  in  the  open  sea,  and 
not,  as  is  the  case  with  the  seals  from  which  the  skins  of  Copper  Ishnid 
and  Alaska  catches  are  taken  and  kiUed,  with  clubs  upon  land.  The 
difference  between  the  Copper  Island  catch  and  the  Differonce  i)etween 
Alaska  catch  are  marked  and  enable  any  one  experi-  Copper  i.sinnd  and 
enced  in  handling  skins  to  distinguish  the  one  trom  ^i"'*'^" ^^i^'hs. 
the  other.  The  Copx)er  Island  skins  show  that  the  animal  is  narrower 
in  the  neck  and  at  the  tail  than  the  Alaska  seal  and  the  fur  is  shorter, 
l)articulaiiy  under  the  flippers,  and  the  hair  has  a  yellower  tinge  than 
have  the  hairs  of  the  Alaska  seals,  so  that  before  the  skins  are  dressed 
tlie  two  may  be  readily  distinguished  from  each  other,  and  while  depo- 
nent has  made  no  such  attempt  he  believes  tliat  it  would  be  reasonable 
to  say  that  if  ],()00  (Ji)p[)er  Island  skins  were  mingled  among  90,000 
Alaska  skins  itwonld  be  [lossible  Ibr  iiny  <me  skilled  in  the  business  to 
extract  950  out  of  tlie  1,000  C()p])er  Island  skins  and  to  separate  them 
from  the  99,050  of  tlie  Alaska  catcli,  and  vice  versa.  Both  the  Copper 
Island  skins  and  the  Alaska  skins  are  the  skins  of  male  seals  almost 
exclusively,  althougli  occasionally  female  skins  are  found  among  the 
Copper  Island  catch  and  less  often  among  the  Alaska  catch. 


570  TESTIMONY. 

Seventli.  Deponent  sny.s  that  the  prcsorvatlon  of  the  seal  lierds 
found  in  tlie  nortliern  Pacific  region  is  necessary  to 
ga^y"^*'*^*'""  "*""'^^"  the  continuance  of  the  fur-seal  business,  as  those  herds 
are  the  principal  sources  of  supply  of  seal  skins  left  in 
the  world ;  and  from  his  geiu'ral  knowledge  of  the  customs  of  tliat  busi- 
ness dc])onent  feels  justi lied  in  expressing  the  opinion  that  stringent 
regulatiims  of  some  kiiul  are  necessary  in  order  to  prevent  those  herds 
from  disai)pearing  like  the  herds  which  formerly  existed  in  large  num- 
bers oft' the  JSouth  Pacific  seas.  Si)ecifically  wluvt  regulations  are  neces- 
sary deponent  does  not  feel  himself  in  a  position  to  state. 

Walter  Martin. 

Sworn  at  No.  4  Lambeth  TTill,  in  the  city  of  London,  England,  this 
23d  day  of  April,  181)2,  before  me. 

Francis  W.  Frigout, 
Vice  and  Deputy  Consul- General  of  the 
United  States  of  America  at  London,  England. 


BeimsHion  of  Henry  Poland^  head  of  the  firm  of  P.  E.  Poland  &  Son, 

furriers,  London. 

GENERAL  SEALSKIN  INDUSTRY.      PELAGIC  SEALING. 

Mr.  Henry  Poland,  being  duly  sworn,  doth  depose  and  say:  That  he 
is  40  years  of  age  and  a  subject  of  Ium'  liritannic  majesty ;  i  hat  he  is  the  head 
of  the  firm  of  P.  II.  Poland  &  vSon  doing  buisness  at  110  Queen  Victoria 
street,  in  the  city  of  London,  and  has  been  engaged  in  that  business 
twenty-one  years;  that  the  said  firm  of  P.  E.  Poland  &  Son  are  doing 
l)usiness  as  fur  and  skin  merchants,  and  have  been  engaged  in  that 
business  for  over  one  hundred  years,  having  been  founded  by  depo- 
nent's great-grandfather  in  the  year  1785,  and  having  been  continued 
without  interrui)tion  sin('e  that  date  from  father  to  son;  that  for  many 
years  last  i)ast  deponent's  said  firm  have  been  in  the  habit  of  buying 
large  numbers  of  fui'-seal  skins,  in  fact  ever  since  skins  of  thatcharac 
ter  have  become  an  article  of  commerce,  both  on  their  own  account  and 
on  commission  for  other  i)ersons  resident  in  the  United  St-jites  and 
Canada  and  elsewlu're;  that  by  reason  of  having  pur- 

Experience.  ,  ,  i  •  i  I  \  i  i         i 

chased  so  many  skins  de])onent  has  a  general  and  sub- 
stantial knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  fur-seal  skin  business,  and  ol 
the  character  and   kinds  of  fur-seal  skins  coming  ui)on  the  London 

market;  that  from  about  the  year  1870  down  to  the 

Sources  <il  siii)i)ly.  ,',.  ,,  •        •        i    -•  '      i      i    •  •  j.       xi 

])resent  time  the  ]ninci]»al  tur-seal  skins  coming  to  the 
London  market  have  been  what  are  known  as  the  Alaska  catch,  being 
the  skins  of  fur-seals  killed  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands,  in  the  Bering  Sea, 
the  Copper  Islands  catch  being  the  skins  of  fur  seals  killed  upon  the 
Kommandorski  and  lioben  islands  of  Pussia,  and  what  are  known  as 
the  Northwest  catch.  Until  within  two  or  three  years  ago  a  very  con- 
siderable number  of  skins  also  arrived  on  the  London  market,  amount- 
ing perhai)s  to  several  thousand  annually,  which  were  known  as 
Japanese  skins. 


SEALSKIN   INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  571 

Tliat  the  tliree  classes  of  sldiis  above  mentioned  are  easily  distiiijiuisli- 
able  fioui  each  other  by  any  person  skilled  in  tlie  busi- 
ness or  accustomed  to'handling-  skins  in  the  raw  state.  ,,if.^^^  distinguisha- 
That  deponent  has  personally  handled  tlie  samples  of 
the  skins  dealt  in  by  this  firm,  and  would  himself  have  no  difiioulty  in 
distinguishing  the  skins  of  the  Copper  Island  catch  from  the  skins  of 
the  Alaska  and  jSTorthwest  catch,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  in  the  raw 
state  the  Copper  Island  skins  have  a  lighter  color  and  the  fur  is  rather 
shorter  in  pile  and  of  an  inferior  quality.     The  skins  of  each  of  the  three 
classes  have  different  values  and  command  different  prices  in  the  mar- 
ket.    Both  the  Copper  Island  skins  and  the  Alaska   skins  are  almost 
exclusively  the  skins  of  male  seals,  and  the  difference  between  the  skin 
of  a  male  seal  and  a  female  seal  of  adult  age  can  be  as  readily  seen  as 
between  the  skins  of  different  sexes  of  other  animals. 
That  the  Northwest  skins  are,  in  turn,  distinguisliable  ,a.^uf  Sk.s.^'''" 
from  the  Copper  Island  and  Alaska  skins,  first,  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  adult  skins  are 
obviously  the  skins  of  female  animals;  second,  because    -p^^.^^^,,^  ^j^j^  ^^^^^ 
they  are  all  pierced  witii.  the  spear  or  harpoon  or  shot, 
in   consequence  of  being  killed  in  open  sea,  and  not,  as  in  the  case  of 
Copper  Island  and  Alaska  skins,  being  killed  upon  land  by  clubs; 
third,  because  the  Northwest  skins  are  cured  upon  vesselsby  the  crews 
of  which  they  are  killed,  upon  which  there  are  not  the  same  facilities 
for  ffayiug  or  salting  the  skins  as  there  are  upon  land,  where  the  Cop- 
per and  Alaska  skins  are  flayed  and  salted. 

The  Japanese  skins,  which  I  think  are  now  included      ^ 

ii         ^-r       ,1  J  i'  1  T    j_-  •    1      T  1      i-  J.1  Japanese  skins. 

m  the  Northwest  catch,  are  distinguishable  irom  the 
other  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  by  being  yellower  in  color,  haA'ing 
a  much  shorter  pile,  because  they  are  salted  Avith  fine  salt,  and  have 
plenty  of  blubber  on  the  pelt.    That  the  skins  purchased  by  deponent's 
firm  are  handed  over  by  it  to  what  are  called  dressers 
aiid  dyers,  for  the  purpose  of  being  dressed  and  dyed.  J^^rocessofmamfac- 
The  principal  dressers  and  dyers  of  the  city  of  London 
at  the  present  time  are  C.  W.  Martin  &  Co.  and  George  liice  and  skins 
arc  also  dressed  and  dyed  by  other  persons.     The  fnr-seal  business  has 
attained  very  considerable  dimensions  in  the  city  of 
London,    large    amounts    of  capital    being    invested   ^j""-.' London  <;api- 
therein,  and  iJrobably  in  and  about  the  city  of  Lon- 
don there  are  employed  in  the  fur-seal  skin  business  as  many  as  0,000 
l)ersons,  most  of  whom  are  skilled  hands,  some  of  whom      ^  .^^^^j.  ^,„j,,    p,, 
receive  as  high  as  £3  or  £J  a  week,  and  many  if  not  most 
of  whom  have  families  dependent  upon  thein  for  support.    That  the  main- 
tenance of  this  business  necessarily  depends  upon  the 
preservation  of  the  seal  herds  frequenting  the  northern   sjj.'."*'"^'""  "''"•"'" 
Pacific  regions  from  l)cing  overtaken  by  the  destruc- 
tion which  Avas  the  tate  of  the  seals  formerly  found  in  large  quantities 
in  the  South  Atlantic  and  South  I'acitic  Oceans. 

Tiiat  deponent  is  not  in  a  position,  by  reason  of  jxtsscssing  expert 
knowledg(i  or  personal  accpiaintance  of  killing  seals,  to  pronounce  a 
positive  opinion  as  to  what  stei)s  are  necessary,  if  any,  to  accomplish 
this  result,  but  he  would  su])i)osc  it  reasonable  to  say 

,,,  1J--  1-1        1111  •  i-'j-  Close  season. 

that  a  close  time,  which  should  be  universal  m  its  ap- 
plication, for  a  specified  period   in  each  year,  during  which  the  killing 
ot  seals  should  be  entirely  prohibited,  and  the  imposition  of  heavy 
penalties,  say  a  fine  of  £\,00U,  for  any  violation  of  the  regulations  pro- 


672  TESTIMONY. 

vidiiig  for  such  close  time,  would  he  effective  to  preserve  the  herds 

Vet'erred  to;  and  dc^.nieut  would,  under  any  circum- 

""*'■  stances,  increase  the  zone  around  the  islands  contain- 

in<>'  tlie  rookeries,  within  which  sealing  should  be  al)Soiutely  prohibited, 

to  a  distance  of  50  miles  in  every  direction  from  the  shore. 

Henry  Poland. 

Sworn  at  110  Queen  Victoria  street,  in  the  city  of  London,  England, 
this  23  day  of  April,  1892,  before  me. 

FijANCis  W.  Frigout, 
Vice  and  Depufjj  Consul-General  of  the 
United  States  of  America  at  London^  England. 


Deposition  of  George  liicc,  furrier,  London,  England. 
GENERAL   SEALSKIN   INDUSTRY.      PELAGIC   SEALING. 

George  Eice,  being  duly  sworn,  doth  depose  and  say:  That  he  is  50 

vears  of  age,  and  a  subject  of  Her  Britannic  Maiesty. 

That  he  IS  engaged  in  the  business  ot  dressing  and 
dyeing  furs  of  various  kinds  in  the  city  of  London,  at  32,  33,  and  40 
Great  Prescott  street,  in  the  said  city,  and  at  Stratford,  which  is  a 
suburb  of  London.  That  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  fur  business, 
and  principally  in  the  business  of  handling  fur-seal  skins,  for  twenty- 
seven  years  Inst  past.  That  eleven  years  ago  he  established  his 
present  business  of  dressing  and  dyeing  furs.  That  during  the 
eleven  years  since  the  establishment  of  his  present  business  lie 
has  handled  and  dyed  large  quantities  of  fur-seal  skins,  and  has 
during  those  years  and  prior  thereto  personally  handled  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  fur-seal  skins,  and  that  in  the  year  1891  he  dyed 
upwards  of  90,000  fur-seal  skins.  That  by  reason  of  his  experi- 
ence in  his  business  he  has  a  general  and  detailed  knowledge  of  the 
different  kinds  of  fur-seal  skins  and  of  the  differences  which  distinguish 
them,  as  well  as  the  histoiy,  character,  and  manner  of  conducting  the 
fur-seal  skin  business  in  the  city  of  London,  which  is  briefly  as  follows: 
The  skins  are  consigned  by  the  persons  who  take  them  in  the  fishing 

grounds  to  various  firms,  the  principal  of  which  areO. 
Lcmii'on."""""^'"^  '"  ^t-  Lampson  &  Co.,and  Ciilverwell  .^'Brooks,  by  whom 

the  skins  are  catalogued  and  advertised  for  the  sales, 
London  sales.  ^^.j^j^^^  ^^.^  j^^j^l  .^^  Octobcr,  January,  or  March  in  each 

year  by  (zoad.  Bigg  &  Co.,  as  brokers  tor  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  and 
by  Culverwell  &  Brooks  on  their  own  account. 

These  sales  are  attended  by  merchants  and  buyers  from  all  over  the 

world,  who  are  present  either  personally  or  by  proxy,  and  having  made 

their  ])urcliases  at  such  sales,  the  skins  are  transferred  by  them  to  the 

dressers  and  dyers.     That  for  many  years  last  past  the  skins  arriving 

ci.nsses  or  skins        i'l  the  market  liavc  bccu  principally  what  are  known 

as,  first,  the  Alaska  skins,  which  are  the  skins  of  seals 

killed  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands  in  the  Bering  Sea;  second,  what  are 

called  the  Copper  Island  skins,  which  are  theskins  of  seals  killed  on 

the  Eussian  islands  in  the  Bering  Sea;  and  third,  what  are  called  the 

^,  „      ,    ,,        Northwest  catch,  M'hich  are  the  skins  of  seals  killed  in 

tlie  nortli   ])art  ot  the  Pacific  Ocean,  or  m  the  Bering 

Sea.     A  large  proportion  of  the  Northwest  catch  of  skins  have  jiassed 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  573 

throTigli  deponent's  hands  for  some  years  last  past,  and  last  year  he 
handled  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Northwest  catch. 

Besides  those  three  last-mentioned  classes,  the  Alaska,  Copper,  and 
Northwest,  a  certain  nnniber  of  sealskins  also  come  to     ^    ,,       , . 

.,         T  T   "  .      .      ,.  J.1  J.  J.    ui  bouthern  skins. 

the   London   market   trom    southern    waters,    notably 

Lobos  Island  aiid  Cape  Horn,  bat  the  skins  from  these  localities  are 

relatively  much  less  important  than  the  skins  of  the  Northern  Pacific 

regions. 

Tliat  the  difi'erence  between  the  several  classes  of  skins  are  very 
marked,    and   enable  anvl)odv  who  is   skilled  in   the 
business  or  accustomed  to  han^Uing  of  fur  sealskins  to  ^^  Masses  distinguish- 
distinguish  the  skins  of  one  class  from  the  skins  which 
belong  to  either  of  the  oth.er  two  classes  and  these  differences  are  evi- 
denced by  the  fact  that  the  skins  obtain  different  prices  in  the  market. 

That  the  differences  between  the  skins  of  the  adult  male  seals  and  the 
adult  female  seals  are  as  marked  as  the  differences 
between  the  skins  of  the  two  sexes  of  other  animals,   femaka."'''**  "^^"^ 
and  that  in  the  Northwest  catch  from  85  to  90  per  cent 
of  the  skins  are  of  the  female  animal. 

Deponent  does  not  mean  to  state  that  these  figures  are  mathemat- 
ically accurate,  but  they  are,  in  his  judgment,  approximately  exact. 

The  difference  between  the  Copper  Island  catch  and  the  Northwest 
and  Alaska  catches,  which  two  last-mentioned  classes  of  skins  of  the 
fur-seal  apparently  belong  to  the  same  family,  are  such  as  to  enable 
any  person  skilled  in  the  business  to  distinguish  the  Coppers  from  the 
Northwest  and  Alaska  skins,  or  what  I  may  call  the  Bering  Sea  seal- 
skins, but  the  manner  in  which  the  skins  are  distinguished  is  difficult 
to  describe  to  any  person  not  accustomed  to  handling  skins.  The 
difference  again  between  the  Alaska  and  Northwest  catches,  although 
as  deponent  has  said  they  are  of  the  same  general  family,  are  yet  very 
marked  by  reason  of  the  difference  of  the  color  of  the  haii",  the  length 
of  the  wool,  which  is,  of  course,  perceptible  mainly  upon  examination 
of  the  pelts  and  of  the  fact  that  the  female  skins  show  the  marks  of  the 
breast. 

The  differences  between  the  three  classes  of  skins  above  mentioned 
are  so  marked  that  the  skins  belonging  to  the  three  catches  have 
always,  since  deponent  had  any  knowledge  of  the  business,  com- 
manded, and  do  now  command,  different  prices  in  the  markets,  for 
instance,  the  Alaska  skins  of  the  last  year's  catch 

X  rices 

fetched  about  125s.  per  skin;  the  Coi^per  skins  of  the 

last  year's  catch  fetched  OS*-.  Grf.  per  skin,  and  the  Northwest  skins  of 

the  last  year's  catch  fetched  about  55.*?.  per  skin. 

Among  the  skins  classed  as  the  Northwest  catch  there  have  for  the 
last  few  years  been  included  a  considerable  number  of  skins  which  de- 
ponent says  he  thinks  were  formerly  called  Japanese 

'^  1   ■  1  •    1  J-    ..•  -11^  XT  •     •  Japanese  skina. 

skms,  which  are    distinguished  from  the  remaining 
Northwest  and  Alaska  skins  by  reason  of  the  different  color  of  the 
skins  in  the  raw  state.     This  difference  in  color  is  so  distinct  as  to  be 
practically  unmistakable. 

That  the  business  of  handling  and  dealing  in  fur-seal  skins  has  be- 
come, in  the  city  of  London,  an  established  and  im 
portant  industry.     That  deiioncnt  himself,  lor  instance,   fl,^,^?;\°°  sealskin  in- 
employs  at  the  i>resent  time  from  400  to  500  laborers, 
who  are  mof-tly  engaged  in  one  way  or  another  upon  fur-seal  skins, 
many  of  whom  are  skilled  Avorkmcn  rccci^ing  uood 

•^  T  i^  ^1  1  •  J  -T  -I      '~     '  ^        J.        Labor  fiin)loycu. 

wages,  and   many  of  them  ha\ing  lamilies  dependent 

upon  them  for  their  support.     JJepoiient  estimates  the  total  number  of 


574  TESTIMONY. 

people  en ga<?ed  in  the  business  of  hamllinjf?,  dyeing,  dressing,  and  treat- 
ing fiir-seal  skins  up  to  the  time  the  skins  pass  into  the  hands  of  the 
furriers  at  al)out  2,()«i().  In  addition  to  the  number  so  employed,  a  much 
larger  numl)er  of  farriers,  emi)loy(''s,  and  the  employes  of  the  retail  mer- 
chants arc  concerned  directly  or  indirectly  in  handling  or  manufactur- 
ing the  fur-seal  skin  or  fnr-scal  sldn  garments. 

l)ci)oncnt  farther  says  that  a  large  amount  of  capi- 
Large  London  lai.i-  f.^j  jv;  jn  one  way  or  another  invested  in  the  city  of  Lon- 
don in  tiic  business  above  enumerated. 
That  the  continuance  of  the  fur  seal  business  depends,  in  deponent's 
judgment,  obviously  u])on  tlie  continued  existence  of  the  fur-seal  herds 
from  which  the  skins  are  derive<l 

That  the  (picsticm  of  the  i)reservation  of  the  fur-seal  herd  has,  of 
course,  engaged  deponent's  attention  and  he  has  kept 
I'rotectiou  neccs-  r^^^  closc  a  watch  ou  it  as  he  was  able  to  do  without  be- 
ing on  the  ground.     In  regard  to  what  might  he  done 
to  preserve  the  herd  deponent  does  not  feel  that  he  knows  all  the  facts, 
and  in  consequence  thereof  it  is  dilticult  for  him  to  express  an  opinion 
as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  seal  herds  ought  to  be  preserved  or  what 
regulations  ought  to  be  imposed  for  that  purpose,  but  judging  from  the 
fact  that  for  many  years  100,000  seals  were  caught  upon  the  Pribilof 
Islands  without  injury  to  the  herds  resorting  to  the  rookeries  on  those 
islands,  it  is  fair  to  conclude  that  unless  some  other 
no^exc^elsrv". *^^'™^"^  causc  intervened  to  diminish  those  herds  killing  that 
number  of  seals  upon  the  islands  would  not  have  been 
detrimental  to  the  herd. 

If  it  is  the  fact,  as  has  been  stated,  that  the  herds  have  now  been 
diminished  since  the  killing  of  female  seals  upon  the 
tion  noccssary'™'''^'    ^^'*  bcgau,  as  to  wMch  dcponcnt  has  no  knowledge,  he 
should  say  that  it  would  at  least  be  reasoimble  to  pro- 
hibit the  killing  of  seals  absolutely  within  the  area  which  may  be  de- 
scribed as  the  feeding  grounds  around  the  island. 

Geo.  Rice. 

Sworn  at  the  consulate-general  of  the  United  States  of  America  at 
London,  England,  this  15th  day  of  June,  1892,  before  me. 
[SEAL.]  Fkancis  AV.  Feigout, 

Vice  and  Dnjmty  Consul- General 
of  the  United  states  of  America  at  London,  England. 


Deposition  of  William  Charles  Blatspicl  kStanq),  furrier,  London. 
GENERAL   SEALSKIN   1NDUSTK\.      PELAGIC   SEALING. 

William  Charles  Blatspiel  Stamp,  being  duly  sworn,  doth  depose  and 
say:  That  he  is  51  years  of  age,  and  a  subject  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty, 

ami  is  engaged  in  business  at  38  Knightrider  street, 
Experience.  Loudoii,  E.  C.,  as  a  fur  and  skin  merchant.    That  he 

has  been  engaged  in  that  business  for  upwards  of  thirty 
years,  and  has  been  in  the  habit  of  luirchasing  fur-seal  skins  during 
the  whole  of  the  time  that  he  has  been  in  business.  That  he  has  per- 
sonally handled  nniiiy  thousands  of  such  fur-seal  skins  and  he  has  in- 
spected the  samples  at  practically  every  sale  of  fur  skins  made  in  Lon- 
don durin.^- the  whole  of  the  time  he  has  been  in  business,  and  inconse- 
quence of  these  facts  and  of  Ids  knowledge  of  the  fur-sealskin  business 


sp:al.skin  industry  in  great  Britain.  575 

he  has  a  general  and  detailed  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  business 
of  dealing  in  fui-seal  skins  in  the-  eity  of  London,  and  of  the  character 
and  differences  which  distinguish  the  several  kinds  of 
skins  coming  on  the  market.     That  for  many  years  last  ^^^^  species. 

past  the  fur-seal  skins  coming  on  the  London  inarket  have  been  known 
as,  first,  the  Alaska  catch,  which  are  the  skins  of  seals  killed  upon  the 
Pribilof  Islands  situated  in  tlie  Bering  Sea;  second,  the  Copper  Island 
catch,  which  are  the  skins  of  seals  killed  on  the  Kommondorski  and 
Kobben  Islands  in  the  Russian  Avaters.  The  Robben  Island  skins  were 
formerly  separated  from  the  Kommondorski  Islands  and  were  of  inferior 
quality,  and  it  is  only  within  the  last  eigiit  or  ten  years  that  the  Robben 
Island  skins,  which  are  iiuMtnsiderable  in  number,  have  been  presum- 
ably mingled  with  the  skins  of  seals  caught  on  the  Northwest  cikii 
Copper  Islands  and  included  in  the  term  "  Coi)per 
catch;"  third,  the  Northwest  catch,  which  are  skins  of  seals  killed 
in  the  open  Pacific  or  Lering  Sea. 

That  the  skins  of  these  several  catches  are  readily  distinguished  from 
each  other,  and  the  skins  of  the  different  sexes  nuiy  be      „, .     ,.  ,. 
as  readdy  distinguished  from  each  other  as  the  skins  of  bio. 
the  different  sexes  of  any  other  animal.     I  should  esti- 
mate the  proportion  of  female  skins  included  within     Mostly  females 
the  Northwest  catch  at  at  least  75  per  cent,  and  I  should  ^*^''™' 
not  be  surprised  nor  feel  inclined  to  contradict  an  estimate  of  upwards 
of  90  per  cent.     My  sorter,  who  actually  handles  the  skins,  estimates 
the  number  of  female  skins  in  the  Northwest  catch  at  90  per  cent. 

One  means  of  distinguishing  the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  from 
those  of  the  other  catches  is  the  fact  that  they  are 
pierced  with  shot  or  spear  holes,  having  been  killed  in  pkrced  wfthsUot.'"'* 
the  open  sea,  and  not  as  in  tne  case  of  the  Copi)er  and 
and  Alaska  catches,  killed  upon  land,  with  clubs. 

The  differences  between  the  Copper  and  Alaslca  skins  are  difficult  to 
describe  so  that  they  can  be  understood  by  any  person  who  has  no 
practical  knowledge  of  furs,  but  to  anyone  skilled  in  the  business  there 
are  ai)parent  differences  in  color  between  the  Coi>per  and  Alaska  skins, 
and  a  difference  in  the  length  and  qualities  of  the  hairs  which  compose 
the  fur,  and  there  are  also  apparent  slight  differences  in  the  shai)e  of 
the  skins. 

The  differences  between  the  skins  of  the  three  catches  are  so  marked 
that  they  have  always  been  expressed  in  the  different 
prices  obtained  for  the  skins.  I  have  attended  the  ^^^^^  °^  diiUruut 
sales  for  many  years,  and  am  able  to  make  this  state- 
ment from  my  own  knowledge.  The  average  prices  obtained  at  the 
sales  of  the  last  year's  catch,  for  instance,  were  as  follows:  For  the 
Alaska  skins,  125  shillings  per  skin;  for  the  Co])])er  skins,  OS  shillings 
per  skin;  and  for  the  Northwest  skins,  53  shillings  per  skin. 

That  the  skins  purchased  by  the  deponent  are  purchased  on  his  own 
account  and  on  account  of  others  resident  in  Canada  and  the  United 
States  and  the  Continent,  and  he  believes  it  is  a  fact  that  he  is  the 
largest  commission  mercliant  in  the  fur  business. 

That  the  skins  so  purchased  are  consigned  to  various  dressers  and 
dyers,  the  principal  of  whom  are  the  firm  of  C.   W.     ,  ,„„,„„  firms 
Martin  &  Sons  and  George  Rice,  and  deponent  himself 
is  the  landlord  of  a  fiictoiy  worked  by  Frederick  Smith  &  Co.,  which  is 
the  oldest  firm  of  dyers  of  fur-seal  skins,  and  of  late  years  they  have 
also  become  dressers. 


576  TESTIMONY. 

That  the  t'lir-soal  skin  business  had  beeoiin^  an  iinj)()rtaiit  industry  in 

English  capital.        ^''^  ^'^^Y  **^  Loiahni  ill  ^\  hieh  a  iaii^e  amount  of  capital 

was  invested  and  a  large  number  of  workmen  employed, 

Labor  employed.       jinioiiiitin  g,  iiieliuling  tiie  dressers,  dyers,  handlers,  and 

persons  employed  in  the  manufactories  of  tlie  furriers,  to  about  0,000. 

It  is  dilKicult  to  make  any  correct  estimate  of  the  number  of  peoj^le  so 

employed,  but  dei)onent  says  tiiat  he  has  re(;ently  had  occasion  to  look 

into  the  question  in  his  capacity  as  master  of  the  Skinners'  Company 

and  he  believes  the  above  iigiire  to  be  substantially  correct. 

That  a  large  number  of  persons  so  employed  are  skilled  laborers  and 
most  of  them  have  families  dependent  upon  their  labors  for  their  sup- 
port.   The  wages  paid  in  some  cases  are  as  higli  as  £3  or  £4  a  week, 
and  perbaps  tlie  average  wages  of  the  whole  number  may  be  safely 
estimated  at  £1  per  week.     That  many  of  tliese  persons  know  no  other 
business  tluin  that  in  which  they  are  at  present  engaged. 
That  the  continual  existence  of  the  fur-seal  business  is  dependent,  in 
deponent's  judgment,  upon  the  preservation  of  the  seal 
eirabfe ^'^^ '^"''^'■^  '^^    hcrds  fiecpieiitiiig  the  Northern  Pacific  regions,  and  it 
is  also  a  most  important  element  in  the  industry  that 
the  supply  of  seal  skins  coming  to  the  market  each  year  should  be 
regnlar  and  constant. 
That  deponent  further  says  that  some  regulations  are  necessary  for 
the  ])reservation  of  the  seal   herds  frequenting  the 
sary?**^*^*'™    ^^'^^^    Northern  Pacific  region,  because  it  is  a  well  knoAvn 
fact  that  in  the  absence  of  any  such  regulations  the 
seal  herds  which  were  fi)rmerly  found  in  the  South  Atlantic  and  Pa- 
cific Seas  have  been  practically  exterminated. 

On  the  Lobos  Islands  and  in  New  Zealand  governmental  regulations 
exist,  and  I  am  told,  although  I  know  nothing  about 
whin?.'^^*'°°^    ^^^^    it'  ^^^^^  regulations  of  some  kind  have  been  made  in 
the  colony  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

W.  C.  E.  Stamp. 

Sworn  at  the  Skinners'  Hall,  Dowgate  Hill,  in  the  city  of  Loudon, 
England,  this  14th  day  of  elune,  1892,  before  me. 
[seal.]  Fkancis  W.  Frigout, 

Vice  and  Deputy  Consul-General  of  the 
United  tSlates  of  America  at  London,  Emjland. 


Deposition  of  Emil  Teichmann,  furrier,  London. 

GENERAL  SEALSKIN  INDUSTRY. 

Emil  Teichmann,  being  duly  sworn,  doth  depose  as  follows: 
First.  That  he  is  40  years  of  age,  a  native  ot  the  Kingdom  of  Wurtem- 
berg,  and  is  now  a«naturali/ed  subject  of  Her  Britannic  Majesty. 

That  since  the  age  of  manlKJod  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  fur  busi- 
ness; that  from  18U()  to  1808,  inclusive,  he  resided  in  America  in  that 
business,  and  since  1808  lie  has  resided  in  England  and  done  business 
in  the  city  ot  London,  and  is  now  and  has  continually  been  during  all 
these  years  engaged  in  one  way  or  another  in  the  fur  business.  That 
he  is  now  a  member  of  the  firm  of  C.  ]\I.  Lampson  &  Co.,  and  has  been 
a  member  of  such  firm  for  the  ])eriod  of  twelve  years  last  past.  That 
prior  to  the  time  he  became  a  member  of  such  firm  and  fiom  the  years 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  577 

1873  to  1880  he  was  ainember  of  the  firm  of  Martin  &  Teichmauii,  who 
were  then,  and  its  successors  C  W.  Martin  &  Sons  still  are,  the  largesc 
dressers  and  dyers  of  seal  skins  iu  the  world. 

That  the  firm  of  C  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  of  which  deponent  has  been 
as  aforesaid  for  the  last  twelve  years  a  member,  are  what  is  known  as 
commission  merchants  engaged  in  the  business  of  selling  furs  of  various 
kinds  and  also  in  buying  furs  upon  commission. 

That  the  said  firm  of  0.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.  has,  during  the  time  that 
deponent  has  been  a  member  thereof,  handled  a  larger  number  of  skins 
of  the  fur  seal  than  all  the  other  firms  in  the  world  together,  and  depo- 
nent knows  from  inspection  of  the  books  of  his  said  tirm  that  for  many 
years  prior  to  the  date  when  he  became  a  member  of  the  same  they  also 
handled  during  many  years  previously  thereto  a  larger  number  of  fur 
seal  skins  than  all  the  other  firms  in  the  world  t(»gether. 

That  during  the  time  deponent  has  been  a  member  of  the  said  firm 
he  has  personally  handled  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  fur-seal  skins, 
and  he  has  a  detailed  and  expert  knowledge  of  the  various  kinds  of 
seal  skins,  and  the  several  diiiereuces  between  them  which  enable  the 
several  sorts  of  seal  skins  to  be  distinguished  from  each  other. 

Second.  Deponent  says  from  his  general  knowledge  of  the  business 
inspection  of  the  catalogues  of  sales  of  C.  M.  Lampson  &  Co.,  and  from 
the  information  derived  from  his  predecessors  in  the  firm,  the  cliief  of 
whom  was  the  late  Sir  Curtis  Lampson,  who  founded  the  house  about  sixty 
years  ago,  that  fur-seal  skins  were  formerly  obtained     ^.    ^,  ^, 

•      1  1  •      j_i       in       ii    T»       -j:!  ^    a  a       a.-  Soutu  Sea  sealiiis. 

in  large  numbers  in  the  Soutli  Pacific  and  Atlantic  seas 
upon  the  San  Juan  Fernandez  and  Falkland  Islands,  upon  Sandwich 
Island,  South  Shetland  Island,  Desolation  Island,  Goughs  Island,  and 
Kerguelan  and  Massafuero  Islands,  and  at  C;ii)e  Horn. 
There  were  also  in  former  vears  a  considerable  num- 

,  /•      1  •  1  J-    •        1    X'  V)  •  •  •      J.1  itussian   sealskins. 

ber  of  skins  obtained  trom  liussian  possessions  m  the 

North  Pacific  Ocean  through  the  medium  of  a  liussian  company,  as 

hereinafter  stated. 

The  history  of  the  Southern  Atlantic  and  Pacific  seal  business  shows 
that  at  the  localities  above  enumei-ated,  and  principally  on  South 
Shetland  and  the  Kerguelan  Islands,  there  must  have  been  very  large 
numbers  of  seals.  The  principal  market  for  the  skins  of  such  South- 
ern Pacific  and  Atlantic  seals  was,  as  dei)()uent  is  informed,  found 
in  the  Chinese  ports,  and  deponent  has  been  informeil  and  understands 
that  in  conse(][uence  of  the  indiscriminate  and  universal  killing  of  seals 
in  the  localities  above  mentioned,  where  no  restrictions 
of  any  kind  were  then  or  are  imposed  upon  the  killing  soufh'sea'seais"  °^ 
of  seals  at  any  time  without  regard  to  age  or  sex,  the 
seal  rookeries  in  those  localities  were  after  a  few  years  of  such  killing 
Ijractically  exhausted. 

That  about  twenty  years  ago  the  South  Shetland  Islands  were  again 
visited,  and  for  two  or  three  years  there  were  obtained 
from  these  islands   a  considerable  number  of  skins,  lana'isiauds"^^^''''' 
amounting  iu  the  aggregate  to  perhaps  5i>,00U  skins. 
At  the  eiul  of  a  three  years'  catch  of  skins  it  was  re-      Kookwics  exhaust- 
ported  that  the  rookeries  were  again  exhausted,  and 
the  islands  were  not  again  visited  for  several  years,  not  until  five 
years  ago,  when  deponent  understands  that  a  vessel  was  sent  to  those 
islands  by  the  firm  of  C.  A.  Williams  «&  Co.,  of  New  London,  United 
States  of  America,  and  that  that  vessel  was  only  able  to  obtain  31) 
skins. 

2716— VOL  n 37 


578  TESTIMONY. 

The  time  durinii  which  deponent  has  been  in  the  business  the  skins 
from  all  of  the  above  nicntioiied  localities  have  been  practically  infln- 
itcsiiiial  in  uuinbcr. 

Third.  That  for  many  years  last  past  the  skins  of  fur-seals  actually 
comin"- into  the  markets  of  the  world  have  been  derived 

Sources  oi  supply.     ,.  ,V       ,.  n 

irom  the  tollowmg-  sources: 

I.  The  Lohos  lahoifls  sl-ins,  wliich  are  the  skins  of  seals  caught  upon 
^  ,     ^ ,    ,    , .       the  islands  of  that  name,  situated  oft"  the  River  Platte 

Loboslsiands  skins.  iii  •  .        xi         i>  it  j?tt  mi 

and  Ijelongmg  to  the  Kepubhc  oi  Uruguay.  Tliese 
skins  are  consigned  by  tlie  ])ersons  having  the  contract  to  take  them 
with  the  Kepublic  of  Uruguay  to  Roulcher,  Mortimer  &  Co.,  of  Loudon, 
by  whom  tliey  are  sold  through  Goail,  Eigg  &  Co.,  and  catalogues  of 
the  last-mentioned  firm  are  published  and  have  been  inspected  by 
deponent  from  time  to  time  as  published.  The  total  number  of  skins 
derived  from  this  source,  as  appears  from  an  inspection  of  such  cata- 
logues, are  during  the  years  1873  and  1892  inclusive  set  forth  accurately 
in  the  paper  which  is  annexed  hereto  and  inarked  Exhibit  A. 

II.  Ccq^e  Horn  .skins. — Prior  to  the  year  1876  a  small  number  of  skins 
^      „       , .         ar(i  suiu)osed  to  have  been  obtained  from  this  locality. 

Cape  Horn  skins.        ,,,,  ^^  ,^     ■,         •  ,^     -,    •  ii  xi 

They  are  not  classitied  m  our  books  or  catalogues,  nor 
in  the  books  of  any  other  persons  or  firms,  so  that  they  can  not  now,  from 
examining  the  books  and  catalogues,  be  readily  identified  or  separated 
from  skins  coming  from  other  southern  localities,  but  from  the  year 
1876  down  to  the  present  time  they  have  been  so  classified,  and  a  large 
number  have  been  sold  by  deponent's  firm.  A  statement  of  the  skins 
obtained  friun  Cape  Horn  is  liereto  appended  and  marked  Exhibit  B. 
The  number  of  skins  derived  from  this  locality,  as  appears  by  that 
statement,  fluctuated  very  largely  in  number,  and  I  am  infi)rmed  that 
the  reason  for  sucli  fluctuation  is  that  the  seals  from  which  the  skins 
are  obtained  are  killed  mostly  ui)on  land,  and  that  the  weather  in  that 
part  of  the  Avorld  is  so  severe  that  it  is  at  times  impossible  to  effect  a 
landing  upon  or  near  the  rookeries.  So  far  as  deponent  knows,  there 
is  no  protection  of  any  kind  for  seals  at  Cape  Horn  other  than  that 
which  is  afibrded  by  the  dirticulty  of  landing  in  order  to  kill  the  seals, 
in  consequence  of  the  heavy  weather. 

III.  Gape  of  Good  Hope. — From  this  locality  a  small  but  steady  num- 

ber of  skins  have  been  obtained  during  many  years 
si^s'.''  "^  ^^°°'^  ^"^'"^  ^'^^^  l)ast.  These  skins  are  not  consigned  to  deponent's 
tirm,  Imt  to  other  iiersons  in  London  whose  catalogues 
are  published,  and  have  been  examined  from  time  to  time  by  deponent; 
and  dei)onent  is  informed  and  believes  from  such  examination  of  cata- 
logu(\s  that  tlie  luimbcr  of  skins  ol)tained  from  this  source  have  been 
for  the  last  l"ew  years  about  o.OOO  per  annum. 

Deponent  understands  that  the  seals  from  which  these  skins  are  ob- 
tained are  likewise  killed  mostly  upon  land,  and  he  is  also  informed 
that  some  regulations  i'or  the  i)rotection  of  seal  life  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  by  regulating  the  killing  of  seals  in  that  colony  of  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  have  been  established  by  the  Government  of  the  said 
colony,  but  what  those  reguhitions  are,  if  any  such  exist,  deponent  is 
not  in  a  position  to  state. 

In  addition  to  the  supplies  from  the  above-mentioned  sources,  from 
1,000  to  2,000  skins  are  obtained  annually  in  Australasia,  which  includes 
!New  Zealand. 

IV.  The  principal  sources  of  su])ply  for  the  market  at  the  present 
time,  and  for  many  years  last  j^ast,  are  the  following : 


SEALSKIN   INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN.  579 

{a)  Wliat  are  known  as  the  Alaska  catcb,  which  are  the  skins  of 
male  seals,  killed  upon  St.  Pauls  and  St.  Georges  Is-      ... 

T        1      •      iT  '    T~.      •        Vt  Alaska  catch. 

lands  in  the  Bering  Sea. 

{b)    The  Copper  catch  which  come  from  the  seals  killed  upon  the 
Eussian  islands  of  Copper  and  Bering,  called  the  Com-     ^^    er  catch 
mander  Islands,  which  are  located  in  the  Eussian  part       "PP^rca  ci. 
of  Bering  Sea,  and  also  the  Eobben  Island,  in  the  Okhotsk  Sea,  all  which 
are  also  the  skins  of  male  seals. 

(c)  The  Northwest  catch.  These  are  the  skins  of  seals  caught  in  the 
open  North  Pacific  and  Bering  Sea. 

Fourth.  The  history  of  the  sealskin  fishery  coming  from  the  North- 
ern Pacific  regions  is  briefly  as  follows: 

In  the  early  part  of  the  century  a  Eussian  company  ^^Northem  Pacitic 
was  formed  which  obtained  from  the  Eussian  Govern- 
ment a  right  to  kill  seals,  both  upon  tlie  Commander  and  Pribilof 
Islands,  and  in  and  around  the  Bering  Sea.  Up  to  the  year  1853 
about  20,000  skins  were  annually  received  in  London  from  the  com- 
pany in  the  parchment  state.  By  the  parchment  state,  I  mean  skins 
which  were  dried  with  the  top  or  water  hair  left  on.  Tliey  Avere  not, 
in  consequence  of  this  method  of  preservation  by  drying,  in  a  con- 
dition to  be  unhaired,  and  they  were  after  having  been  dressed  in 
London  largely  returned  to  the  Eussian  markets. 

In  the  year  1S53  a  trial  shipment  of  salted  skins  was  made  to  J.  M. 
Oppenheim  &  Co.,  in  London,  in  pursuance,  as  deponent  is  informed, 
of  suggestions  theretofore  sent  out  by  Messrs.  Oppenheim  that  an  at- 
tempt should  be  made  to  salt  the  skins,  but  owing  to  the  defective  curing 
this  shipment  was  a  failure.  By  degrees,  however,  the  cuiing  by  means 
of  salting  was  improved,  and  in  1858  a  contract  was  made  by  the  Eus- 
sian American  Company  to  ship  to  Messrs.  J.  ]M.  Oppenlieim  «&  Co.  an 
annual  su])ply  of  from  10,000  to  12,000  skins  delivered  in  London  at 
10s.  10(1.  a  skin.  Tlic  quantity  was  increased  in  1804  to  20.000  skins. 
Tliis  contract  remained  in  force  until  the  Alaska  Territory  became  the 
])roperty  of  the  United  States.  In  addition  to  the  salted  skins  covered 
by  the  contract  last  referred  to,  Messrs.  Oi)peiiheim  &  Co.  also  received 
during  these  years  about  10,000  vskins  from  the  Eussian  American  Com- 
])any  per  annum,  which  were  dried  in  the  old-fashioned  way  and  not 
salted. 

Deponent  was  connected  with  the  firm  of  Messrs.  J.  IM.  0])penheim 
&  Co.,  at  New  York  and  London,  from  the  years  18C0  to  1872  inclusive, 
and  his  late  partner,  Mr.  Martin,  and  himself  nltinmtcly  succeeded  to 
the  business  of  Messrs.  J.  M.  Oppenheim,  so  far  as  it  related  to  the 
dressing  and  dyeing  of  seal  skins. 

Upon  the  cession  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States  there  was  indiscrim- 
inate seal-killing  upon  the  Pribilof  Islands  for  the  season  of  1809-'70. 
About  the  end  of  that  season  the  Alaska  Commercial 
Company  was  formed  at  San  Francisco,  as  deponent  is  company  ^""'""^'^''"^ 
informed,  by  citizens  of  the  United  States  for  the  pur- 
I)ose  of  obtaining  a  lease  from  the  United  States  of  the  right  to  kill 
seals  on  the  Pribilof  Islands. 

This  company  did  obtain  from  the  United  States  an  exclusive  license 
to  kill  seals  on  the  Pribilof  Ishmds  in  the  Bering  Sea  for  a  i)eriod  of 
twenty  years,  under  certain  restrictions  and  regulations,  wliicli  were,  as 
deponent  is  informed,  set  forth  in  the  contract  between  that  comi)any 
and  the  United  States  and  in  extracts  of  Congress  in  relation  thereto, 
and  in  regulations  of  the  Treasury  ])e])artment  of  the  United  States 
made  in  pursuance  of  such  extracts  of  Congress. 


580  TESTIMONY. 

A  year  or  two  thereafter  Messrs.  Hutchinson,  Kohl,  Philippeus  &  Co., 
of  Sau  Francisco,  wliich,  as  deponent  is  informed,  was  a  firm  formed 
by  persons  controlling-  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  obtained  a 
lease  from  the  Eussian  Government  giving  them  the  exclusive  right  to 
kill  seals  upon  Komandorski  and  Kobben  islands. 

That  in  18i)()  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  as  deponent  was  in- 
formed, did  not  secure  a  renewal  of  the  lease  which  they  had  thereto- 
fore enjoyed  from  the  United  States,  but  a  similar  lease  was  granted 
by  the  United  States  to  the  North  American  Commercial  Company, 
which  is  a  separate  corporation  and  is  controlled  by  different  people 
from  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company. 

Fifth.  From  the  year  1870  down  to  the  present  time  deponent's  firm 
have  received  and  handled  from  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company  and 
from  Messrs.  Hutchinson,  Kohl,  Philippeus  &  Co.,  from 
Skins  from  islands  tlic  Nortli  American  Commercial  Company,  and  the 
Ru.-.sra!''  ^  "^  ^^  Eussian  Seal  Skin  Company,  of  St.  Petersburg,  which 
company  have  now  succeeded  to  the  lease  of  the  Ko- 
mandorski and  Eobben  Islands  formerly  enjoyed  by  Hutchinson,  Kohl, 
Philij^peus  &  Co.,  all  the  skins  of  seals  which  have  been  killed  upon 
the  Pribilof  Islands  and  upon  the  Cojiper  Islands.  TLiey  have  also  re- 
ceived  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  skins  included  in 
what  is  called  the  Northwest  catch  until  the  year  1891, 
when  the  major  part  of  the  skins  of  the  catch  were  consigned  to  Messrs. 
Culverwell,  Brooks  &  Co.,  of  London.  A  large  number  of  the  skins  of 
this  catch,  amounting  in  one  year  to  40,000  a  year,  have  been  consigned 
to  deponent's  firm  by  the  firm-  Hermann  Liebes  &  Co.,  of  San  Francisco. 

The  total  number  of  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  received  by  depo- 
nent's firm  during  the  years  1872  and  1892,  inclusive,  are  set  forth  with 
accuracy  in  an  aflidavit  made  by  my  i^artner,  Alfred  Fraser,  in  New 
York,  a  copy  of  which,  dated  April  1,  and  acknowledged  E.  T.  Eice, 
notary  public,  has  been  received  by  me  fiom  him  and  I  annex  hereto  a 
copy  of  the  lists  of  Northwest  skins  attached  to  Mr.  Fraser's  affidavit, 
making  the  same  a  part  of  this  deposition,  and  mark  the  same  Exhibit 
C.  I  also  ai)pend  hereto  as  a  part  of  this  deposition  copies  of  the  lists 
attached  to  the  affidavits  of  Mr,  Fraser  of  Alaska  skins  sold  in  London 
by  my  firm  during  the  years  1870  to  1892,  inclusive,  and  to  the  Copper 
Island  skins  sold  by  my  firm  in  London  (luring  the  years  1872  to  1892, 
inclusive,  and  mark  the  same  respectively  Exhibits  D  and  E,  and  I  re- 
fer to  the  affidavit  of  Mr  Fraser  above  mentioned  for  an  explanation 
of  all  said  lists  and  adopt  the  same  explanation  given  by  him  as  my 
own.  I  have  carefully  verified  the  figures  contained  in  these  latter  and 
find  them  to  be  as  accurate  as  any  such  statement  can  be  made. 

Sixth.  The  skins  of  the  Alaska  and  Copper  catches  are  readily  dis- 
tinguished from  each  other  and  command  different 
^^skins  distinguish-  pj-jyes  ill  the  market,  and  I  should  have  no  difficulty  and 
would  undertake  from  my  knowledge  of  the  various 
skins  to  separate  Copper  skins  from  Alaska  skins  should  they  ever  be 
found  mingled  together,  as,  however,  they  are  not.  The  Alaska  and 
Copper  skins  are  distinguishable  from  each  other  partly  by  means  of 
the  different  color.  The  Copper  Island  skins  generally  have  a  darker 
top  hair  and  are  more  yellow  on  the  cheeks  than  the  Alaska  skins. 
Perhaps  a  surer  means  of  distinguishing  the  two  is  the  diflerence  in 
shape.  The  Copper  Island  skins  are  much  narrower  at  the  head  than 
the  Alaska  skins,  and  tliis  difference  is  very  marked.  In  our  ware- 
houses we  have  a  different  set  of  fi  ames  for  the  sizing  out  of  the  Copper 
skius  fi'om  those  we  use  for  the  Alaska  skins.     Another  differeuce 


SEALSKIN   INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT   BRITAIN.  581 

quite  as  important  as  the  sliape  is  that  the  fiir  upon  Copper  Island 
skins  is  cousidei'ably  sliorter  on  the  flanks  and  towards  the  tail  than  is 
the  fur  of  the  Alaska  skins.  All  of  these  difterences  are  so  marked,  as 
I  have  before  stated,  as  to  enable  any  expert,  or  one  familiar  with  the 
handling  of  skins,  to  readily  distinguish  Copper  from  Alaska  skins,  or 
vice  versa^  but  it  is  true  in  tlie  case  of  very  young  animals  the  diiier- 
euces  are  much  less  marked  tlian  in  the  case  of  the  adult  animal.  We 
receive  practically  no  skins  of  very  young  animals  from  Alaska,  but  we 
do  receive  at  times  a  certain  nriinber  of  tlie  skins  of  the  young  animals 
from  Copper.  All  tlie  skins  of  both  the  Copper  and  Alaska  catches 
are  t\\Q  skins  of  the  male  animals. 

Seventh,  The  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  are  in  turn  readily  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  skins  of  the  Alaska  as  well  as 
the  Copper  catch.  The  differences  which  I  have  euu-  N"'^*^^"^*  «^'°''- 
merated  between  the  Copper  and  Alaska  skins  are  accentuated  in  dis- 
tinguishing the  skins  of  the  Northwest  catch  from  the  skins  of  the 
Copper  catches,  and  we  use  a  separate  set  of  frames  or  pattcu'ns  in  our 
business  for  the  Northwest  skins  fi'om  what  we  use  for  the  Copper  or 
Alaska  skins.  Among  what  are  classed  by  us  as  Northwest  skins  are 
included  what  are  sometimes  called  Japanese  skins,  which  are  the 
skins  of  seals  killed  on  the  nortliern  Asiatic  coasts.  These  skins  come 
u])on  the  market  generally  by  way  of  Japan,  but  sometimes  by  way 
of  San  Francisco  or  Victoria. 

The  number  of  Japanese  skins  averages,  deponent  should  say,  about 
5,000  a  year,  althougli  there  is  a  good  deal  of  fluctua- 

,/         .       "ii        '  i-j.       n  j_  T      T  ,        Japanese  skins. 

tion  m  the  quantity  irora  year  to  year,  and  deponent 
says  that,  like  the  other  skins  included  in  the  Northwest  catch,  they 
are  principally  the  skins  of  female  seals,  not  easily  distinguishable 
from  the  skins  taken  from  the  herds  frequenting  the  eastern  i)art  of 
the  Pacific  Ocean  and  Bering  Sea,  except  by  reason  of  their  being  jirin- 
cii)ally  speared  instead  of  shot. 

The  most  essential  difference  between  the  Northwest  skins,  and  the 
Alaska  and  Copper  catches  is  that  the  Northwest      xorthwest  skins 
skins,  so  far  as  they  are  skins  of  adult  seals,  are  almost  females,  and  riddled 
exclusively  the  skins  of  female  seals,  and  are  nearly  '^'^"^  ^^°*- 
always  pierced  with  shot,  bullet,  or  spear  holes. 

The  skins  of  the  adult  female  seal  may  be  as  readily  distinguish- 
able from  the  skins  of  the  adult  male  as  the  skins  of  the  (lifferent  sexes 
of  other  animals,  that  ]U'actically  the  whole  of  the  adult  Northwest 
catch  seals  were  the  skins  of  female  seals,  but  the  skins  of  the  younger 
animals  included  Avithin  this  Northwest  catch,  of  which  we  have  at 
times  a  considerable  number,  are  much  more  difficult  to  separate  into 
male  and  female  skins,  and  I  am  not  prepared  to  say  that  I  could  dis- 
tinguish the  male  from  the  female  skins  f)f  young  animals. 

A  certain  percentage  of  young  animals  is  found  among  the  consign- 
ments received  by  us  at  the  beginning  of  each  season,  which  we  under- 
stand and  ai^e  informed  are  the  skins  of  seals  cauglit  in  the  Pacific 
Ocean  oif  the  west  coast  of  America,  but  a  much  smaller  percentage  of 
such  small  skins  is  found  among  the  consignments  later  in  the  sea- 
son, which  we  are  informed  arc  of  seals  caught  in  the  P>ering  Sea. 

I  have  been  told  that  it  is  easier  to  catch  the  female  seal  at  sea  than 
it  is  to  catch  the  male  seal,  but  I  have  no  ])ersonal  knowledge  of  that 
point.  I  supi)0se,  however,  that  there  must  be  some  foundation  for  the 
statement  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  so  small  ai)rop(ntion  of  male  adult 
seals  are  included  in  what  is  (tailed  the  Northwest  catch. 


582 


TESTIMONY. 


,  ^    .  Eighth.  Deponent  says  that  what  may  be  termed 

Fur-seal    business.    xi       j?  i  i        •  i  i  i      i  i      -li.  i       ^i 

the  tur-seal  business  has  largely  been  built  np  by  the 
efforts  of  the  Alaska  Commercial  C()m])any,  the  North  American  Com- 
mercial Company,  and  the  Jirni  of  C.  M.  Lampson  «&  Co. 

L-ir  e  amount  of  That  it  dcpeuds  to  a  considerable  extent  upou  making 
Engthsh  capUai L  fur-  scal  skius  au  article  of  fashion  and  of  trade  and  that  a 
seal  business.  very  large  amount  of  capital  is  invested  in  the  King- 

dom of  Great  Britain  in  the  business. 

It  is,  in  de])onent's  judgment,  fair  to  estimate  the  amount  of  capital 
invested  in  the  business  in  one  way  or  another  to  have  been  at  times 
as  much  as  £1,000,000  and  that  there  have  been  until  lately  dependent 
upon  this  industrv,  in  the  city  of  London,  about  2,000 
Mm-kme^  "''  '^^^"^    Skilled  workmcu,  most  of  whom  have  families  depend- 
ent upon  them  for  support,  and  the  amount  of  wages 
paid   to  those  people  deponent  estimates  on  the  average  at  about  30 
shillings  per  week,  making  an  aggregate  of  £150,000  per  annum. 
Deponent  further  says  that  the  continuance  of  this  business  depends 
very  largely  upon  the  maintenance  of  a  steady  and  reg- 
sidnrdesii^abie.^"^    ^^  "^'^1'  supply  of  lurscal  skius  in  order  that  the  trade 
may  be  able  to  calculate  with  approximate  certainty 
the  number  of  skins  Avhich  are  to  be  received  in  each  year. 

Deponent  further  says  that  the  maintenance  of  this  business,  to  his 
mind,  obviously  depends  upon  the  j)reservation  of  the 
seal  herds  resorting  to  Bering  Sea  from  the  destruc- 
tion which  has  overtaken  the  seal  herds  which  were 
formerly  found  in  the  southern  regions,  and  that  whatever  is  necessary 
to  be  done  to  preserving  the  seal  herds  in  Bering  Sea  ought  to  be  done; 
l)ut  deponent  having  no  knowledge  of  the  business  of  killing  seals,  and 
having  no  scientific  knowledge  on  the  subject  as  a  naturalist,  is  not  in  a 
position  to  relate  what  laws  or  regulations,  in  addition  to  those  already 
existing,  are  necessary,  if  any  such  are  necessary,  in  order  to  accomplish 
this  desirable  result. 

Emil  Teichmann. 

Sworn  at  64  Queen  street,  in  the  city  of  London,  England,  this  25th 
day  of  Ai)ril,  1802,  before  me, 

Francis  W.  Ekigout, 
Vice  and  Deputy  Connul  General  of  the 
United  States  of  America  at  London,  England. 


Protection    neces 
Bary. 


Exhibit  A. 

Salted  Lohos  Island  far-seals  sold  in  London. 


Year. 


1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 


Skins. 


6,950 
8,  509 
8,179 
11,;)53 
i;i,  066 
12,  ;i01 
12,  295 
14,  836 


Year. 


1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1880 
1887 
1888 


Skins. 


13,  569 
13,  200 
12,  861 
16, 258 
10, 953 
13, 667 
11, 068 
20, 747 


Year. 


1889 

1800 

1891 

1892  (to  date) 

Total  . . 


Skins. 


8,755 
18,541 
15, 834 

4,800 


247, 777 


New  York,  March  23,  1892. 
Tliis  is  the  jtaper  writinj;,  marked  A,  referred  to  in  the  affidavit  of  Emil  Teichmaun, 
Bworii  before  me  this  25th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Francis  W.  Fuigout, 
Vive  and  Deputy  Consul  General,  U.  S.  A.,  London,  England. 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN. 

Exhibit  B. 

Sales  of  Cape  Horn  salted  fur-seal  skins. 


583 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

1876    .  .. 

6,306 
7,631 
8,227 
12, 180 
17, 562 
13, 164 
11,711 

1883 

4,655 
6,743 
3, 404 
909 
2,762 
4,403 
3,021 

1890 

2,450 

1877 

1884 

1891 

3,114 

1878.. 

1885 

1892  (to  (late) 

3,966 

1879 

1886 

Total 

1880 

18S7 

113, 208 

1881 

1888 

1882 

1889      

This  is  the  paper  writing  marked  B  referred  to  in  the  affidavit  of  Einil  Teichniaim, 
SAYorn  before  me  this  25th  day  of  April,  1892. 

Francis  W.  Fki(;out, 
Vice  and  Deputy  Consul- General,  V.  S.  A.,  London,  England, 


Exhibit  0. 

Salted  Northwest  Coast  fur-seal  skins  sold  in  London  prior  to  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea, 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins 

1872                   

1,020 

1877 .' 

1882..... 

1883 

11,727 

1873            

1878 

261 

12,  213 

8,939 

9,997 

2,319 

1874       

4,949 
1,646 

2,  042 

1879 

1884 

9, 242 

1875 

1880 

Total 

1876 

1881 

64,366 

Salted  N'orlhwest  Coast  fur-seal  skins,  dressed  and  di/ed  in  London  {but  not  sold  there)  taken 
prior  to  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 


Year. 


1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 


Skins. 


699 
40 
122 
578 
1,062 


Year. 


1877 
1878 
1879 
1880 
1881 


Skins. 


772 
2,434 
2,397 
4,562 
5,890 


Year. 


1882 

1883 

1884 

Total 


Skins. 


11,159 
6,385 
10, 115 

46, 215 


Dry  Northwest  Coast  fur-seal  shins  sold  in  London  prior  to  pelagic  sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 


Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

Year. 

Skins. 

1868        

2,141 
1,671 
684 
12, 495 
14,  584 
891 
2,772 

1875 

1,351 
993 

1.173 
912 
918 

1882 

321 

1869        

1876 

1883          

390 

1870 

1877 

1884       

785 

1871               : 

1878 

Total 

1872        

1879 

42, 767 

1873            

1880 

1874 

1881 

686 

Of  the  skins  sohl  in  1871  and  1872  a  very  larsre  proportion  were  tlie  acennnihition 
of  the  Russian  American  Company  and  sold  by  them  after  the  purchase  of  Alaska  by 
the  United  States, 


584 


TESTIMONY. 


RECAPITULATION. 


S.iltefl  sldns  sold  in  LoTiflon,  1S72-1884 64,  366 

Salted  skins  dressed  and  dyed  in  London,  1872-1884 46,  215 

Dry  skins  sold  in  London,  1868-1884 42,  767 


Grand  total , 

E.  T.  R.  J., 

Notary  Puhlic. 
Nkw  Yokk,  March  30,  1S92. 


153,  348 


Exnir.iT  C. 


Drtj  Norihwcst  Coast  fur-seaJ  slins  sold  hi  London  after  the  commencement  of  pclofjlc seal- 

hif/  in  IlcriiKj  tSea. 


Year. 


1S85. 
1880. 
1887. 
1888. 
1889. 


Slvius. 


1,520 

970 

2,  843 

1,252 

228 


Tear. 


1890. 
1891. 


Skins. 


GOO 
1,083 


8,C94 


Salted  Xorthinst  Coast  fur-seal  slins  dressed  anddi/edin  London  (hnt  not  sold  there)  talan 
after  commencement  of  pelagic  sealing  in  Jicring  ISea. 


Tear. 

Skins. 

Tear. 

Skins. 

188.") 

IG,  6G7 

15, 1187 
3,  589 
1,930 

1889 

2,017 

Total 

1887         

39,  200 

1888     

In  addition  to  tlie  above  it  is  estimated  that  from  25,000  to  30,000  skins  have  been 
dressed  and  dved  in  tbe  United  States. 
E.  T.  E.  J.,' 

Notary  Fnhlic. 

Salted  Northwest  Coast  fur-seal  sl'ins  sold  in  London   after  commencement  of  pelagic 

sealing  in  Bering  Sea. 


Tear. 


1SS5. 
1886. 
1887. 
1888. 


Skins. 


2,078 
17,009 
30,  907 
36,  818 


Toar. 


18S9. 
1890. 
1891. 


Skins. 


30,  563 
38,  315 
54, 180 


Tear. 


1802  (to  (late)  ... 


Skins. 


*28, 298 


254, 068 


^  Of  catch  of  1891. 


liKCAPITtTLATlON. 


Dry  skins  sold  in  London,  1885-1801 8,  604 

Salted  skins  dressed  and  dyed  in  London,  but  not  sold  tlii-re,  1885-18fe .39,  2.'i0 

SaltcHl   skins  dressed    :nid  dyed    in   tlie    United   States,   estimated,   1885- 

1889,  say '. 30,  000 

Salted  skins  sold  in  London.  1885-1802 254,  068 


Grand  total 331,  962 

IfEW  York,  March  30,  1S92. 
E.T.R..L. 

Notary  Pnlilic. 

Tins  is  tlie  ]);ii)er  writinti  marked  C  referred  <o  in  the  affidavit  of  EmilTeicbmann, 
eworu  before  me  this  25tli  (hiv  of  April,  1892. 

Francis  W.  Frigout, 
Vice  and  Deputy  Consul-Gcneral,  U.  S.  A.,  L^ondon,  England. 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN. 

Exhibit  D. 

Salted  Alaska  fur-seal  sold  in  London. 


585 


Catch. 


]S70 
1871 
1872 
1873 
1874 
1.S75 
1876 
1877 
1878 


Skins . 


9,905 
ino, 890 
90,  283 
101,  248 
90, 150 
99,  634 
90,  267 
75,410 
99,911 


Catclj. 


1879 

1880 
1881 
1882 
1883 
188  J 
1885 
18St> 
1887 


Skins. 


100,  036 
100, 161 
99,  921 
100, 100 
75, 914 
99,  887 
99,  719 
99,910 
99,  940 


Catcb. 


1S88 

1889 

1890 

1890 

1891 

Total 


Skins. 


100. 000 
100, 000 

20,  994 
4, 158 

13, 473 


1, 877, 977 


Ni:w  Y()i:k,  Mirrcli  S3,  1892. 
This  is  tlio  pniicr  ninrked  D,  rcffrnMl  to  in  the  afrifLivit  of  Emil  Teiclimaii,  sworu 
before  me  this  25tli  day  of  April,  1892. 

Francis  W.  Frigout, 
Vice  and  Deputy  Consul  General,  U.  S.  A.,  London,  England. 

Exhibit  E. 

Salted  Copper  Lsland  fur-seal  sold  in  L^ondon. 


Year. 


1872 
1873 
1874 
1875 
1876 
1877 
1878 
1879 


Skins. 


7. 182 
21,614 
30,  349 
34, 479 
33, 298 
25.  380 
19,000 
28, 211 


Year. 


1883 
1881 
1882 
1883 
1884 
1885 
1880 
1887 


Skins. 


38.  885 
45,  209 
39,111 
30,  500 
20,  075 
48,  929 
41,752 
54,  584 


Tear. 


1888 

1SS9 

1890 

1891 

1892 

Total 


Skins. 


40.  333 
47,  416 
95,  486 
17, 025 
30,  078 


70S,  090 


New  York,  March  23,  1SD2. 
This  is  the  jiapor  writiiio:.  markefl  E,  referred  to  iu  the  affidavit  of  Emil  Teichmann, 
Bworn  before  me  this  2.jth  day  of  April,  1892. 

Francis  W.  Frigout, 
Vice  and  Deputy  Consul  General,  U.  S.  A.,  London,  Enyland. 

Tal)le  of  percentages  of  annual  sealskin  supply  compiled  from  tahle  of  London  trade 
sales  as  given  by  Emil  Teicltmann. 


1870. 


1875. 


1876. 


Lol)os  Island 

Cn]ie  Hoi  II 

IN  oith  west  coast 

Alaakacatcli 0.  9380+  0.  890  +  0.  813  -J-  0.  8047+  0.  7743+0.  6830+:0. 

CopiJer  Island  ...  .1 0.  051   +  0. 0,59  +0. 1653  +  jO.  2364+0.  2292+'0 


0. 0532+ 
0. 0020+  0. 110  +  0. 136  +  0.  1362+  6.  0072+ 


0. 0560+  0 
!o. 

0.  0246+  0. 


0782+ 
0440  + 
0282+ 
0201+ 


1054+  0. 
0618+0. 
01.58+0. 
0113+0. 
2059-i-;0. 


0831  + 
0575+ 
0251  + 
098  + 
1363+ 


0. 0730+ 
0.  0722+ 
0.  0927+ 
0.594t  + 
0. 1677+ 


Total 1.0000+1.0000    11.0000    ,1.0000     11.0000 


1. 0000     1. 0000     1.  0000 


1. 0000 


1.0000 


Lobes  Island 


0.  0804+ 


0.0720+ 


1882. 


0.  0703+ 


1884. 


1885. 


1886. 


Cape  Horn. . .'. to.  0916+  0.  0697+jo!  0024+!o.  0334 


0.  0923+  0. 0950+  0.  0540+'o.  0718+ 


1887. 


1888. 


1889. 


Northwest  coast  .io.  0730+  0,  0825+'o.  1233  + 

Alaska  catch 0.  .5417+,0.  5307+:o.  5343+ 

Copper  Island  ....  0.  2103+:o.  2451+0.  2097+ 


Total 1.0000 


0. 0685+ 
0.  5442+ 
0.  2616 


1.  0000     II.  0000 


1.  0000 


0.  0332 
0. 1187+ 
0.  5821+ 
0. 1631+ 


0.0981+0.0435  + 


_ ,  ,  0.0.521  +  ,      . 

0.  0196+  0.  0047+  0.  0133-j  0.  0207  -i  0.  0156  + 
0. 1130+0.  1795  f  0.  2047 +  j0.  1894+  0.  2il75+ 


1. 0000 


0.  .5447+  0.  5307+0.  4721+10.  4728+ 
0.  2684+0.  2143+  0.  2578     10.  2190 


0.  4975+ 
0.  2359+ 


1.0000     ll.OOOO     11.0000 


1.  0000 


1. 0000 


586 


TESTIMONY. 


Table  of  annual  sealskin  sHp2)hj  compiled  from  table  of  London  trade  sales  as  given  by 

Eniil  Teichmann. 


1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

1873. 

1874. 

1875. 

1876. 

1877. 

1878. 

1879. 

6,956 

8,507 

8,179 

11,353 

6,  306 

4,097 

90,  267 

33, 298 

13, 066 
7,631 
1,945 
75, 410 
25, 380 

12,  301 

18,  227 
3,607 
99,  911 
19, 000 

12, 295 
12  180 

Northwest  coast . . 

Alaska  catch 

Coi)per  catch 

684 
9,905 

12, 495 
100,  896 

16,  303 
96,  283 
7,182 

931 
101,  248 
21,614 

7,843 
90, 150 
30, 349 

3,575 
99,  634 
34, 479 

15,  527 
100,  036 
28,  211 

Total 

10,  frig  jll3,391 

119, 768 

130,749  1136,851    145,867 

145, 321 

123, 432 

143, 046 

168,  249 

1880. 

1881. 

1882. 

1883. 

1884. 

1885. 

1886. 

1887. 

1888. 

1889. 

Lobes  Island 

Cape  Horn 

Northwest  coast  - . 

Alaska  catch 

Copper  catch 

14,  386 
17.  562 

13,  501 
100, 161 
38,  885 

13,  569 
13, 164 
16, 573 
9,994 
45,  209 

13,  200 
11,711 
23,  207 
100, 100 
39,  111 

12,  861 
4,  655 
9,544 
75,914 
36, 500 

16,  258 
6,  743 
20, 142 
99, 887 
26,  675 

10, 953 
3,404 
20,  265 
99,  719 
48,  929 

13, 667 
909 
33,  975 
99,  910 
41,  752 

11,  068 
2,  762 
43,  339 
99,  940 
54,  584 

20, 747 
4,403 
40, 000 
100,  000 
46, 333 

8, 755 
3,  021 

41,808 
100, 000 

47, 416 

Total 

184, 945 

188, 436 

187, 329 

139, 474 

169, 705 

183, 270 

190, 213 

211,  693 

211,  483 

201,  000 

TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO   THE   GENERAL   SEALSKIN 
INDUSTRY  IN   FRANCE. 


Deposition  of  Emin  Rertz,  tnemher  of  the  firm  of  Emin  Hertz  &  Co., 

furriers,  Paris. 

general  sealskin  industry.    pelagic  sealing. 

City  of  Paris, 

Repuhlic  of  France,  ss : 

Emin  Hertz,  being-  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says  as  follows:  That 
lie  is  42  years  of  age  and  a  naturalized  citizen  of  the 
French  Eepublic;  that  he  lives  in  the  city  of  Paris,      Experience. 
and  is  a  member  of  the-  firm  of  Emin  Hertz  &  Cie. ; 
that  he  has  been  engaged  iu  the  fur  business  for  eighteen  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  has  been  in  the  habit  of  purchasing  sealskins:  that 
he  has  personally  handled  many  thousands  of  said  fur-seal  skins,  and 
that  he  has  a  general  and  detailed  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the 
business  of  dealing  in  fur  skins  in  the  city  of  Paris,  and  the  cliaracter 
and  difference  which  distinguish  the  several  kinds  of  skins  which  arc 
on  the  market. 

That  the  said  firm  of  Emin  Hertz  &  Cie,  has  existed  for  ten  years, 
being  the  successors  of  Goetze  &  Cie.,  who  were  established  since  1873, 
trading  in  furs  generally  and  dealing,  ever  since  the  establisliment  of 
the  firm,  in  seal  skins,  undressed,  dressed,  and  dyed;  that  their  busi- 
ness is  carried  on  at  11  line  Dieu,  iu  said  city  of  Paris. 

That  there  has  gradually  sprung  up  a  large  demand  for  this  article 
in  France,  which  demand  was  at  its  height  two  years 
ago,  during  which  year  the  said  firm  bought  and  sold  ,^tiJZ^!!! 
10,000  skins  at  the  average  price  of  the  last  ten  years. 
That  in  consequence  of  the  falling  oii'  in  the  supply  of     ^,,^,  i.^rease  m 
Alaska  skms  (Pribdot  Islands  and  Bering-  Sea)  two  price:    Demaud  les- 
years  ago,  the  price  had  increased  from  50  to  75  ])er  ^'''"'**" 
cent,  and  in  consequence,  the  year  after,  the  demand  was  affected  so 
that  instead  of  selling  more  than  10,000  skins  tlie  firm  scarcely  sold 
5,000,  and  a  still  smaller  number  this  year. 

That  the  total  production  of  sealskins,  which  <luring  the  existence 
of  the  concession  of  the  Alaska  Company  (whicli  con- 
cession has  nowexi)ired)  amounted  annually  to  150,000  one-hair*'"" ''''^"''*^ 
skins,  is  now  hardly  more  than   70,000,  coming  from 
Alaska  and  the  Copper  Islands ;  that  the  consequence  is 
a  loss  for  everyone  connected  with  the  trade,  for  while     'i'^timg  at  a  loss. 
there  was  an  annual  production  of  150,000  skins  there  were,  the  depo- 

587 


588  TESTIMONY. 

iiciit  estimates,  at  least  from  two  to  three  tliousand  persons  eDgaged  in 

tills  industry  in  Enro]ie,  and  tlie  natural  consequence 

Less    employment  ^f  tlieproduction  liavlnu' diminished  bv  about  one-half  is 

lor  labor.  J  ,      i  ,•   .  i  i        "^    i> 

that  only  about  one-half  the  number  oi  persons  are  re- 
quired in  the  industry. 
That  the  increased' ])rice  of  sealskins  two  years  acfo,  caused  by  the 
falhng-  off  in  quantity,  has  not  been  maintained  although 
isiTin'!r''T>n.mV^''''"'    ^^'"'^  y^"'''"  thcrc  is  i)erhaps  even  a  fewer  number  of  seal 
skins,  whicli  indicates,  in  the  opinion  of  deponent,  that 
the  article  when  offered  at  a  high  price  is  witliin  the  means  of  only 
a  very  f(;w  ])ersons  and  the  demand  for  it  will  continue  to  decrease. 
That  the  trade  has  every  interest  to  bring  about  a  regular  produc- 
tion, that  is  to  say,  the  production  to  be  approximately 
stpnriy  production  alwavs  thc  samc,  as  this  would  obviate  the  freciuent 

change  in  jnice  and  render  business  less  speculative. 
Sealskins  bougiitiii       Tluit  tlic  Said  firm  gcucrallv  buys  its  sealskins  at 
k,pS  ^'''•■"y'^y'^''  tlie  London  anctions  in' their  uiidressed  state,  and  has 
them  dressed  in  London  and  dyed  partly  in  London 
and  partly  in  Paris. 

Tliat  the  said  (inn  can  disfinguish  very  readily  the  source  of  produc- 
tion of  tlie  skins  when  the  latter  are  in  their  undressed 
diftlnguisLbief'''''^^^  state:  that  lor  several  years  besides  the  skins  of  the 
regular  comj^anies,  such  as  the  Ala  ska  Company  (Amer- 
ican concessionaire)  and  the  Copper  Company  (IJussian  concessionaire) 
the  said  linn   has  bought  quantities  of  skins  called  Korthwest  coast, 
Victoria,  etc.     That  these  skins  are  those  of  animals 
pX'^kfcS^femaies  ^auglit  ill  the  ojicn  sea  by  persons  who  apparently  de- 
imii  pups'.  '        "       rive  therefrom  large  profits,  and  nearly  three-quarters 
of  them  are  those  of  females  and  pups,  these  probably 
being  less  dinicnlt  to  take  than  the  males;  that  these  animals  are  taken 
by  lieing  shot. 

That  the  seals  taken  by  the  Alaska  and  Copper  companies  are  males, 
.p,   ,     ,.      .    ,     the  destruction  of  which  is  much  less  prejudicial  to  the 

Destruction  of  males  ,.  ,.    , ,  i        i   •    i     V  •    t     ji        t        j_ 

icssprcjiuiicia].  j5et-  preservatioii  oi  the  race,  and  winch  inrnish  the  best 

*■'*'' ^'^"'**-  skins,  these  being  finer  and  more  furnished  with  down; 

that  they  are  killed  on  the  islands  with  clubs.     That  every  animal 
killed  by  ball  or  shot  bears  the  traces  of  such  slaugh- 

picrced  witi^shot^  *^  ^^h  wliich  marks  greatly  depreciate  the  value  of  the 
skin. 
That  the  said  firm  has  often  been  inf  irmed  that  in  order  to  capture 

one  animal  the  persons  engaged  in  the  chase  are  frequently  obliged  to 

kill  or  wound  three  or  four.    That  under  these  circum- 

wa.=teofiife.  stauccs  aud  in  consequence  of  the  destruction  of  the 

females,  there  is  no  doubt  in  the  mind  of  depcment  that  the  race  is  in 
great  danger  of  being  exterminated,  to  the  i^rofit  of  a 

nau'on'"'^ "^ ''^^"^^""^    fcw  individuals  and  to  the  detriment  of  an  important 
industry  which  up  to  the  present  has  supplied  the 

means  of  livelihood  to  thousands  of  persons  in  Europe  and  America. 
That  the  said  firm  believes  it  to  be  everyone's  inter- 

nS'sllryy^"*''''''™^  ^^^  ^^^''^^  ^lic  couutries  interested  in  the  question  (Amer- 
ica and  Eussia)  should  take  measures  to  safeguard  their 

rights  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  capture  of  the  seals,  and  that  if 

not,  if  this  pursuit  in  the  open  sea  continues  afi  in  the  past  two  years, 

the  said  firm  lirml}'  believes  that  in  a  short  time  the  seal  will  exist  only 

as  a  souveair  and  will  be  completely  exterminated. 


SEALSKIN    INDUSTRY    IN    FRANCE.  589 

Tliat  this  industry,  which  has  ])r()duced  diiiiiig  twenty 
years  nearly  25,000,()0()  of  francs  annually,  will  have  dJsto'*to'i^''m.^!  '"" 
disappeared,  owing  to  this  cause,  to  the  detriment  of  a 
very  great  number  of  x><ii'sons. 

Emin  Hertz. 

SAvorn  before  me  this  23d  day  of  June,  1892. 

[SEAL.]  Augustus  Jay, 

Second  Secretary  of  the  Lcfiation  of  the 

United  States  at  Faris,  France. 


Bepositon  of  Leon  Eevillon,  mcmher  of  the  firm  of  Revillon  Frcrcs,  fur- 
riers, Faris. 

general  sealskin  industry.    paris  market.    pelagic  sealing 

City  of  Paris, 

Bepublic  of  France,  ss : 

L6ou  Revillon,  being  duly  sworn,  doth  depose  and  say  as  foHows: 
That  he  is  49  years  of  age  and  a  citizen  of  the  French  Kepublic,  and 
lives  in  the  city  of  Paris,  and  carries  on  business  at  No.  79  Rue  de 
Rivoli,  in  the  said  city,  and  is  a  member  of  the  lirro  of  Revillon  Freres, 
which  lirm  is  composed  of  Theodore  Revillon,  Leon  Revillon,  and  Auatole 
Revillon. 

That  the  said  firm  of  Revillon  Freres  is  engaged  in  the  business  of 
buying,  dyeing,  and  selling  sealskins;  that  they  have  Experience 
been  engaged  in  the  said  business  for  upward  of  twenty 
years,  and  the  said  dejionent  has  been  in  the  habit  of  purchasing  fur- 
seal  skins  during  the  whole  of  that  time;  that  he  has  personally  handled 
many  thousands  of  said  fur  seal  skins  and  that  he  has  a  general  and 
detailed  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  business  of  dealing  in  fnr-seal 
skins  in  the  city  of  Paris,  and  the  character  and  dilference  which  dis- 
tinguish the  several  kinds  of  skins  which  come  on  the  market. 

That  the  said  firm  of  Revillon  Freres  have  bought  during  the  last 
twenty  years  upwards  of  400,000  sealskins;  that  nearly      ^.       i  ,.s  i    • 
all  of  these  skins  have  been  dressed  in  London,  where  Lo^iuiun.  "'''''"' 
there  are  special  facilities  therefor;  that  the  firm  of  Re- 
villon Freres  have  tried  several  times  to  dress  the  skins  themselves, 
but  in  very  small  quantities. 

That  all  the  skins  bonght.by  the  said  firm  of  Revillon  Freres  are 
dyed  in  France,  and  therefore  the  skins  pass  under  our  eyes  in  the  fol- 
lowing conditions:  (1)  in  salt  when  we  bny  them  in  London;  (2) 
dressed;  (3)  dyed.  That  deponent  believes  that  the  linn  of  Revillon 
Freres  is  by  far  the  largest  firm  of  furriers  and  fur- 
dealers  in  France;  that  the  gieater  part  of  the  skins  y^^''^  '^' '''''''  "* 
bought  by  Revillon  Fieres  are  nnule  up  into  garments, 
cloaks  and  mantles,  but  that  some  of  the  skins  alter  having  been  dyed 
are  sold  to  other  manufacturers. 

That  the  sales  of  sealskins  by  the  said  firm  of  R«5villon  Freres  have 
amounted  for  the  last  twenty  years  to  about  4,000,000  frances  per  year. 

That  the  number  of  persons  employed  by  the  said  firm  for  the  dyeing, 
Bcrax)iug,  manufacturing,  lining,  and  for  the  sale  of  the  sealskins,  is 


590  TESTIMONY. 

about  ."^OO,  of  which  the  g^roatcr  ])ait  are  well  paid,  on  aoeonnt  of  their 
woik  beiiii;  uixm  a  veiy  valuable  sjx'cies  of  luerchaiulise,  and  that 
tlieie  are  about  ."JOO  or  (J()0  persons  einjiloyed  in  the  industry  in  France, 
exclusive  of  salesmen,  porters,  etc. 

That  in  the  years  from  1872  to  1877  we  bought  only 

oniy'™nd  catch'.*'"^ '    Alaska  sealskins  (that  is  to  say,  those  from  the  islands 

of  rril)ilof)  and  the  ('opper  catch,  coming  from  Russia, 

and  a  few  skins  coming-  from  the  islands  of  Lobos  and  from  the  South 

Seas. 

That  later  on,  from  tlie  year  1878,  we  have  noticed  in 
Northwest  '"c"  as"t  the  Loudou  market  sealskins  called  Victoria  or  North- 
^^'^^^-  west  coast  skins,  the  quantity  of  which  is  variable,  but 

which  has  continually  increased  until  last  year,  when  the  total  quantity 
was  held  at  80,000  skins. 

That  we  have  often  heard,  and  from  dift'erent  sources,  that  these  last- 
named  skins  are  in  the  majoritvthe  skins  of  the  female 
Mostly  foinaicR.        ^^.^j_     ^^^  thiuiuvss  of  thc'  hair  upon  the  flanks  seems 

to  confirm  this  assertion,  although  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  test  the 

absolute  truth  of  this  statement  for  ourselves,  for  when  the  seals  have 

been  dressed  the  signs  of  the  mammals  disappear.     At  any  rate  the 

employment  of  these  skins  is  much  less  advantageous 

Female   skins    less      ,  i         •  i  -i  •  j.  i  •  „ 

advantageous  to busi-  to  our  busiiiess  bccause  there  is  a  great  predominance 
"'■■'■'»■  of  small  skins,  which  are  evidently  tliose  of  young  seals 

Prertominauce  of  wliicli  arc  uot  killed  l)y  the  companies  which  have  the 
small  skins.  coiicessioiis    for  the   Alaska    and   Copper    sealskins. 

Skins  less  valuable,  Morcover,  thcsc  Victoria  or  Northwest  coast  sealskins 
because  riddled  with  are  riddled  with  shot,  which  very  materially  depreci- 
*^'"*'  ates  their  value,  while  the  seals  of  both  the  Alaska  and 

Copper  companies  are  killed  by  a  blow  of  a  club  upon  the  head,  which 
does  not  at  all  impair  the  (|uality  of  the  skin  as  regards  its  ultimate 
uses. 

That  the  fact  that  the  annual  pr(Klucti<m  of  Victoria  or  Northwest 
,   coast  skins  has  increased  in  proi>ortion  as  the  Alaska 

Diminution  of  {rood       ,  .         ,  ,...,,  i.       ■      t       j.     j-i  „*.    ,-^  +-^    ,„„ 

skins  due  to  pelagic   skius  luis  diminished  sccius  to  indicate  that  it  lewer 

sealing.  Nortliwcst  coast  auiiuals  had  been  killed  the  quantity 

of  Alaska  skins  would  not  have  diminished. 

That  we  firmly  believe  that  if  the  slaughter  of  the  Northwest  coast 

fur-seals  is  not  stopped  or  regulated,  the  Alaska  fur- 

if  pelagic  seiiiing  g^j^jg  ^jjj  (jisapiK'ar  cutirelv,  as  is  the  case  with  the 

not    stopped,  Alaska    "  en      i.i         i    x   i       'i        ^  i  i        ji 

fur-seals  will  disap-   seals  of  the  Shetland  Islands,  from  where  hardly  a 

J'*"^""-  single  seal  has  been  received  during  the  last  ten  years. 

That  the  annihilation  of  the  seals  would  be  a  very  great  loss  for  our 

country,  for  the  fur  of  the  seal  can  not  be  replaced  by 

^Greatiosstoindu.s-   ^^y  otjier.     It  woiild  also  bc  a  great  loss  for  the  work- 

^'  men  who  are  specially  trained  for  the  work  upon  these 

skins. 

Leon  Eevillon. 

Sworn  before  me  this  liO  day  of  June,  18!)L*. 

[seal. J  Henry  Vignaud, 

Secr-efary  of  the  Lef/ation  of  the 
United  States,  at  Faris,  France. 


TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO  HAIRSEALING  IN  THE  NORTH 

ATLANTIC 


Deposition  of  James  G.  Joy,  scaler  {master). 

hairsealing  in  north  atlantic. 

United  States  Consulate, 
St.  Johns,  J^ewfoundland.,  June  20,  1S92. 

Personally  appeared  before  me,  Thomas  jST.  Molloy,  consul  of  the 
United  States  of  America  for  IS'ewfoundland,  James  Glavine  Joy,  mas- 
ter mariner  of  St.  Johns  aforesaid,  who  being  duly  sworn  before  me 
upon  his  oath  says : 

I  have  been  twenty-four  years  prosecuting  the  seal  fisliery  on  the 
coast  of   ISTewfoundirmd,   Labrador,  and   Gulf  of  St.      Experien.e 
Lawrence,  nine  years  of  which  I  have  commanded  a 
steamer.  .,^        ,,       . 

I  am  opposed  to  second  trips  to  the  s'eal  fishery,  as  I  Hkej^  to  destro*/ the 
consider  they  are  calculated  to  destroy  tlie  species,  as  species. 
all  the  seals  killed  on  such  trips  are  old  and  mature      sevontv-flve    per 

,   ,  ,    __  ;       ,.  , ,  J?  1  1        feiit    killctl   on    such 

seals  and  at  least  7o  i^er  cent  oi  them  are  temale  seals,   tripes  ttmaies. 

1  am  now  speaking  of  harp-seals,  they  are  principally     ^^^^j^g  ^^^^^  ^^^i^ 
shot  on  the  ice,  but  when  the  ice  packs  they  are  killed* 
with  bats.    When  shot  on  open  or  floating  ice  a  large  number  of  them 
escape  into  the  water  and  die  from  bleeding. 

I  should  say  that  for  every  seal  shot  and  captured  three  escape 
wounded,  to  die  in  the  water.     I  have  seen  ten  seals  on      ^^steof  iifo 
one  pan  shot  and  wounded  and  all  escaped.     To  kill 
and  capture  the  seal,  the  bullet  must  lodge  in  the  head;  if  it  strikes 
any  part  of  the  body  tlie  seal  will  manage  to  get  to  the  edge  of  the 
pan  and  escape  into  the  water.     I  know  from  my  own  knowledge  that 
the  number  of  seals  brought  in  on   second  trips  is  yearly  decreas- 
ing, and  that  the  fishery  is  being  depleted  by  the  pros-      D^c-gase 
ecution  of  this  trip.    Apart  from  tfie  number  of  old, 
nmture,  and  female  seals  destroyed,  the  hunting  necessary  for  their 
capture  prevents  the  male  and  female  coming  together  as  soon  as  they 
otherwise  would,  and  makes  the  whole  species  more  wary  and  more 
diflicult  to  capture  each  year,  so  much  so  that  even  at  a  distance  of 
from  4  to  5  miles,  the  smoke  of  a  steamer  blowing  over     ^een  scent  of  seals. 
the  ice  in  the  direction  of  the  seals  will  cause  them  imme- 
diately to  leave  the  ice  and  take  to  the  water. 

On  the  first  trij)  a  good  many  seals  are  shot  in  the  water  as  at  that 
season  of  the  year,  tlie  month  of  March,  they  are  fat  difference  between 
and  will  float,  but  on  the  secojul  trip  in  April  thev  are  hunthif;  on  first  and 
seldom  fired  at  in  the  water,  for  if  shot  they  immcdi-  se'^^^^d  trips. 
diately  siidv;  except  you  are  very  close  to  them  and  very  quick  you 
can  not  secure  one  of  them. 

691 


592  TESTIMONY    RELATING   TO    HAIRSEALING. 

„    ,     ,  The  liood-seals  are  eeuerally  in  families,  male,  female, 

Hood-seals.  t  o  ^  .  7  ; 

and  youii.ij. 
Sealf?  have  been  taken  the  past  seasons  on  the  east  coast  of  Green- 
kiud  with  S.  S.  G.  shot  in  them;  this  kind  of  shot  is  only  used  by  seal- 
eis  ou  the  Newfoimdlaud  coast. 

James  G.  Joy, 
Master  Mariner. 
Attested. 
[seal.]  Thos.  N.  Molloy, 

United  States  Consul. 


Affidavit  of  Richard  Pilie,  sealer  {master). 

hairsealing  in  north  atlantic. 

United  States  Consulate, 
St.  Johns,  Newfoundland,  June  21,  1893. 
Personally  appeared  before  me,  Thos.  IST.  Molloy,  consul  of  the  United 
States  of  America  for  Xewfouudlaud,  Richard  Pike,  master  mariner  of  St. 
Johns  aforesaid,  who  being  duly  sworn  before  me,  upon 
Experience.  hisoathsays:  1  am  a  master  mariner.     I  have  been  en- 

gaged in  the  prosecution  of  the  seal  fishery  on  the  coasts  of  Labrador  and 
Newfoundland  for  forty-four  years,  twenty  years  of  which  I  have  been 
master  of  a  steamer.  I  can  not  speak  of  the  percentage 
taken'^^on^^^s°eco^nd  of  scals  taken  OU  a  "  sccoud  trip,"  nor  of  the  sex.  Nearly 
trip-   „        „       ,   all  the  seals  taken  are  bedlamers  and  old  harps.     The 

"Bedlamers"     and  i      ,     •     ,i  n  xi  xi        x-     *         -i 

old  "harp 8"  taken.       ''sccoud   trip"  generally  covers  the   month  ot  April. 

Nearly  all  seals  taken  on  the  ''second  trip"  are  shot  on 

open  and  floating  ice.     Very  few  are  shot  in  the  water, 

How  sealing  is  car-  foj,  jf  jij^  there  is  vcry  little  chance  of  their  capture, 

■  as  they  sink  immediately.     They  are  seldom  or  never 

fired  at  in  the  water,  for  unless  they  are  very  close  there  is  very  little 

chanceof  their  l)eing  recovered.     Fully  <me-third  of  the 

Waste  of  life.  seals  shot  OU  the  ice  are  lost,  for  when  wounded  they 

manage  to  crawl  to  the  edge  of  the  pan  and  into  the  water,  and  when 

once  in  the  water  they  sink  or  die  from  their  wounds. 

Seals  shot  in  the  water  in  the  month  of  March  can  be  recovered,  as 

Difference  between  tlicy  are.  flit  aiul  in  good  coudition,  aud  float,  but  in 

.seaiiniriu  March  aud   tlic  latter  part  oi"A])ril,  when  shot,  they  sink  immedi- 

*" '  ^'"  '  ately.     1  am  strongly  against  "  second  trips,"  as  in  my 

trPis^'''^'^'^ ^^   *'^'^""'^   opiidon  they  are  causing  a  rapid  decline  in  the  indus- 

Kapid  decrease  of  ^^T'  Hkcly  to  lead  to  thc  extermination  ot  the  species 

.seals caused  by  "sec-  by  thc  killing  of  old  aiid  nuiture  seals,  and  thedestruc- 

ond  trips."  tion  caused  by  the  use  of  firearms.     Some  of  the  men 

resident  in  fhe  northern  harbors,  who  have  been  engaged  in  the  actual 

killing  of  the  seal  can  give  more  particular  information  as  to  the  age 

and  sex  of  the  seals  killed.     The  young  harp-seal  takes 

aipsea.   ^^  ^^^^  watcr  about  the  l!5th  of  March,  but  when  they 

^  "ride"  the  ice  and  the  ice  closes  they  are  killed  by 

"'■  "'"■  batting,  that  is,  when  the  ice  is  jammed,  and  they  can 

Lot  escape  into  the  water. 

EiCHARD  Pike, 

Master  Mariner. 
Attested. 
[SEAL.]  Thos.  N.  Molloy, 

United  States  Consul. 


TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO  ANTARCTIC  SEALING. 


Deposition  of  James  W.  Budington,  scaler  (master). 

antarctic  sealing  and  rookeries. 

District  of  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 

Capt.  James  W.  Budingtoii,  behific  <^iib^  sworn,  deposes  and  says:  I 
am  53  years  of  age,  a  resident  of  Grotou,  Conn.,  and  . 

a  master  mariner.  Since  1871  I  have  made  several  ^penence. 
voyages  to  the  southern  hemisY)here  for  tlie  purpose  of  seal  hunting,  and 
am  thoroughly  acquainted  with  tlie  islands  and  coasts  about  Cape  Horn 
and  in  the  southern  Atlantic  Ocean  where  fur  seals  have  been  taken.  I 
also  studied,  as  far  as  I  was  able,  the  habits  and  conditions  of  the  fur- 
seal  of  the  southern  seas. 

Patagonia. — The  seal  rookeries  of  Patagonia  lie  along  the  eastern 
coast,  south  of  about  latitude  42°,  and  up  the  western 
coast  to  tlie  Gulf  of  Penas.  Formerly  these  regions  in  milu'd^'iIsS.'" 
abound  in  seals,  but  now  there  are  not  enongli  to  pay 
for  the  hunting.  In  1881  I  took  GOO  seals  oft'  the  western  coast  at 
Pictou  opening.  In  1888^'89 1  again  visited  the  coast,  but  only  obtained 
4  skins.  Great  quantities  have  been  taken  from  the  eastern  coast,  but 
at  present  there  are  no  seals  there. 

Terra  del  Fuego  and  the  Islands  in  the  vicinity. — These  islands  were  at 
one  time  very  abundant  in  seals,  and  were  considered 
among  the  best  rookeries.  I  visited  them  in  1879-'80  d.f  Fue^i^Lrt^TS 
and  took  5.000  skins.  On  my  last  voyage,  in  18!)l-'92,  ix-rinsr  fsiand.s  In 
I  t0!)k  only  900,  and  the  ma jority  of^ tliese  came  from  i«'y-«".  ""'i  i^^i-'J^- 
another  portion  of  the  coast,  which  had  not  been  worked  for  twelve  or 
fifteen  years.  Thousands  of  skins  had  formerly  been  taken  from  these 
islands,  but  the  animals  are  practically  extinct  there  to-day. 

FaUdand  Islands. — At  one  time  these  islands  were  very  abundant 
in  seal  life,  but  excessive  and  indiscriminate  killing     -^  ,,  ,      ,^,    , 

1  „„    1  -I  •!    J.     1   J.1  j^T  •      I'      ,  •        T        Falkland  Islanas 

has  nearly  anniliilated  them;  this  fact  was  recognized  rookeries  ueariy  de- 
by  the  government  of  the  islands,  which  passed  an  ordi-   p^*"'"^- 
nance  in  1881  establishing  a  close  season  from  October     cioso  season  estab- 
to  April  for  the  islands  and  the  seas  adjacent  thereto.   "^^''*^' 
My  understanding  of  this  ordinance  was  tliat  the  Government  would 
seize  any  vessel  taking  seals  close  to  or  within  15  or 
20  miles  of  the  islands.     It  certainly  would  not  have  ^J^J*  ""^  ^^  ^^  ^^ 
been  allowed  to  take  seals  between  the  Falklands  and 
Beauchene  Island,  28  miles  distant,  which  is  considered  part  of  the 
grouxj.    I  understood  this  ordinance  was  passed  on  the  ground  that 

593 
2  710 — vol  II 38 


594  TESTIMONY 

the  seal  resorting  to  tliese  islands  was  the  property  of  the  Govern- 
ment and  therefore  it  had  a  right  to  protect  them 
propCTt™seai?!Sd  evcrywliere.  The  Government,  however,  gave  licenses 
right  to  protect  them  to  Certain  parties  at  from  £80  to  £100  a  year  to  take 
evoiywhere.  seals  duriiig  the  close  season.     On  acconnt  of  these 

licenses  I  think  the  effect  of  the  ordinance  is  nulUfied,  although  the 
islands  are  well  guarded,  and  seals  have  increased 
Licenses  granted.     ^^^^.^  jj^^.^^^  .^.  .^^  ^^j^  bccause  of  aUowing  hunting  to 

take  place  under  these  licenses. 

South  Georgia  Island. — This  island  at  one  time  produced  many  thou- 
sand skins.     I  visited  it  in  1874  and  got  1,450  skins, 
Smith  Georgia  Is-  j^^^^,  [^  ]y.^^  bccn  visitcd  five  years  before,  when  800 
roo  eiKsm    ,  .  ^i^j^^^^  wcrc  takcu,  and  where  those  had  been  taken  I 
only  got  80.     I  found  a  new  rookery  which  had  not  been  worked,  to  my 
knowledge,  and  then  I  got  the  remainder.     In  1875  5 
^^^^"  vessels  visited  the  island  and  got  600  seals.    The  next 

season  4  vessels  again  worked  it,  getting  110.     Since 
^^^^'  that  time,  until  January,  1892,  it  had  not  been  worked, 

„     ,.   „      ,.    ,    and  in  that  month  I  got  fi'om  there  135  skins,  none, 

Prii'ticill V  extinct     "-*'-•■  o  /  / 

however,  coming  from  the  old  rookeries.    The  seals  on 
South  Georgia  are  practically  extinct. 

iSouth  Shetland  Islands. — The  shores  of  these  islands  were  once  cov- 
ered with  seals,  but  tliere  are  practically  none  there 
rookeries  practi'ctiiy  uow.     I  dou't  think  100  skius  couUl  bc  taken  from  there 
depleted.  ^t  thc  prcscut  time,  while  I  have  known  of  1  vessel 

Has  known  of  1  takiug  60,000  in  a  season.  Since  mv  experience  began, 
v.^ei  catching  60,000  bowcvcr,  the  biggcst  catch  was  13,000  by  a  fleet  of 
4  vessels;  that  was  in  1871-'72.  I  was  there  at  that 
time.  The  next  year  we  took  about  12,000,  the  fleet  consisting  of  6 
vessels.  In  1873-'74  our  fleet  of  7  vessels  took  about  5,000.  Up  to 
about  1880  from  100  to  200  seals  were  taken  annually  from  these  islands. 
Since  1880  the  rookeries  were  not  worked  till  1888-'89.  That  season  I 
visited  the  islands  and  took  39  skins.  I  again  went  there  this  year 
and  took  41. 

Sandicich  Land. — In  1875-'76  I  visited  these  islands ;  there  were  3  or  4 

Sandwich  Land  vcssels  in  the  flcct.     We  Searched  the  southem  islauds 
rookeries.  and  fouud  nothiug.     One  vessel  went  to  the  northern 

Decrease.  islands  and  took  about  2,000  skins.     In  1876-'77  I  was 

there  again,  the  fleet  consisting  of  6  vessels.  We  took  altogether 
about  4,000.  The  next  season  some  vessels  again  visited  the  islands,  but 
did  not  take  100  seals.  In  1880-'81  2  vessels  stopped  there,  but  got  no 
skins.  From  that  time  until  I  called  there  this  season  they  had  not 
been  worked.     I  took  400  skins.     Perhaps  200  more  could  be  taken 

T,    .•,,,,.,   there,  but  not  more,  and  that  Avould  clear  them  up, 

Practically  depleted.  Vi^<.  '  i  -it  ,-,  -,      ,i  ■ 

except  what  few  young  seals  might  live  through  this 
Lobos  Islands;  seals  scasoii.    I  havc  ucvcr  bccn  ou  the  Lobos  Islauds,  but 
°*'''^^"  in  passing  the  mouth  of  the  Platte  in  September  I 

have  seen  seals  in  the  water  a  hundred  miles  from  the  islands. 

Extermination. — All  these  regions  are  particularly  favorable  for  seal 
life;  the  raw,  damp  atmosphere,  absence  of  sunshine 

Climatic  conditions  v  •     i      i  -j.     i  tj.-  i      •  j_      j  j. 

sii.iiinrto  those  of  the  and  Uninhabited  conditions  being  most  advantageous 
Pribiiof  Islands.  ^q  i\^q  existeucc  of  the  species.  All  these  regions  de- 
scribed are  uninhabited  excepting  the  Falkland  Islands  and  Terra  del 
Fuego,  the  latter  being  inhabited  by  the  Indians,  who  only  visit  a  few 
of  the  inshore  rookeries. 


RELATING    TO    ANTARCTIC    SEALING.  595 

From  hundreds  of  thousands  of  seals  resorting  to  these  islands  and 
coasts,  the  numbers  have  been  reduced  to  a  few  lum- 
dreds,  which  seek  the  land  in  scattered  bands  and  rush  natJ™"^*  ^'^*^ ''"''■ 
to  the  sea  on  the  approach  of  man. 

Manner  of  sealing. — Wlien  I  first  began  sealing  in  Maimer  of.  eaiin 
1871  these  rookeries  had  not  been  worked  for  twenty-  """ero  seamg. 
five  or  thirty  years,  and  the  seals  had  Imd  a  chance  to  increase.  The 
seals  were  then  very  tame,  and  were  all  killed  with  clubs.  So  tame 
Avere  they  you  could  go  around  among  them  like  you  could  among  cattle, 
and  at  one  place  they  wouldn't  get  out  of  the  way,  so  had  to  be  knocked 
in  the  head  in  order  to  make  room  to  set  up  a  tent.  Before  1880,  how- 
ever, the  seals  had  become  wild  from  hunting,  and  we  „.  .      ,„  „ 

it'  1   -it  ,1  .1  1         •  1    •        FireM-ms  sinco  1880. 

had  to  use  guns,  killing  them  on  the  rookeries  ana  in 
the  water,  wherever  we  could  get  at  them. 

Waste  of  life. — We  killed  everything,  old  and  young, 
that  we  could  get  in  gunshot  of,  excepting  the  black 
pups,  whose  skins  were  unmarketable,  and  most  all  of  these  died  of 
starvation,  having  no  means  of  sustenance,  or  else  were 
killed  by  a  sort  of  buzzard,  when  the  mother  seals,  hav-      ^^''^"^t'"''  "f  i'"p«- 
iiig  been  destroyed,  Avere  unable  to  protect  them  longer.     So  too  these 
birds  ate  the  carcasses  of  the  dead  pups  and  little  traces  were  to  be 
found  of  the  bodies.    The  seals  in  all  these  localities  have  been  de- 
stroyed entirely  by  this  indiscrimiimte  killing  of  old  and  young,  male 
and  female.     If  the  seals  in  these  regions  had  been  protected  and  only 
a  certain  number  of  "dogs"  (young  male  seals  unable  to  Iiold  theu' 
positions  on  the  beaches)  allowed  to  be  killed,  these  islands  and  coasts 
would  be  again  populous  with  seal  life.     The  seals  would  certainly  not 
have  decreased  and  would  have  produced  an  annual  supply  of  skins 
for  all  times. 

As  it  is,  however,  seals  in  the  Antarctic  regions  are 
practically  extinct,  and  I  have  given  up  the  business  pracuduyVxtincr^^ 
as  being  unprofitable.     The  whole  annual  catch  for 
7  vessels  has  not  exceeded  2,600  skins  for  the  last  four  years. 

Habits. — The  "wigs"  (the  old  male  seals)  are  the  first  seals  to  arrive 
on  the  rookeries;  coming  about  the  middle  of  October. 
They  fight  for  advantageous  j)laces  on  the  beaches  and      "^^^s^"  [buiisj. 
never  leave  their  positions  after  once  being  established.    The  females 
or  "  clap-matches "  come  a  month  later  and  are  cap- 
tured by  the  "  wigs  "  who  get  as  many  as  they  can  take  [cov^gf  ^'"™^*''^'^^" 
care  of.     We  never  killed  the  seals  until  the  females 
had  arrived.    When  I  first  went  t(j  these  regions  a  "pod"  or  family 
consisted  of  a  "  Avig  "  and  12  or  15  "  clap-matches,"  but 
this  year  everything  was  disorganized  and  not  more     '  ^'"'^'^    [iiarems]. 
than  2  or  3  seals  were  together;  sometimes  there  being  1  "  clap- match" 
and  2  "  wigs."    There  were  in  1891  about  as  many  "wigs"  as  "clap- 
matches."    This  equality  of  numbers  of  the  sexes  on  the  rookeries  is 
unnatural,  as  the  seals  are  polygamous.    The  cause  of  the  great  falling 
off  in  the  number  of  "clap-matches"  is  we  used  to  kill  a  dozen  females 
to  one  male,  and  so  not  only  the  males  are  in  excess  but 
the  species  has  been  destroyed  by  killing  the  producers.  ^F^maies principally 
The  pups  are  born  on  the  rookeries  and  are  unable  to 
swim  till  six  or  eight  Aveeks  of  age.    If  one  gets  Avashed     ^^^'^' 
oft"  the  rocks  before  that  time  it  is  drowned.    A  pup  born  in  the  Avater 
or  on  the  kelp  would  certainly  perish.     I  don't  think  a 
pup  is  Aveaned  till  he  is  four  months  old.     I  am  also  nat^X*^  ^^'^^^  "''' 
convinced  that  coi>ulation  takes  i)lace  on  land  before 


596  TESTIMONY 

they  migrate 5  the  period  of  gestation  being  abont  eleven  months.    The 
seals  leave  the  rookeries  in  March  when  ice  begins  to  form  around  the 
islands  and  the  snow  commences  to  fall.     The  Terra  del  Fuego  and 
Patagonian  seals  however  never  leave  the  rookeries  or 
Migration.  ^^^  waters  in  the  vicinity,  only  going  out  into  the  in- 

land waters  in  search  of  food.     About  Terra  del  Fuego  no  ice  forms 
and  no  snow  falls  that  remains.    The  temperature  remains  about  the 
same  summer  and  winter.     I  think  if  ice  formed  there  and  there  was 
much  change  in  the  temperature  the  seals  would  migrate  northward  to 
warmer  waters.     Seals  always  go  back  to  the  same  rookery  after  a  mi- 
gration and  generally  endeavor  to  get  the  same  position  on  a  beach. 
In  all  these  localities  the  sky  is  constantly  overcast,  the  sun  never 
shines  for  more  than  an  hour  or  two  at  a  time,  and 
tious*^""°   coudi-  around  the  more  southern  islands  fogs  are  very  preva- 
lent.    The  temperature  is  always  cold  and  damp,  being 
about  40°  F.  during  the  summer. 
Killing  seals  without  reference  to  age  or  sex  is  bound  to  exterminate 
the  species  in  a  very  short  time,  and  it  seems  to  me 
s^y^^^^^^^^^  ^^^'^^'  that  unless  something  is  done  in  the  northern  sealing 
grounds  the  industry  will  soon  be  as  unprofitable  as  it 
is  in  the  Southern  Hemisphere. 

J.   W.   BUDINGTON. 

Subscribed  and  sworn  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  this  oth  day  of  May,  1892. 
[L,.  a.]  Sevellon  a.  Bkown. 


Deposition  of  George  Comer,  sealer  (mate). 

ANTARCTIC  SEALING. 

District  or  Columbia, 

City  of  Washington,  ss: 
George  Comer,  being  duly  sworn,  deposes  and  says :  I  am  34  years 
of  age,  and  a  resident  of  East  Haddam,  Conn.     Since 
Experience.  1879  I  havc  been  engaged  in  sealing  in  the  South- 

ern Hemisphere  and  was  out  every  year  excei^t  two 
seasons  up  to  1889.  1  visited  on  these  voyages  Cape  Horn,  South 
Georgia,  the  Islands  of  Tristan  d'Acnnha,  Goughs  Island,  the  Crozets 
and  Kerguelen  islands.  I  have  observed  the  habits  of  the  seals  fre- 
quenting these  localities,  and  I  spent  fourteen  consecutive  months  on 
one  island,  called  by  us  West  Clift",  located  on  the  coast  of  Chile,  about 
a  hundred  miles  north  of  the  straits  of  Magellan.  On  that  cruise 
Tierra  del  Fuego  ^^^  y^dve  three  ycars  away  from  home,  all  of  which  time 
and  coasta  of  rata|o-  was  spcut  about  Terra  del  Fuego  and  the  coasts  of  Pat- 
niaaud  Chile.  agouia  and  Chile.     During  these  three  years  (1879  to 

1882)  our  catch  was  4,000  seals,  2,000  of  which  were  taken  the  first 
year,  and  we  practically  cleaned  the  rookeries  out.    In  1885  to  1880,  I 
South  Georgia         visitcd  South  Georgia  as  mate  of  a  vessel.     We  had 
heard  reports  of  the  number  of  seals  formerly  taken 
there,  but  we  did  not  get  a  seal,  and  only  saw  one.     In  1887,  while  I 
was  on  Goughs   Island,  the  vessel  went  over  to  South 
Goughs  isiana.        Georgia  antl  took  3  seals.    In  the  summer  of  1887  we 

len i'^i^nds"^ ^*''^^'*''  ^^"^  '^''^  "^*^^  ^^^  Goughs  Islaud,  and  then  went  to  the 
Crozets  and  Kerguelen  Island,  commonly  called  Deso- 
lation Island.    On  our  retuin,  nine  months  after,  the  gang  had  taken 


RELATING    TO    ANTARCTIC    SEALING.  597 

about  40  or  50  skins.  Years  before  the  English  had  had  the  working  of 
Goughs  Island,  and  had  run  the  business  out,  so  there  were  practically 
no  seal  there.  We  put  a  gang  on  the  Orozets,  expecting  to  do  well. 
Thej^  staid  there  five  months  and  took  three  seals. 

The  EngUsh  at  Cape  Town  liad  recommended  us  to  go  there,  because 
they  said  that  formerly  they  had  taken  a  great  number  of  skins  there. 
We  went  to  Kerguelen  Island,  and  there  I  had  charge  of  the  sealing. 
We  staid  about  four  months,  and  took  18  seals.  Prior  to  this  visit  I 
had  spent  hve  months  at  Kerguelen  Island,  and  we  then  took  6  seals; 
that  was  in  the  winter  of  1883  and  1S8I.  About  1850  this  island  was 
visited  by  an  American,  who  practically  cleaned  oH  the  seals.  The 
captain  I  shipped  with,  Joseph  Fuller,  visited  the  island  in  1880  and 
took  3,600  seals,  practically  all  there  were;  and  this  was  the  increase 
for  the  thirty  years  from  1850.  While  I  was  at  Cape  ^  i  le  of  Good  ho  e 
Town  I  saw  a  gang  start  out  for  seahng  on  that  coast;  '^^'^°  °°  "p®' 
the  rookeries  I  understood  to  be  about  135  miles  from  Cape  Town.  They 
are  in  the  possession  or  control  of  a  company,  as  I  was  then  informed, 
which  has  the  exclusive  right  to  take  seals  there.  We  did  not  dare  to 
go  to  those  rookeries,  because  sealing  was  prohibited,  and  we  would 
not  have  been  allowed  to  take  them  in  the  waters  adjacent  thereto. 
Argentina  also  claimed  possession  of  Staten  Land  at 
Cape  Horn,  and  since  about  1882  or  1883  we  have  not  '^t-'^f^'"  i-"*"'^- 
been  allowed  to  take  seals  at  that  point  or  in  the  waters  near  there, 
although  the  citizens  of  Argentina  themselves  have  taken  seals  there 
every  year,  as  I  understand  and  believe.  In  the  first 
part  of  a  season  we  never  disturbed  the  rookeries  we  m^^'^d^'- of  hunting. 
visited,  always  letting  the  seals  come  on  shore;  then  we  would  kill 
them  on  land  with  clubs  or  rifles.  During  the  latter  part  of  a  season 
the  seals  become  very  wild,  and  we  used  to  shoot  them  in  the  water 
from  boats.  When  we  shoot  them  in  the  water  we  lose 
certainly  three  out  of  five  we  kill  by  sinking,  and  we  ^^'''^^e  of  life. 
also  wounded  a  great  many  more.  Shooting  seals  in  the  water  is  the 
most  destructive  method  of  taking  them  as  compared  with  the  number 
of  skins  we  have  to  show  for  our  work. 

The  shores  occupied  by  all  these  rookeries  I  have  mentioned  are  of 
much  the  same  character;  there  is  a  narrow  beach 
line  from  which  cliffs  rise  abruptly  to  the  height  of  and'LSteon'iamu. 
75  to  150  feet;  through  these  are  narrow  crevasses 
in  the  rocks  or  small  ravines,  where  streams  flow  into  the  sea;  it  is  at 
such  points  the  seals  are  to  be  found.  The  animals  clamber  up  these 
rocks,  often  going  where  it  is  imj)ossible  for  man  to  go.  The  climate  of 
these  localities  is  peculiar.  The  sky  is  constantly  overcast,  and  during 
the  summer  the  average  temperature  would  be  between  40^  and  45°  F. 
Kain  falls  nearly  every  day,  keeping  the  atmosphere  constantly  moist, 
but  no  hard  storms  take  place,  the  rain  falling  in  misty  showers.  Dur- 
ing the  fourteen  months  I  passed  at  West  Cliff,  heretofore  mentioned,  I 
had  an  excellent  opportunity  to  examine  and  study  the  seals  which  fre- 
quent that  coast.  Along  the  coasts  and  islands  near  Cape  Horn  snow 
does  not  fall  to  any  extent,  and  never  remains  for  any  length  of  time. 
No  ice  forms  along  the  shore.  There  is  very  little  diflerence  in  the 
temperature  of  winter  and  summer.     The  seals  inhab-      ^  , .,    , ,, 

.,.-^.,  ,  t  j-iiii  •  Habits  of  the  seals. 

iting  these  shores  do  not  migrate,  but  always  remain 
on  or  near  the  land,  only  going  a  short  distance  in  search  of  food,  and 
at  all  seasons  and  in  every  month  of  the  year  seals  can  be  found  on 
shore.     Toward  the  latter  part  of  October  the  "wigs,"   „^.^  „ 
or  full-grown  males,  begin  to  congregate  on  the  breed- 
ing rookeries.    A  "wig"  weighs  anywhere  from  250  to  500  pounds, 


598  TESTIMONY    RELATING.  TO    ANTARCTIC    SEALING. 

and  must  be  four  or  five  years  old  before  lie  has  streugtli  and  endur- 
ance euonuh  to  inaiiitaiu  a  place  on  tlie  rookery. 
The  battles  for  position  between  the  rival  "  wigs"  are  most  fierce,  but 
at  last  thev  all  get  their  places,  and  await  the  coming 
"Clap  matches."      ^^.  ^,^^  ,,  ^.j'^^^  matclies,"  or  females.     About  the  10th  of 

November  the  females  begin  to  arrive,  and  land  on  the  breeding  rook- 
eries. Each  "  wig  "  gets  about  him  as  many  "  clap  matches  "  as  he  can, 
the  average  number,  1  should  say,  being  from  ten  to  twenty.  The 
"wig"  never  allows  the.  "clap  match"  to  leave  his  harem  for  some  time, 
always  seizing  her  and  dragging  her  back  if  she  attempts  to  go  into  the 
water.  Almost  immediately  on  landing  the  female  drops  her  pup,  it 
seldom  being  more  than  a  day  after  they  come  on  shore.     A  "  clap 

match"  gives  birth  to  only  one  pup,  except  in  rare 
^^^^'  instances,  when  she  has  two.    I  never  saw  but  one  case 

where  a  "clapmatch"  liad  more  than  one  pup  at  a  birth.  Within  a  few 
days  after  the  birth  of  the  pup  the  "clap  match"  is  served  by  the 
"  wig."  After  being  served  the  "  wig"  lets  her  go  into  the  water  to  feed, 
as  she  has  to  do  in  order  that  she  may  nurse  her  pup.  The  pup  Avhen 
born  weighs  about  four  or  five  pounds,  and  is  covered  with  shiny  black 
hair,  beneath  which  there  is  no  fur.  When  four  or  five  months  old  this 
black  hair  is  shed,  and  new  hair  of  a  brownish-gray  color  comes  out, 
and  the  fur  appears  beneath  it.  A  pup  does  not  go  into  the  water  until 
he  is  three  or  four  months  old,  and  then  he  works  in  gradually  from  the 
puddles  into  the  surf,  and  I  have  seen  "clap  matches"  in  stormy 
weather  pick  up  their  pups  in  their  mouths  and  carr}^  them  out  of  reach. 

of  the  waves.  A  pup  born  in  the  water  or  on  a  bed  of 
wrteror"o°nker™  "'   kelp  would  Certainly  be  drowned,  and  during  all  my 

experience  I  never  saw  a  black  puj)  seal  on  kelp  or  in 
the  water.  Until  the  pup  sheds  his  black  hair  he  is  entirely  dependent 
on  his  mothers'  milk  for  sustenance. 

I  have  never  seen  a  "  clap  match  "  suckling  more  than  one  pup,  and  it 
is  my  impression  that  a  "  clap  match"  would  not  nurse  any  pup  except 
her  own,  for  I  have  seen  her  throw  other  pups  aside  and  pick  out  one  par- 
ticular one  from  the  whole  number  on  the  rookery.  A  black  pup  walks 
on  all  fours,  raising  his  body  more  from  the  ground  than  an  older  seal, 
and  appears  to  be  more  of  a  land  animal  than  his  elders.  All  seals  can 
move  very  rapidly  on  land  when  forced  to  do  so,  aud  seem  to  have  re- 
markable powers  of  land  loLJomotion  when  the  formation  of  their  flip- 
pers and  body  are  taken  into  consideration.  The  y.mng  "  wigs"  or 
nonbreeding  males,  not  being  allowed  on  the  ro')keries,  herd  by  them- 
selves, and  never  molest  the  harems.  About  the  20th  of  I^ovember  we 
used  to  begin  killing,  aud  up  to  that  time  the  "wigs"  had  never  left 
their  ]>ositions  to  feed  or  drink.  I  do  not  know  how  much  longer  they 
would  have  staid  there  fasting  it  we  had  not  molested  them.  Young 
"  wigs"  go  into  the  water,  but  during  the  breeding  season  hang  around 
the  rookeries,  never  going  far  from  shore.  If  there  had  been  strict 
regulations  enforced,  allowing  us  to  kill  only  young  "wigs,"  and  not  to 
disturl)  the  breeding  seals,  I  am  convinced,  and  have  no  doubt,  that 

all  these  rookeries  would  be  lull  of  seals  to-day.  It  has 
na^foH  orthe'selu""'    bceii  the  iudisctriminaf c  killing  which  has  caused  the 

practical  extermination  of  fur-seals  in  the  southern 
hemisphere. 

George  Comer. 

Subscribed  and  swcn-n  to  before  me,  a  notary  public  in  and  for  the 
District  of  Columbia,  U.  S.  A.,  this  loth  day  of  June,  1892. 
[l.  s.]  Sevellon  a.  Brown. 


TESTIMONY  RELATING  TO  PRIBILOF  N  \TIVES. 


Deposition  of  T>r.  H.  IT.  Molntyre^  superiniendcnt   of  Alaslca  Commer- 
cial Gomjjani/  on  the  Prihilof  Islands  {1870-'8!J,) 

condition  of  the  natives. 

State  of  Vermont, 

Orange  County,  ss: 

H.  H.  Mclntyre,  of  Randolpli,  in  said  county,  having  been  duly  sworn, 
deposes  and  says:  I  am  48  years  old  and  a  na- 
tive of  Vermont.  I  went  to  Alaska  in  1868  and  to  tlie  ^venence. 
Pribilof  Islands  in  18G9  as  special  United  States  Treasury  agent,  and 
was  employed  in  actual  service  as  superintendent  of  the  seal  fisheries 
of  Alaska  for  the  late  lessees  from  1870  to  1889,  inclusive,  and  in  these 
capacities  I  visited  the  seal  islands  of  Alaska  every  year  covered  by 
the  above  dates  except  the  years  1883, 1884,  and  1885,  and  gained  most 
intimate  acquaintance  with  everything  in  and  about  the  seal  fisheries 
and  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands.  It  was  my  duty  during  all 
this  time  to  see  tliat  they  were  provided  with  everything  ne(;essary  to 
successfully  carry  on  the  seal-fishing  business  and  with  all  supplies 
of  every  description  required  for  the  comfort  and  well-being  of  the  in- 
habitants of  the  islands. 

In  the  matter  of  the  preservation  of  the  fur-seals  these  inhabitants 
should  receive  some  consideration.     Their  ancestors 
were  carried  to  the  Pribilof  group  more  than  a  century  ^^^^^'^^'^^'"''' "°  ^^^^ 
ago,  and  the  majority  of  the  present  generation  have 
been  born  and  bred  where  tliey  now  live.     They  number  at  present 
about  350    people  who   know   no    other    home,   and    few   of    whom 
have  ever  seen    any   other  land   than   the   islands  on   which    they 
live.     They  are  a  simple-minded,  docile,  good-natured 
people,  far  above  the  average  aboriginal  inhabitant 
of  the   country    in    intelligence,   as  indeed,    might    be   expected   of 
them  in  this  generation,  from  the  fact  that  tlie  Aleutian  blood  in  tlieir 
veins  is  already  very  much  mixed  with  that  of  a  better  (pnility  from 
Russian  and  American  stock.     Very  few,  if  any,  thorouglibred  Aleuts 
are  to  be  found  in  Alaska  at  the  present  day.     All  are      cimstianit 
devout  Christians  and  earnest  believers  in  the  faith  of  '     " ' 

the  Greco-Russian  Church,  observing  all  its  outward  forms,  and  prac- 
ticin  g,  perhaps,  as  many  of  the  virtues  it  inculcates  as  the  average  ad- 
herent of  orthodox  Christianity. 

Very  little  is  known  of  these  people  under  Rrissian  regime  in  the 
early  part  of  this  century.     1  f  tlu^r  traditions  are  to  be 

T  '  1  i.1  1  11      1      i-i.  ii-     i  J.1   •     J-'  ji  Condition iiudertho 

riMied  up(m  they  were  liardly  b(;tter  on  at  this  time  than   K„ssian  Company, 
when  in  absolute  barbarism.     Their  rulers  were  hard 
taskmasters  and  were  themselves  but  meagerly  sui)plied    with  such 

599 


GOO  TESTIMONY 

articles  as  ■would  liave  mnterinily  lielped  tLe  natives  if  tliey  could  Lave 
„,  .  ,    „.  liad  tlieiii.     Tliey  labored  under  the  disadvantage  of 

Their  dwellings.  ,.     .  .  ,  i    ,  .         ■■  ,  i  i         •  j 

livinu'  111  a  cold,  biirren,  treeless  country  and  liaving  to 
depend  for  bnildinii-  material  iii)on  tlie  driftwood  tlirown  upon  their 
shores  from  tlie  rivers  emptying'  into  Bering'  Sea.  It  was,  therefore, 
imi)o.ssible  for  them  to  nnikc  mucli  pro^^ress,  no  matter  what  tlie  teach- 
ing or  the  example  set  before  them  may  have  been  while  living',  as  they 
were,  in  their  damp,  filthy  subterranean  houses;  and  more  impossible 
for  them  to  live  otherwise  than  underground  until  they  were  furnished 
with  fuel  and  building  material. 

These  were  never  sui)plied  by  the  Russians,  and  the  Americans  ac- 
cordingly found  them,  upon  the  cession  of  the  territory  to  the  United 
States,  living  in  miserable,  unhealthy  hovels  totally  unfit  for  human 
habitation.  The  su])ports  for  the  thatched  roofs  and  turf  sides  of  their 
houses  (consisted  of  the  pieces  of  driftwood  or  the  jaw  bones  of  whales; 
light  was  admitted  through  the  opaque  medium  of  raw  sea-lion  skins, 
stretched  and  shaved;  the  chimney  was  a  hole  in  the  roof,  over  which  a 
skin  was  drawn  to  retain  the  heat  after  the  fire  went 
^^^*"*^'  out;  their  fuel  consisted  of  water-soaked  splinters  of 

driftwood,  upon  which  Mas  burned  tlie  blubber  of  the  seal  or  whale, 
emitting  the  nauseous  odors  of  burning,  rancid,  ill-smelling  animal  fats. 
The  smoke  from  the  fire  left  its  greasy  depo.sitsupon  everything  about 
the  iiremises  and  emitted  a  stench  endurable  only  by  a  sense  of  smell 
long  inured  to  it.  For  light  in  the  long  winter  nights  they  had  only  a 
small  burning  wick  supported  upon  the  surface  of  an  open  vessel  of 
^   ,  seal  oil.     Their  food  consisted   almost  wholly  ot  seal 

Xlieir  food 

meat,  with  rarely  a  meal  of  fish  or  fowl,  oftentimes  eaten 
raw  in  summer,  and  dried  or  jiartially  dried  and  stored  in  the  inflated 
stomachs  of  sea  lions  for  winter.  A  small  quantity  of  rye  was  furnished 
them,  but  their  facilities  for  iratting  it  in  edible  form  were  of  the  most 
primitive  kind,  and  to  this  was  added  a  limited  quantity  of  tea  and 
.  sugar,  tobacco  and  rum.     Their  clothing  was  made  of 

leir  c  ot  mg.         ykjus  Or  of  such  coarsc  cotton  or  woolen  cloths  as  were 
im]>orted  in  very  limited  quantities  for  their  use. 

The  work  which  was  exacted  from  the  natives  under  Russian  rule 
Arduous  labor  un-  ^^^  uiuch  harder  than  has  since  been  put  upon  them. 
der  the  itussiau  Com-  The  islauds  wcrc  provided  with  no  teams  of  any  descrij)- 
^'^^^'  tion;  the  boats  Avere  rude  affairs,  built  from  pieces  of 

driftwood,  whalebone,  wliale  sinew,  and  sea-lion  skins;  the  storehouses, 
workshops  and  tools  were  ill  constructed  and  inconvenient;  all  of  the 
skins  of  the  thousands  of  seals  slaughtered  each  year  were  transported 
on  the  shoulders  of  the  laborers  from  the  field  to  the  warehouses,  a 
great  amount  of  labor  expended  on  each  skin  in  cleaning  and  drying 
it,  and  all  were  again  shouldered  from  the  warehouses  to  the  boats  to  be 

lightered  to  the  vessels.     In  all  this  work  men,  women, 
Remuneration  ^^^^^  children  participated,  and  each  received  the  small 

stipend  of  a  few  kopeks  per  day  or  per  skin,  barely  sufticientto  pay  for 
the  tea,  sugar,  coarse  clothing,  and  articles  of  domestic  use  supplied  from 
the  Company's  store.  Yet  even  this  poor  subsistence  Avas  furnished 
directly  or  indirectly  from  the  seals,  excepting  a  few  edible  roots  and 
Avild  vegetables  and  an  occasional  fish  or  fowl  at  certain  seasons  of  the 
year.  There  is  absolutely  no  other  source  of  subsistence  at  the  seal 
islands. 

Since  the  occupation  of  the  territory  by  the  Americans  such  a  change 

has  taken  place  in  the  condition  of  the  natives  as  occurs 
ASerfcaJTcont^oi! '^ ^  i^  the  transition  from  barbarism  to  civilization;  and 

such  a  change  as  has  brought  about  them  those  material 


RELATING    TO    PRIBILOF    NATIVES.  GOl 

evidences  of  civilization  whicli  reqnire  for  tlieir  support  and  mainte- 
nance a  constant  and  assured  income.     The  villages  as 
viewed  from  the  exterior  are  indicative  of  their  present  foodl'ete^'^*'^^"'^''' 
])lane  of  living  and  are  such  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
prosperous  mining  and  manufacturing  sections  of  our  country,  compris- 
ing attractive  churches,  well-designed  school-houses,  commodious  store- 
liouses,  and  comfortable  dwellings,  all  built  in  regular  order  and  painted 
white.     During  the  past  twenty  years  the  inhabitants  have  been  con- 
stantly supplied  with  and  become  accustomed  to  the  use  of  the  same 
kind  and  quality  of  moral  training,  mental  teaching,  clothing,  food,  and 
medicines  as  are  supplied  to  and  habitually  used  by  our  most  prosper- 
ons  communities.     If  they  must  surrender  these  things 
it  means  for  them  a  relapse  into  barbarism;  and  the  oS'^"'^''*'^*^"''*'"" 
destruction  of  the  seal  fisheries  enforces  the  surrender. 
They  have  no  otlier  source  of  income  and  know  no  other  business  than 
that  of  seal-fishing.     The  income  of  the  two  seal-island 
comnuinities,   including    only  natives,   has  averaged 
from  1868  to  1889,  inclusive,  more  than  $40,000  per  annum  in  cash,  and, 
in  addition,  they  have  been  furnished  gratuitously  with  the  houses  they 
occupy,  nearly  enough  fuel  to  lieat  them,  medicines  and  medical  attend- 
ance, school-houses,  school  books,  and  teachers.     Their 
moral  and  mental  improvement  have  very  nearly  kept  im^roveme^'t  ""^"'^''*^ 
l)ace  with  the  material  comfort  with  which  they  have 
been  surrounded.     The  children  have  learned  to  read,  write,  and  speak 
English,  and  in  general  intelligence  and  household  economy  all  have 
made  remarkable  progress. 

Is  it  true  that  people  situated  as  these  natives  are  acquire  no  vested 
right  in  the  proi^erty  whereon  they  have  immemorially 
gained  their  livelihood,  which  the  Christian  nations  of  tiv"^s^n*tiieLarherd. 
the  earth  ought  to  respect?     If  it  is  true,  then  the  pre- 
cepts of  Christianity  bear  still  another  and  new  interpretation. 

H.  H.  McIntyee. 

Sworn  to  and  subscribed  atEandolph,  Vermont,  this  1st  day  of  Aug- 
ust, A.  D.  1892,  before  me. 

[L.  s.]  Wm.  H.  Du  Bois, 

Ifotary  Fuhlic. 


DATA  FOR  MIGRATION  CHART. 


Data  cnmpllcd  from  affidavits  hercicith  appended  relaiing  to  the  time  the  Alaslcan  herd, 
ditriiKj  its  mif/ration,  appears,  is  in  the  yreatest  number,  and  disappears  off  various  points 
along  the  coast. 

COAST  OF  CALIPORXIA.  38°  NORTH  LATITUDE. 


Name  of  depoiieut. 


Time  of  appe;iiaiiti 


Manrifp  ;Moss i  December  20-30  . 

C.  H.  Bellow I  January 

"William  Jlrennan i do 

J.  Johuson j do 


Time  of  greatest 
muul3er. 


Time  of  disappearance. 


CAPE  FLATTERY,  48°  NORTH. 


James  Claplanhoo December  20 

J.  Lighthouse December  20-30 

Ellabasli do 

Peter  Brown December  30 

Thomas  Zolnoks  December  25 

AValkins i  December  20-30. 

( »sly !  Jauuary  1 


Alfred  Irvinj 


HishTuUa 

Wispoo 

Frank  Davis 

Landis  Callapa  . . 
Selwisb  Johnson . 


A.  J.  Guild 

John  Tysiin  . . . 
Obarlie'Whito  . 
Wilson  Parker 

Chad.  (!eori;e  .. 
G.'d.  Di.Hhoir... 
Wm.  BiciiiiMU.. 


December  25-Jan. 
uary  1. 


Doc  ember  20-30...  I 

December  25 1 

I)ecember20-:!0...l 

December-J  a  n  u-  i 

ary.  1 

January  1 Jiinel 

December  20-30...  I 

...do 

January  1 

January  

....do 


Marcl 


Cows,  July  15 ;  smalls,  July  15. 

July  15. 

Cows,  June  15;  smalls  later. 

July  1-15. 

Cows,  June;  smalls,  July  15. 

June. 

Cows,  June  15;  smalls,  July  15. 

July  (cows  earlier). 
July  (cows  earlier). 
Smalls.  July. 
.Inly  15  (cows  earlier). 
July  1. 


July  15. 

July  10  (cows  earlier). 

Cows,  June. 


QUEEN  CHARLOTTE  SOUND,  51°  NORTH. 


J.  Neislikaikt .. 
Amos  Mill 


Alarcli  . 
...do  .. 


June. 
June  15. 


DIXON  ENTRANCE  AND  PRINCE  "WILLIAM  ISLAND,  54°  AND  55°  NORTH. 


Wm.  Cl.irlc 

Arnolil 

lienry  Haldauo . 

Luke  Prank 

Frank  

Saqua  Doujjlas  . 
Tom  Hatch  en... 


ISIarcli  . 


^Marrh 
...do.. 
...do.. 
...do  .. 


June  1-10. 
June  1. 

Do. 

Do. 
June. 
June  1. 


602 


DATA    FOR    MIGRATION    CHART. 


603 


Data  compiled  from  affidavits  licrewllh  appended  relaling  to  ihe  lime  Ike  Alaslan  herd, 
during  its  migration,  appears,  is  in  the  greatest  number,  and  disappears  off  various 
points  along  the  coast — Coutiinied. 

DIXON  ENTKANCE  AND  PRINCE  "WILLIAM  ISLAND,  54°  AND  55°  NORTH-Continnetl 


Name  of  deponent. 


Jim  KasooTi 

King  Kaskwa 

Jas.  Klonacket 

Kobt.  Kooko 

Erert.  K.  Alason 

Naston 

Smlthnatcli 

Dan  Natlilan 

Ntkla-ah 

Killy  Williams 

Freil.  Wilson , 

Walter  Young 

Paul  Young 

Hastings  Yetlmow 

Aliel  Ej'an 

Frank  Schenklingwas 

Tlios.  Skowl 

Geo.  Skultka 

Hilly  Yeltacby 


Time  of  appearance. 


March 
...do  .. 


March 
....do  . 
....do  .. 


Marcli 
....do  . 


April . . 
March  . 


.do 
.do 


Time  of  greatest 
number. 


May 

April  and  May 


May  . 


May 

April  30 


Time  of  disappearance. 


June. 
May  30. 
June  1. 

Do. 
June  15. 


June. 

Do. 
July. 
June  1. 
June. 
June  1. 


June. 

Do. 
June  1. 

Do. 
June  15. 
June. 


SITKA  BAY,  57^^  NORTH. 


Peter  Church 

..do 

July  1. 
June  30. 

do 

do 

V.  S.  Weittouhiller 

.     . 

April  15 

June  30. 

July  1. 
Do. 

do            

Cliarlie  Tlaksatan 

A'lril  ID    ... 

July  4. 

I'eter  Trea-sheit 

Mav                  

K.  Walton 

April  15 

July  1. 

YAKITAT,  59°  NORTH. 


Clias.  Avery  . . 
Peter  Church 


April  1. 


June  liO-:;!). 


PRINCE  AVILLTAM  SOUND,  00°  NORTH,  147°  WEST. 


Nicolas  A iidersoTi 

May  1     

April  1  10 

John  W.  Smith 

do 

Frank  Korth 

do 

( )iaf  Kavan 

Mav  1 

K  ifoli  Gregoroft" 

Apiil  30 

Peter  Adungiiu 

do 

Pavel  Shimcakin 

do 

Anton  KalisliiiiUoir 

..  do 

...    llo 

do 

Tiniol'c  Cliaylia 

...do 

do 



do 

- 

...  do  . 

( Jregory  Aogav 

do 

do 

...  do 

Evan  Choonioritsky 

do 

604 


DATA    FOR    MIGRATION    CHART. 


Data  compiled  from  affidai-its  herewith  appended  rdaiinq  to  the  time  the  Alasl-an  herd, 
duriiKj  its  viifiraiiov,  appears,  is  in  the  greale-tt  number,  and  disappears  off  various 
2)oinis  along  the  coast — Coiitiiiucd. 

COOKS  INLET,  59°  NORTH,  152°  WEST. 


N;!lll(>  ordcpOHCllt. 

Time  of  appearance. 

Time  of  greatest 
11  limber. 

Time  of  disa])pcaiaiiee. 

May  1  10 

-do 

.    .  do    

Denis  Mal/off 

do 

do 

Pavel  Olk.w 

do 

.  do     

Will.  Foster 

May  I 

Aplil  15 

May  1   10 

May  oO 

]\lf1iv  MoDJn 

(io    

do 

do 

do 

.  do 

Alox.  Kamlook 

....do 1      -   1 

do 

do 

....do 

1 

.    ..do  .. 

Kicoli  Kash;i<i.ilc 

do 

do 

....do 

do 

Tlieo.  Vnssili 

April  15 

May 

AVrii.  Rohfle 

I'eter  C.  Miller 

KAUIAIv  AND  AFOGNAK,  58^  NOKTH,  152°  WEST. 


Duff I  April  25 

M.  L.  Wasliburue ■  April  30 May  30 

John  C.  Tolman Juiie  1  . 


July  15. 


UNGA  ISLAND,  160°  30'  WEST. 


AVni.  Foster June  1 


TJNALASKA,  1C6°  WEST. 


(r.E.  Miner 

Fred.  Smith 

Joshua  Stickland 


July  10  (?)... 
Julisrl  (?).... 
July  1-10  ( ?) . 


GLOSSARY. 


A. 

Alaska  Catch.     The  trarle  term  for  the  sealskins  ohtaincd  from  the  Pribilof  Tslancls. 
Alaska  Seal  Herd.     Tlie  herd  of  fur-seals  frequenthii;'  the  Pribilof  Islands,  Beriug  Sea, 

and  the  eastern  portion  of  the  North  Pacific  Ocean. 
Alaskas.     The  trade  term  for  the  seal  skins  of  the  Alaska  Catch. 

B. 

Bachelor.  A  younsj  uonbreeding  male  seal  from  one  to  five  or  six  years  of  ay^e.  Syn. 
UolluHcliUik  and  Dog. 

Barabara.  A  large  sod-covered  hut  formerly  used  by  the  Pribilof  natives  as  a  dwell- 
ing. 

Beachmaster.  A  term  used  by  antarctic  sealers  to  designate  a  breeding  male  seal. 
Syn.  Bull,  Seecatch,  and  Wu/. 

Bedlimer.     A  harp-seal  twelve  months  old. 

Bidarka.    A  small  skin-covered  canoe. 

Breaching.     The  act  of  seal  while  swimming,  leaping  from  the  water  like  a  dolphin. 

Breeding  Grounds.  That  portion  of  a  Rookery  which  the  breeding  seals  frequent  and 
where  the  jyiqy  seals  are  born. 

Bull.    A  breeding  male  seal  of  six  or  seven  years  of  age.     Syn.  Seecatcli  and  JVigs.1 

C. 

Clapmatch.     See  Corv. 

Copper  Catch.     The  trade  term  for  seal  skins  obfained  from  the  Commander  Islands. 

Syn.  Russian  Catch. 
Coppers.    The  trade  term  for  seal  skins  of  the  Copper  Catch.     Syn.  Siberias. 
Cow.     A  female  seal  over  one  year  of  age.     Syn.  Mutlca  and  CUq))uatch. 

D. 

Dog.     A  term  used  by  antarctic  sealers  to  designate  a  nonbreeding  male  seal.     Syn. 

Bachelor  and  Holluscliiclc. 
Drive.     The  term  used  to  designate  the  act  of  driving  the  seals  from  the  IfaiiHrig 

Grounds  to  the  Killing  Grounds  or  the  herd  of  seals  thus  driven.     See  also  Rcdriv- 

ing  and  Overdriving. 

F. 

Feeder.  A  term  used  by  pelagic  sealers  to  designate  a  seal  swimming.  Sjti.  Trav- 
eler. 

Female  Catch.  A  term  sometimes  used  to  designate  the  seal  skins  of  tiie  Alaskan 
herd  obtained  by  pelagic  sealing,  because  of  the  majority  being  females.  Syn. 
Xorllin^cst  Catch  and  Victoria  Catch. 

Fiimer.  A  term  used  by  ])elugic  sealers  to  designate  a  seal  lying  ou  his  back  in  the 
water  and  gently  moving  his  flippers. 

Flench.    The  act  of  flaying  a  seal. 

H. 

Harp  Seal.  A  species  of  hair-seal  found  in  the  North  Atlantic  ofT  the  coasts  of  New- 
foundland and  Labrador;  so  called  because  the  stripes  on  the  back  of  the  animal 
give  the  back  some  resemblance  to  a  harp. 

Haul  up.  The  act  of  seal  in  drawing  itself  up  onto  the  shore,  used  to  express  the 
seals  lauding. 

605 


606  GLOSSARY. 

Hauliug  Grounds.     That  portion  of  n  liookcry  frequented  by  nonbreeding  male  seals. 

Located  back  of  or  to  one  side  of  tim  Brredinf/  Groimds. 
HoUuschick  (idiiral,  Ilolhischicl-ie).     A  eoiriiption  of  tlie  Russian  word  "Kholostiuk," 

a  term  used  by  tlie  natives  of  tlie  Pribilol'  and  Commander  Islands  to  designate 

a  nonbreeiling  male.     Syn.  Bachelor  and  Dof/. 
Holy  Seecatch  (I\u.s»ian,  Polu-saykatch.)     A  young  breeding  male  seal. 
Hood  Seals.     A  species  of  hair-seal. 

K. 

Kench.     The  act  of  salting  and  packing  away  seal  skins  in  the  bins  in  the  Salt  HoiiacH. 
Killing  Grounds.     The  place  to  which  the  n()nl)n'ediug  male  seals   are  driven  by  the 

natives  from  the  HaidUni  (Ironnds  and  where  the  seals  are  killed.     Located  -a 

short  distance  from  the  Uaaliiuj  Grounds. 

M. 

Matka  (plural,  Malkic.)    A  female  seal  over  one  year  old.     Syn.  Cow,  Clapmatch, 

Northwest  Catch.  The  trade  term  for  seal  skins  of  the  Alaskan  herd  obtained  by 
pelagic  sealing.     Syn.  Victoria  Catch  and  Female  Catch. 

O. 

Overdriving.  The  act  of  driving  seals  so  rapidly  as  to  cause  them  to  die  of  exhaus- 
tion. 

P. 

Pelagic  Sealer.     One  engaged  in  Felafjic  Sealing. 

Pelagic  Sealing.     The  act  of  hunting  seals  in  tlie  water.     . 

Pinky  Skins.     Seal  skins  which  are  spoiled  by  reason  of  the  blubber,  with  which  they 

are  lined,-  becoming  decayed. 
Pod.    A  small  grotip  of  pups  or  bachelor  seals. 
Podding.     The  gathering  togetlicr  into  groups,  called  "pods,"  of  pup  seals;  or  the 

separating  a  small  nnmljer  of  bachelor  seals  into  a  group. 
Pup.     A  young  seal  of  less  tlian  two  years  old.     A  Hack  pup  is  a  seal  less  than  two 

months  or  ten  weeks  old.     A  {irafi  pup  is  a  puj)  over  two  months  old.     The  names 

come  from  the  color  of  the  hair,  which  changes. 

R. 

Raids.     The  act  of  unlawfully  landing  on  Uookery  and  killing  seals  thereon. 

Redriving.  The  act  of  driving  unmarketable  nonbreeding  males  for  several  consecu- 
tive days  from  the  same  Jlaulim/  Grounds. 

Roller.  A  term  used  by  pelagic  sealers  to  designate  a  seal  resting  on  fhe  surface  of 
the  water,  a-rolliug  over  every  few  moments. 

Rookery.  A  shore  on  which  seals  come  on  lan<l.  It  is  divided  into  two  parts.  Breed- 
ing (trounds  and  IlauUng  Grounds  (which  see). 

Russian  Catch.  The  trade  term  for  seal  skins  obtained  from  the  Commander  Islands. 
Syn.  Copper  Calch. 

S. 

Salt  House.  A  house  erected  for  the  purjiose  of  salting  and  packing  seal  skins  and  of 
storing  tlie  same  on  the  islands. 

Seecatch  (plural,  Seecatchie).  A  corruption  of  the  Russian  word  "Saykatch,"  a 
term  used  by  the  natives  of  the  Pribilof  and  Commander  Islands  to  designate  a 
breeding  male  seal.     Syn.  Bull,  Wig.  and  lieachmastcr. 

Siherias.  A  term  sometimes  applied  to  the  seal  skins  taken  on  the  Commander  Is- 
lands.    Syn.  Coppers. 

Sleeper.  A  term  used  by  pelagic  sealers  to  designate  a  seal  sleeping  on  the  surface 
of  the  water. 

Stagy  Skins.     Seal  skins  taken  from  the  animal  while  it  is  shedding  its  hair. 


GLOSSARY.  607 

T. 

Traveler.     A  term  used  by  pelagic  sealers  to  designate  a  seal  swinmiing.     Syn.  Feeder. 

V. 

Victoria  Catch,     A  term  sometimes  employed  to  designate  the  seal  skins  obtiiined  from 
the  Alaskan  herd  by  pelagic  sealing.     Syn.  Sorllttveat  Catch  ahd  Female  Catch. 

W, 

Wig.    A  term  used  by  antarctic  sealers  and  furriers  to  designate  a  breeding  male 
seal.     Syn.  Bull,  See  catch,  and  Beachviaster. 
Also  the  bunch  of  long  coarse  hairs  on  the  neck  of  a  male  seal;  the  maue. 

Y. 

Yellow-bollios.    Two  year-old  male  fur-seala. 


SUBJECT-INDEX. 


Page. 

Afognak,  when  seals  appear  off , 227 

Alaska  catch 519,  548,  551 

Alaska  Commercial  Company: 

care  taken  of  seals 1 17,  422 

formation  of 536,  580 

lease  from  Russia  of  Commander  Islands 542 

log  hook  of 29 

not  engaged  in  pelagic  sealing 79 

statement  of  skins  purchased  Ijy 510 

Alaska,  Southeastern,  no  seals 247 

Aleiite,  Russian  gunboat 65 

Aleutian  inhabitants,  seal  hunters 54,  63 

Aleutian  Islands: 

feeding  of  seals 411 

hauling  up  not  done  on 205,  206,  213,  214 

rookeries,  none 208,  215, 216 

seals  not  seen  in  A'icinity 213,  215,  216 

American  management,  improved  methods  under 58,  69,  77 

Anchor  Point  (Cooks  Inlet),  seals  off,  few 229,  230,  232 

Annette  Island,  no  seals  at 277,  284,  287 

Antarctic  sealing 450 

rookeries  destroyed 456,  593,  596 

seals 424 

Areas  of  rookeries 407,417 

Attn  Island,  seals  do  not  visit 214 

Australia,  sealskins  from 569,  578 

Bachelor  seals.     {See  Seals.) 

Barclay  Sound,  seals  scarce  in 305,  306,  311 

Barren  Island  (Cooks  Inlet),,  hunting  on 219 

Bates,  C.  Francis,  corroborates  Joseph  Ullmaun 528 

"  Bedlamers  " 592 

Bering  Island 199 

Big  Polavina,  rookery ■. 13 

Birth,  pelagic.    {See  Pups.) 

Brabant,  Father,  Belgic  priest 332 

Branding 98,  106, 137, 160, 194 

"  Preachers,"  defined 355 

Breeding.    (iSee  Seals.) 

Breeding  gi'ouuds.     {See  Rookeries.) 

Brerton,  Engineer 415 

British  Columbia,  hauling  up,  not  done  on 287,  288 

Buyers  of  sealskins 564,  566 

Bulls,  age  when  thev  seek  breeding  grounds 166 

arrival  of . . . .  \ 25,  66,  75,  81, 129, 133, 148 

breeding,  saved 81 

described 63 

destruction  of,  by  pelagic  sealing 356 

easily  distinguished 227 

examination  of  skins 402 

excess  over  females 161, 195 

few  taken  in  pelagic  sealing 231.256,  257,277, 

282,  284,  289,  290,  291,  295,  296,  301,  303,  310,  313,  315,  320,  395,  405,  494 

ferocity  of 70 

first  to  enter  Bering  Sea 70, 422 

habits 6,  7.  21, 25 

numbers  sufficient  for  breeeding 74,  7.5,  94,  97, 104, 109, 135, 142, 146, 151, 181 

polygamous 135 

609 
2617— VOL  II 30 


610  SUBJECT-INDEX. 

Page 

Bulls,  rcinahi  on  islands 493 

return  to  same  place 148 

Bcarcitv  of,  1886 51 

virilit:^'  of  .... : 38,  49,  84,  89, 146, 151, 183 

5'oung  ones,  killed 285 

Californiau  Coast: 

sealing  off 316,  320,  324,  325, 326, 431 

when  seals  appear 62 

Cape  Blanco,  sealing  off 316, 419 

Cook,  sealing  off 317 

Douglass,  sealing  off 225 

Elizabeth,  sealing  off 226,  230 

Flattery,  sealing  off 221,  231,  314,  315,  317,  321,  323,  329, 405, 422,  547 

Horn,  rookeries  depleted 515,  541 

sealskins  from 551,  557,  569,  573,  578 

Capital,  London,  in  sealskin  business 552, 565, 574,  576 

New  York,  in  sealskin  business 563 

Catch,  Alaska 548 

average,  of  schooner 325 

by  natives 308 

Copper 548,  556 

in  1868 63 

1888 410 

1891 19 

Northwest 556,  505,571,572,  573 

of  Ada 310 

Adcle 330 

J  lexander 417 

A  Iqer 432 

Arid 306,  323 

Hancock 430 

Kate 316 

La  Nympha 430,  433 

Laura 433 

Lookout .- 431 

Mary  de  Leo 431 

Marvin 326 

Mary  Taylor 329 

Mascot 317 

May  Belle 317 

Minnie 310,  317,  320 

Mischief 330 

Mollie  Adams 322,  330 

Otto 333,  337 

San  Diego 413, 431 

Sea  Lion 323 

Sea  Otter 421 

Seaward 432 

Thistle 325 

Triumph 326,  434 

VanderbtJt 327,  427 

Venture 330 

Walter  Ilich 313 

Wilson 327 

off"  St.  George  Island  coast 316 

Charts,  Brown's 20,  44,  60, 167 

Chatham  Sound,  no  seals  in 249,  250,  253 

Straits,  uo  seals  in 247,248 

Chile,  sealing  off 430 

CI apmatches  defined 598 

Clayquot  Sound,  senls  in 231 

Cliinate  of  Pribilof  Islands 4,  61,  75,  80, 160 

and  Commander  Islands 4 

Close  season  necessary 322,  323,  335,  341,  426, 459,  468,  481 

Columbia  River,  seals  at  mouth  of 327,  330 

Commander  and  Pribilof  Islands  rookeries,  size  of 203 

seals,  difference  between 198,  201 

Robbcn  Islands,  seals  taken  from 204 

climate - 4 


SUBJECT-INDEX.  611 

Page. 

Commander  and  Robben  Islands,  hauling  up 12 

lierd 4,  78, 197,  215 

rookeries 197, 404 

Cook's  Inlet,  Barren  Island,  off 219 

liair  seal  rookery  on 228 

seals  off 217,  229 

wLen  seals  appear 223,  224,  225 

rookeries  none 227,  230 

Coos  Bay,  seals  at 231 

Copper  island,  catch 19G,  328, 548, 556, 570 

drivin.2;  on 56 

rookeries  on 196 

Cows,  arrival  of 25,  GG,  81, 129, 133, 148, 422 

bear  pups  at  2  years 519 

description  of 519,  548 

feeding 1,  2,  21,  34,  39,  83, 103, 108, 129, 139, 140, 

143,  144,  148,  158,  1G6,  180, 189,  208,  242,  355,  359,  363,  367,  371,  374,  400,  408,  410, 
416,  420,  438,  444,  446,  448,  449,  451,  458,  461,  4G4,  471,  473,  475,  490,  503,  505,  506 

habits  of 21, 131 

increase  of 7, 151, 199 

instructions  not  to  kill 103 

natives  do  not  kill 90 

not  killed  on  islands 108, 128, 131, 133, 139, 149 

nursing  of  pups 5,  33,  41,  62,  71,  89, 104, 110, 130, 133, 148,  375,  450 

pregnant  or  with  pup  mostlv  taken  in  pelagic  sealing 39, 100, 139, 

140,  146,  189,  211,  241,  243,"  258,  261,  262,  264,  265,  266,  268,  269,  272,  273,278, 
279,  282,  287,  291,  293,  310,  342,  344,  345,  346,  347,  348,  349,  350,  356,  357,  364, 
365,  367,  368,  369,  374,  377,  379,  380,  382,  383,  384,  385,  387,  388,  389,  391,  394, 
395,  396,  397,  398,  400,  420,  445,  446,  448,  450,  453,  456,  457,  458,  460,  461,  463, 
464,  465,  466,  468,  469,  470,  471,  474,  476,  477,  478,  479,  480,  482,  483,  486,  488,  489, 
490,  502,  507,  508,  511,  512,  513,  516,  519,  520,  521,  522, 524,  527,  533,  534,  561,  588 

protection  of,  by  Alaska  Commercial  Company 86 

skins  not  so  good  as  those  of  males 590 

Crozett  Islands 541 

Dead  piips.     (iSee  Pups.) 
Decrease  of  seal  life.     {See  Seals.) 

Disenchantment  Bay,  no  seals  in 238,  244 

Dixon's  Entrance,  arrival  of  seals  at 298 

sealing  in 277,  280,  281>  284,  287,  293, 294 

sea-otter  in 303 

Dressing  and  dyeing  of  skins 552,563,568 

Driving,  American,  better  than  Russian 99, 142 

and  redriving 1, 2,  38,  49,  64,  72,  82, 137, 145, 159, 161, 182, 196, 199 

killing 72, 105, 110,  111,  198 

cautiously  conducted. . . .  91,  97,  99, 104, 107, 129, 131, 133, 145, 155, 157,  181,  414 

methods  employed 21,  54,  55,  68,  89, 182 

on  C'ojiper  Island 56 

St.  Paul  Island 150 

Elliott,  Prof.  H.  W.,  report,  1874,  on  increase 93 

Extermination  of  seals.     {See  Seals.) 

Fair-weather  ground,  sealing  off 221 

Falkland  Islands,  sealskins  from 551,  593 

Farallon  Islands,  sealing  off 241,  319 

Feeding  grounds  of  cows.     {Sec  Seals.) 
Female  seals     {See  Cows.) 

Finners  defined 355 

Firearms.     (iSee  Weapons.) 

Flag,  change  of 343^  420 

Flipperers  defined 56 

Fog  about  islands 11,  99 

Food  of  seals 6,  101, 161,  355 

Fort  Kenai  (Cooks  Inlet)   228 

Four  Mountain  Pass,  seals  at 211 

Fur-seal.     {See  Seals.) 

Galapagos  Island,  sealing  off 472,  515 

Garbotch,  rookery 13^  415 

Georgia  Island,  sealing  off 324 

Gongh  Island 596 

Gray's  Harbor,  sealing  off 317 


612  SUBJECT-INDEX. 

Pase, 

Great  East  Rookery 13 

Guadalupe  Island,  seals  exterminated  at 430,  515 

Hadley,  Lieut.  H.  M.  S.  Pheasant 323 

Harems.    (See  Seals.) 

Harris,  Alired,  corroborates  Joseph  ITllmann 529 

Hauling  up,  coast,  not  done  on 12,    26.    27,    40,    61,    70,  202,  223,  245, 

250,  251,  253,  254,  255,  258,  262,  264,  265,  266,  267,  271,  273,  274,  276,  278,  279,  281, 
282,  284,  285,  286,  287,  289,  290,  291,  292,  296,  297,  299,  301,  302,  303,  304,  309,  311, 
313,  315,  316,  323,  326,  329,  335,  339,  348,  350,  371,  377,  379,  380,  383,  384,  385,  387, 
388,  389,  390, 392,  394,  396,  397,  398,  405,  407,  409,  412,  416,  455,  457,  459,  466,  470, 
472,  478,  481,  482,  484,  485,  488,  490 
(See  also  Pribilof  Islands.) 

grounds 12, 13,  06, 164,  217,  236 

Herald,  The  New  York 321 

Hesqiiiat  Village 332 

Hopucheiset  Village 305 

Hutchinson  Hill 17 

lev  Bav,  no  seals  in 239,  243 

Indian'  hunters 208,  261,  318,  320,  322,  331,  332,  391,  474 

Indians  suffer  from  a  scarcity  of  seals 279,  288,  289,  294,  297 

Pachenah,  use  of  seals  by 305 

(See  rtZso  Natives.) 

International  Company  has  lease  of  Guadalupe  Islands 430 

Jaeckel,  Hugo,  corroborates  Ullmann 531 

Japan,  hunting  on  coast  of 427 

supply  of  sealskins  from 547 

Japanese  sealskins 403,  570,  571,  581 

Juan  Fernandez  Island,  seals  at 430 

Jumpers  defined 355 

Kadiak,  no  rookeries  on 222 

sealino-  oft' 324,  336 

Kalqui  Island,  liair-seal  rookery  on 228 

Kelp  beds,  pups  not  born  on 34,  213,  222 

none  outside  Barclay  Sound 306 

Kenches  defined 57 

Kerguelen  Land 540 

Ketavie  rookery 13 

Killing  of  seals.     (See  Seals.) 

King-Hall,  F.  (newspaper  correspondent) 321,  336 

Kormondorski  Island  sealskins 564,  570 

Labor  employed  in  sealskin  industry 523,  526,  549,  558, 563,  573,  582,  588 

Lngoon  rookery 13 

Lampson  &  Co.,  London,  consignees  of  skins 536,  564 

Lessees,  policy  of 136, 157, 544 

Litzu  Bay,  no  seals  in 243 

Little  East  rookery 13 

Little  Polavina  rookery 13 

Lobos  Islands,  supply  of  seal  skins  from 551,  556, 557,  569,  573,  578 

London,  capital  in  seal  skin  Industry 552,  565.  576 

dressing  and  dyeing  of  skins 524,  526.  527, 

528,  530,  531,  539,  552,  558,  561,  563,568,  573 

trade  in  sealskins 526,  546,  552,  564,  572 

lAikannon  rookery 13 

McManus,  Robert  (ncAvspaper  correspondent) 321 

Marmont  Island,  spearing  of  seal  off 333 

Martin  &  Co.,  dyers  and  dressers 571 

Martin  &  Teichmann,  dyers  and  dressers 546 

Massafuero  Island,  seals  off 430,  541 

Mchucaleset  village 305 

Merriam,  Dr.  C.  Hart 17 

Migration.     (See  Seals.) 

Native  hunters,  methods  emploved  bv 231 

Natives,  condition  of .' ' 8,  70, 162,  543,  600 

effect  of  decrease  of  seals  on 130, 133, 163 

interest  in  seal  industry 53 

under  Russian  Comijauy GOO 

wages  of 543 

((See  also  Indians.) 

Noah  Bay  Indians,  hunters 231,  309 

New  York,  capital  employed  in  sealskin  industry 563 


SUBJECT-INDEX.  G13 

Page. 

New  York,  dressing  and  dying  of  skins  in 563 

New  Zealand,  sealskins  from 578 

North  American  Commercial  Company  in  1890 415 

Northeast  Harbor,  sealing  in 330 

Northeast  Point  rookery 13 

North  Pacific  seal  fisheries,  history  of 579 

seals  killed  in 401,  402, 475 

Northwest  and  Alaskan  skins  differ  from  others 455 

catch 54S,  54i),  556,  565,  570,  572,  573 

Nuchuk,  no  seals  at 243 

Nursing  females.     (See  Cows.) 

Ohiat  Village,  in  Barclay  Sound , 305 

Oppenheim,  J.  M.  &  Co.,  consignees  of  skins 545,  .567 

Otter  Island 86 

Overdriving 97,  146, 150, 151, 161 

Pachenah  Bay,  British  scho  oners  in 304 

Indians,  sealers - 305 

Pacific  Ocean,  North,  sealing  in 323 

sealskins  the  Ijest   555 

season  in 435,  436,  439,  441 

Passes  seals  go  through 147 

Patagonia,  rookeries  on 593 

Pelagic  birth  impossible.     (See  Pups.) 

Pelagic  sealing 51,  65, 74, 158, 197 

bulls  not  taken  in.     (6't-e  Bulls.) 

catch 52. 186,  495,  496,  497,  irS 

cost  of  outfit '. 454,501,502 

course  of  vessels 422 

decrease  in  herd  caused  bv 17, 18, 26, 28, 29, 84, 88, 93,  98, 99, 100, 

101, 103,108,  111,  112, 130, 132, 133, 138, 139, 140,  143,  146, 181, 183, 184, 
195, 199,  203,  205,  208,  212,  215,  219,  230,  246,  261,  262,  264,  266,  267,  269, 
270, 272,  273,  274,  277,  279,  280,  299,  301,  302,  304,  310,  318,  319,  321,  327, 
328,  332,  339,  340,  344,  347,  348,  356,  360,  365,  367,  370,  371,  372,  375.  377, 
378,  379,  380,  381,  382,  383,  384,  385,  388,  389,  391,  392,  393,  394,  395,  396, 
397,  398,  404,  414,  415,  419,  422,  424,  426, 432,  437,  440,  441,  442,  444,  446, 
447,  448,  449,  450,  451,  452,  456,  457,  458,  459,  461,  462,  463,  466,  468,  470, 
473,  477,  480,  481,  483,  484,  485,  486,  487,  488,  489,  490,  514,  528,  538,  587 

extermination  of  seals  imminent  by 69,  322,  323, 

328,  395,  404,  405,  415,  420,  423,  424,  432,  438,  441,  478,  481,  545,  546,  588 

increase  of- 37,  92, 151 

inexperienced  sealers  engaged  in 506 

Indians  engaged  in 494,  502 

methods  employed  in 51.  35^;,  o60,  394 

outfit  of  vessels 366,  369,  452 

pregnant  cows  taken  in.     {See  Cows.) 

prohibition  necessarv 22,  73,  76, 

99, 113, 138,  150,  152,  160,  162, 175, 177, 179, 187,  189,  206,  208,  221, 
223,  227,  230,  232,  234,  244,  257,  267,  320,  334,  340,  342,  345,  346,  348, 
349,  350,  351,  355.  356,  357,  363,  365,  366,  368,  370,  375,  378,  381,  406, 
408,  409,  413,  416;  436,  438,  439,  443,  444,  445,  447,  451, 452,  455,  456, 
457,  458,  459,  463,  467,  468,  470,  475,  476,  478,  479,  481,  483,  484,  485, 
486,  491,  495,  514,  527,  532,  534,  538,  540, 546,  547,  553,  557,  570,  574 

skins  taken  in,  less  valuable 453,  521,  522 

spears 385,  386,  388 

vessels  engaged  in 361,  502,  505,  514 

waste  of  life  bv 78, 158, 184, 186, 188, 197,  212,  225,  226,  23S,  242, 

260,  266,  271,  272,  274,  277,  279,  281,  282,  283,  284,  286,288,  289,  291, 
294,  296,  298,  29',  301,  311,  319,  321,  322,  323,  324,  326,  328,  329,  331, 
333,  338,  339,  342,  344,  345,  346,  347,  348,  350,  355,  356,  360,  367,  372, 
374,  375,  3-2,  385,  388,  390,  391,  394,  400,  405,  406.  409,  411,  412,  413, 
415,  417,  418,  419,  423,  424,  425,  427,  428,  429,  430.  432,  436,  442,  443, 
446,  447,  448,  449,  450, 451,  453,  456,  457,  458,  46(>.  UL'.  16,S,  464,  465, 
466,  467,  408,  469,  471, 472,  473,  476,  477,  478,  479,  480,  482,  483.  484, 
485,  486,  487,  489,  490,  493,  497,  502,  504,  506,  507,  511,  514,  534,  538 

•wages  of  hunters  in 362,  466 

when  began 69,78,342,346 

weapons  used  in 186, 188,  221,  233, 234,  256,  260,  261,  262,  264,  267, 

268,  271,  273,  274,  278,  279,  282,  288,  289,  294,  296,  298,  304,  314,  315, 
316,  319,  323,  325,  327,  330,  831,  336,  371,  377,  395,  404,  408,  409,  4 13, 
414,  418,  419,  423,  428,  429,  432,  433,  438,  446,  447, 464,  486,  520 


614  SUBJECT-INDEX. 

Page. 

Phelan,  John  J.,  verifies  McClennen 517 

Poaching.     (<See Pelagic  sealing.) 

Polavina  rookery  on  St.  Paul  Island 408 

Port  Etches,  seals  off 233 

Pribilof  Islands,  climate  of 4, 11,  61,  75,  80, 160, 164 

diminished  catch  on 509 

groups  of  seals  on 13 

home  of  Alaskan  seals  on 135 

in  1868 63 

meteorological  conditions  of 11 

origin  of 11 

pui>  seals  bom  on 224,232,358 

raids  on 400 

rookeries  and  hauling  grounds,  the  only  ones 37,  59, 164,  212, 

218,  219,  223,  349,  366, 367,  368,  376,  382, 445, 447, 485 

seals  different  from  those  of  Commander  Islands 198, 201, 203 

size  of  herd 543 

where  situated 80 

why  seals  chose 164 

Prices  of  sealskins 573,  575 

Prince  of  Wales  Island,  sealing  off 277,  283,  284,  285,  289,  297,  299,  302 

Prince  William  Sound,  when  seals  appear  off" 223,  233, 2.34,  236 

Profits  of  fur  merchants 526 

Pups,  aquatic  birth  impossible 5, 13,  23,  29 

34,  67,  72, 164, 165, 198,  217,  218,  221,  222,  234,  238,  239,  240,  242,  243, 24A 
245,  246,  249.  250,  251,  252,  256,  257,  258,  260,  261,  262,  264, 26.5,  266,  267 
269,  271, 273,  274,  275,  276,  278,  279,  280,  281,  282,  283,  284, 285,  287,  288! 
289,  290,  291,  294,  295,  296,  297,  298,  299,  301,  302,  303,  309,  318,  319, 323! 
326,  329,  331,  335,  349,  350,  356,  364,  366,  367,  368,  369,  370,  371,  375,  376: 
378,  380.  382,  385,  387,  388,  389,  390,  396,  405,  418,  428,  432,  439,  440,  444' 
445,  447,  450,  454,  457,  459,  466,  468,  470,  478,  479,  481,  482,  484,  48-5 

autopsies  of 19 

birth  of 25,  81, 100, 108, 136, 148 

return  to  place  of 358 

black,  skins  of  unborn 503 

Chatham  Sound,  in 2,50 

condition  when  born 51^   75 

departure  of,  from  islands 100 

gray 305. 401,  403 

habits  of ■. .       359 

inability  to  swim 34, 41,  67,  72,  82,  87, 100 

104, 108, 109,  110,  129,  133,  136,  144,  146,  149,  160,  165, 180, 189, 198,505 

killed  for  food 101 

migration  of 104,  212 

mortality  among 26,  32,  39,  51,  64,  69,  71,  74, 87,  89,  95,  98, 100, 101, 

102, 103, 108, 110, 116, 128,  130,  131,  132,  139,  140,  141,  143, 144, 146, 152, 
159, 161, 164,  209,  374,  375,  408,  415,  426,  459,  481,  483,  484,  503,  505,  52l' 

podding,  description  of 16,56,62,82 

Pribilof  Islands,  born  only  on.     (See  also  Pribiloff  Islands) 356,  367 

sustenance  of 146, 148, 149, 165 

Unalaska,  natives  of,  take  for  food 209 

where  born  .  .61, 189,  220,  223,  224,  226,  229,  231, 232,  236,237,  238,  23  ',240,' 258,  288 

Queen  Charlotte  Island,  no  hauling  up  on 4,287,288 

sealing  off' 286^  299 

Raid  on  Robben  Island  by  Manna  Loa 193 

St.  George  Island 421 

Eaids 108,  111,  128, 133,  i43, 160, 183, 195, 198 

few  have  occurred 78 

on  rookeries ! ! ! !  39,'72,'  76,'  i75,  436 

Russian  seal  islands 217 

Redriving.    ((See  Driviug.) 

Rees  Islet,  Chile,  sealing  oft" 430 

Revenue  from  seals  to  United  States 546 

ReviDon,  Fr^res,  French  sealskin  dealers 589 

Rice,  George,  dresser  and  dyer 552 

Rifles.     («See  weapons.) 

Robben  Island,  history  of  sealing  at 153 

raids  on 193,  203,  357 

sealing  stopped  on 198 


SUBJECT-INDEX.  615 

Page. 

Eobben  Island,  seals  differ  from  Commauder  Island  seals 193 

sealskins  from 564,  570 

size  of  seals 203 

reef 12 

Rollers,  defined 355 

Eookeries  and  breeding  grounds,  protection  of 86 

hauling  groujids,  description  of 66 

location  of 217 

appearance  of 67,  68,  75 

areas  of 36,  73,  89,  407,  417 

breeding  on 38,  61,  75,  106, 107,  210,  438 

Cape  Horn 515, 541 

care  of 51 

charts  of 20 

condition  of  iu  1836 51 

decrease  of 93,  407,  417,  422 

depleted  condition  of  in  1840 77 

desertion  of 487 

expansion  of  in  1877 77 

Garbotch,  St.  Paul  Island 13,  415 

Japanese 547 

management  of 97, 408, 414 

measurement  of 89 

on  Copper  Island 196 

Commander  Island 404 

Pribilof  Islands  {see  also  Pribilof  Islands) 12,  59 

St.  George  Island. 75 

St.  Paul-Island 75 

South  Shetland  Islands 424,  577 

present  and  past  condition  of 17 

protection  of 12,  86 

raids  on 436 

reef  of,  St.  Paul  Island 415 

Eobben  Bank 404 

where  situated 224,  232,  233, 234, 235 

Eookery,  Big  Polaviua 13 

Great  East 13 

hair-seal  in  Cooks  Inlet 228 

Katavie 13 

Lagoon 13 

Little  East 13 

Little  Polaviua 13 

Lukannon 13 

North  Starry  Arteel • 13 

Tolstoi 13 

Zapadnie 13 

Eussia,  sealing  forbidden  by,  before  1867 539 

Russian  Alaska  Company 599 

IJiissian  American  Company,  contract  with  Oppenheim  &  Co 545 

Eussian  and  Alaskan  seals  do  not  intermingle 204,  4.38,  441 

Fur  Company,  condition  of  natives  under 8 

fur-seal 403 

Islands,  catch  on 202 

management  of 202 

management 545 

seals  killed 195 

smaller  than  American 550 

sealskins 561,  567 

side  of  Bering  Sea,  sealing  on 427 

Eutting  season,  when  it  begins 67 

St.  George  Island 415 

origin  of 11 

roolveries  on 13 

St .  P aull sland . .       415 

area  of  rookeries  on 1)^,  73 

origin  of 11 

pups,  dead  on  rookeries  of 415 

seals  on,  in  1870 414 


t)16  SUBJECT-INDEX. 

Page. 
Sanclwicli  Land 594 

Schooners.     (iSee  Vessels.) 

Sea-otter  extermination  of 219,  279,  288,  295, 299,  301, 302 

hunters  of 218 

Seals,  Alaska  fur,  arrival  of 13, 66, 173,  lU,  218 

bachelor 12 

arrival  of 2,  25,  82, 129, 133, 149, 420,  422 

habits  of 7^  21 

branding  and  marking  of 98, 106, 137, 160, 194 

breeding.     (See  Kookories.) 

catch  on  Pribilof  Islands.     (See  Catch.) 

care  taken  of 145^  150 

classes  separated 86 

copulation  of 2,  6 

disease  among,  almost  unknown 91 

100, 103, 107, 128, 131, 133, 146, 151, 183 

domestication  of,  easy 52 

69,  96, 105, 145, 153, 154, 156, 181, 182, 206,  409,  472 
extermination  of,  probable.     {See  Pelagic  sealing.) 

liabits  of 3,  43, 135, 166,  210,  359, 472, 475,  485 

liarems 6, 13, 14, 135, 166, 177 

home  of 12 

increase  of 18,  33,  99, 106, 135, 155 

indiscriminate  killing  of.     (See  Pelagic  sealing;  Waste  of  life.) 
killing  and  driving.     (See  Driving  and  redriving.) 

by  Russians 195,  508 

care  taken  in 157 

for  food 83 

gang,  the 72 

grounds 72 

how  conducted 68 

none  in  mid-ocean 358 

of 173 

season 25,56,83 

management  of 173^  178 

migration  of 6,   24,   40,    61,   62,   67,100,104,108, 

130, 131, 136, 144, 180, 194,  205,  208,  213,  214,  215,  216,  231, 
260,  264,  266,  268,  270,  271,  279,  283,  288,  292, 294,  295,  296, 
298,  301,  302,  321,  323,  331,  341,  314,  349,  350,  356,  358.  365, 
366,  369,  392,  394,  396,  397,  405,  409,  416,  428,  430, 433;  442, 
445,  459,  466,  469, 474, 478,  480, 481,  483,  484,  485,  488,  539 

numbers  of,  how  estimated 71, 161 

in  1881 176.  223,  238,  239,  241 

percentage  of,  lost  in  shooting.     (See  Pelagic  sealing.) 

scent  of,  keenness 591 

shooting,  how  done 261,  315 

sink  wheu  shot 188,  521,  486 

size  of  diminishing 402 

sex  of,  indistinguishable  in  water..  .59, 189,  205,  210,  219,  233,  242,255, 
256,  257,  258,  260,  262,  265,  266,  268,  269, 270,  272, 
273,  274,  275,  280,  28.3,  287,  288,  294,  295,  298,  301, 
310,  318,  345,  348,  372, 374,  388,  392,  446, 477, 479 

no  disproportion  in 159 

South  Sea,  extermination  of 577 

speed  in  swimming 6,  63,  328,  438 

" stagey"  season  defined 86 

uniparous  (see  Pups,  birth  oi") 165 

virility  of.     (^ee  Bulls.) 
yearlings.     (See  Yearlings.) 

Seals,  hair ; 228,554,591 

liarp 591 

hood 592 

Sealskin?,  buyers  of,  list 564,  566 

classes  of 393, 521,  522 

distinguishable  from  each   other. . .  .516, 519,  558, 569,  571, 573, 575, 581,  588 
dressing  and  dyeing  of.      (See  Dressing  and  dyeing.) 

examination  ofj  by  E.  E.  Webster 403 

in  1892 401,402 


SUBJECT-INDEX.  617 

Page. 

Sealskins,  home  consTimptiou 454 

labor  iu,  industry.     {See  Labor.) 

packing 91 

prices  of 513, 521,  573 

Enssian 577 

sex  can  be  told  from 5,  65,  508,  512,  552,  557,  549,  569 

size  of 453 

sources  of  supply 537,  542,  570,  579 

South  sea 551, 555,  577 

supply  irregular 565,  566 

transportation  of 9 

■weight  of 1 

Sechart  Indian  village 305 

Seizures  of  sealers  (see  also  A'cssels) 190,  191,  192,  194,  197,  341 

Seventy-two,  sealing  off 410 

Shotguns  (see  Weapons.) 

Silk  used  in  sealskin  manufacture,  value  of 526 

Sitka 222,  228 

no  seals  off 239,  248 

Sound,  arrival  of  seals  at 261,  268 

seals  taken  in 256 

Skinners  defined 56 

South  Shetland  Islands 424,  577 

South  Georgia  Islands'  rookeries 421,  594,  596 

seals  off 594 

Spears.     (iSee  Weapons.) 

Stabbers  defined 56 

Stevens'  Passage,  no  seals  in 247,  248 

Stinkers  defined 453 

Teichmann,  Emil,  knowledge  of  sealskin  industry 564 

Terra  del  Fuego,  seals  on 593,  596 

Three-year  olds,  number  taken 281 

■  St.  Paul  Island 115 

Tolstoi,  dead  pups  at 19 

rookeries  on 13 

Toquat  village 305 

Trade  in  London,  extent  of.     (See  London.) 

sealskins  up  to  time  of  American  ownership 545 

Transportation  of  sealskins 9 

Treadwell,  George  H.,  corroborates  J.  J.  Phelan 524 

Henry,  corroborates  Joseph  UUmann 529 

Tseinsheaus  seal  hunters 279 

Unalaska,  Challenge  taken  to 315 

Unimak  Pass,  Challenge  seized  in 315 

no  seals  at 416 

sealing  off' 221,  320,  321,  329,  410 

United  States,  property  in  seal  fishery 543 

revenue  from  seal  fishery 539 

sealskin  industry,  jiersons  employed  in 526,  538 

Uruguay  (Lobos  Islands) ! o.'ie 

Vancouver  Island,  no  hauling  up  on 304 

.    sealing  oft' 231,  317,  324,  326 

sealskins  from 547 

Veniamenof  on  killing  of  male  seals 77 

Vessels: 

Active,  catch  of 432 

Ada 310,331 

seized 310 

Adams,  A  Ibert,  seized 187 

A  If  red,  seized 315 

Al'olUc 330 

Adele 329 

Alexander 417.  418 

cateli  of 407,  429 

Alger,  catch  of 431 

.(iZjj/i  a,  seized 187 


618  SUBJECT-INDEX. 

Page. 
Vessels — Continued. 

Angel  Dollie,  captnre  of 39 

log  of 65 

Annie,  seized 187 

Ariel,  catth  of 305,306 

xirannah,  seized  by  Enssia 1U4,316 

Beck,  An na,  seized 187 

Black  Diamond,  seized 188 

Boivhead 404 

Carolena,  seized 186 

skins  taken  from 65 

Challenge 315 

catch  of 265 

seized 187 

Clly  of  San  Diego 327 

Cygnet 424 

Dashing  Wave,  catch  of 430 

Dolphin,  seized 187 

Dora 427 

Dyer,  Maitie  T.,  seized 456 

Ellen,  seized 187 

Emma  and  Louisa,  examination  of  skins  on 402 

Favorite 221,  323,  332,  334 

seized 334 

Folder 404 

Hancock,  catch  of 430 

Handy,  Sylvia 4 10 

Helena,  seized  by  Russia 194 

Henrietta,  seized  by  Russia 194 

Hunt,  Sarah 324 

Kate 316 

ordered  out  of  Bering  Sea 316 

Kate  and  Anna,  seized 187 

La  Xympha,  catch  of 430,  433 

La  Rosa,  catch  of 432 

Laura 404 

catch  of 433 

Lewis,  J.  H.,  skins  taken  from 65 

seized 197 

seized  by  Russia 194 

Lilly  L 227 

seized 187 

Lookout,  catch  of 431 

Maggie  Boss,  catch  of 406 

Mauna  Loa,  raid  by 193 

Manning,  Kate 424 

Marmn,  E.  B 325 

Mary  Taylor 329 

Mary  de  Leo 431 

Mascot 317,330 

Maud 317 

May  Belle 317 

Minnie 310,  314,  317,  320,  330 

seized 188 

Avarned  out  of  Bering  Sea 320 

Mischief 330 

seals  transferred  to 317 

Mountain  Chief 324,  329 

On  ward  221 

seals  taken  1  rom 65 

seized 186 

Oscar  and  Haliie 321,  333 

Otto 321,  332,  335,  336 

seized 333 

Pathfinder,  seized 188 

Penelope 323,  331 

Perkins,  C.  C 304,  309 

Pheasant,  H.  M.  S 332 

Pictou 307 


SUBJECT-INDEX.  G  1 9 

Page. 
Vessels — Continued. 

Pioneer 316 

mdi,  Walter 315,  323 

Boscoe 331 

Hose,  seized  by  Russia 194 

Hush,  cruises  of 185,  414 

Sadie  Clyde 423 

San  Diego 221,  331 

catcli  of 413 

seized 185,  410 

voyage  of 431 

San  Jos4  seized 187 

Sayward,  W.  P 334 

seized 187 

Sea  Lion 319,  325 

Seaward,  catcli  of 432 

Sea  Otter,  driven  off  by  Conrin 421 

Sierra 185 

Sjmrks,  Pose 403 

Siian,  James  G 304,  309 

warned  by  Tlielits 365 

Teresa 221,330 

Thetis,  warning  from 333 

Thistle,  catch  of 325 

Thornton,  skins  taken  fiojii 65 

seized 185 

Triumph 323,  326 

catch  of 434 

Tiipper,  C.  H 320 

Umatilla 401 

Umhrina 323 

Vanderhilt 327,  427 

Venture,  ordered  out  of  Bering  Sea 330 

Victor 307 

Webster,  E.  E 403 

White,  C.H 404,  424,  427,  432 

Wilson,  Charles  D 327,  427 

otters  caught  by 327 

Victoria,  value  of  sealing  vessels  from 499 

Virility  of  bull  seals.     {See  Bulls.) 

Walla  Walla  Strait 401 

Walrus  Island,  size  of 71 

Wigs  defined 595 

Wrangle  Land,  seals  at 241,  254,  289 

Yakutat  Bay,  seals  in 218,  241, 203 

Yearlings,  habits  of 100 

defined 62 

number  of  killed 241,  256. 1:62,  269,  270,  272 

273,  277,  281,  283,  285,  286,  288,  289,  290,  296,  297,  299,  303,  523 

Yukon  Eiver,  no  rookeries  between  Sitka  and 228 

Zapadnie  rookery 13 

Zone,  protective,  necessary 342 

will  offer  no  protection 39,  99, 160, 179, 189,  375 

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